Question 1
My general response is that this is a valuable program when it comes to exploding some of the preconceived notions that we develop about people who have different experiences than we do. If we only get our information from the mainstream media, we tend to get information that suits the mainstream prejudices. So we see Muslims who are involved in terrorism, which is a tiny sliver of the entire population of Muslims. We don’t see same-sex parents at all, because while our society has moved toward a more tacit acceptance that same-sex parenting will happen, it is still not something that many people want to see in front of themselves. It would be one thing if we could admit as a society that most Muslims are probably just as peaceful as most Methodists or most Buddhists or most Hindus or most Baptists or most Catholics, but that’s not what drives ratings. The truth is that most people generally want to be peaceful and get along with one another, but we need conflict to drive ratings, and so we allow walls to go up between ourselves and others. Shows like this one hep to hammer those walls back down into the ground.
Question 2
Some of the stereotypes involved in these two programs include the idea that Muslims do not have any of the same ideals that Christians do. While there are a number of differences between Muslim teachings and Christian ones, there are also a vast number of commonalities, such as the teachings about ethical living and the importance of being honest. Other stereotypes include the idea that a same-sex couple cannot provide all of the mentoring and all of the guidance that a heterosexual couple can provide. While there is a lot of research that has shown the importance that both a mother and a father play in the life of a child, there is nothing suggesting that the gender of the person providing that influence is an important factor.
Question 3
I think that this sort of immersion experience is a terrific one when it comes to exploring and overcoming your stereotypes. I don’t think that either the conservative Christian or the stay-at-home mom would have been able to look at their own prejudices with regard to Islam or same-sex parenting as closely if they had not been as closely connected to people carrying out those lifestyles. So a positive effect would be that the preconceived notion comes under constant input from living with the people involved. Taking part in this sort of experience for a day or a week is not enough, because the Muslim family or the gay couple could have put up a façade and not lived authentically. The 30-day time period goes a longer way toward ensuring that all parties are acting authentically.
Question 4
In both episodes, the people who go and live with a different culture (in the case of Islam) or orientation (in the case of the gay couple) learn that the stereotypes they have developed about the people they are living with are too simplistic to make an accurate portrayal of the real way that the people live their daily lives. In the case of the Christian who goes to live with Muslims, he realizes that, at their base, all people want many of the same things and that what he has learned from the mainstream media and his own culture about Muslims is largely misinformed. The stay-at-home mom learns that gay parents can be just as involved, just as caring and just as influential as a straight couple.
Question 5
This sort of experiment teaches empathy. You don’t get empathy from watching the news; you get it from being around people with different experiences and from different groups and learning about their lives.
