Archive for May, 2010

The Four Horsemen

The Four HorsemenOn the 30th of September 2007, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens sat down for a first-of-its-kind, unmoderated 2-hour discussion, convened by RDFRS and filmed by Josh Timonen.

All four authors have recently received a large amount of media attention for their writings against religion – some positive, and some negative.

In this conversation the group trades stories of the public reaction to their recent books, their unexpected successes, criticisms and common misrepresentations.

They discuss the tough questions about religion that face the world today, and propose new strategies for going forward.

Posted by Sarah on May 15th, 2010 No Comments

For the Bible Tells Me So

For the Bible Tells Me SoWe meet five Christian families, each with a gay or lesbian child. Parents talk about their marriages and church-going, their children’s childhood and coming out, their reactions, and changes over time.

The stories told by these nine parents and four adult children alternate with talking heads – Protestant and Jewish theologians – and with film clips of fundamentalist preachers and pundits and news clips of people in the street.

They discuss scripture and biblical scholarship. A thesis of the film is that much of Christianity’s homophobia represents a misreading of scripture, a denial of science, and an embrace of quack psychology. The families call for love.

Posted by Sarah on May 15th, 2010 No Comments

Banned from the Bible

Banned from the BibleWhen Jesus was a boy, did he kill another child? Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute — or an apostle?

Did Cain commit incest? Will there be an apocalypse or is this God’s trick to scare us?

The answers to these questions aren’t found in the Bible as we know it, but they exist in scriptures banned when powerful leaders deemed them unacceptable for reasons both political and religious.

Banned From The Bible reveals some of these alternative tales and examines why they were “too hot for Christianity.”

Posted by Sarah on May 15th, 2010 No Comments

The Bible’s Buried Secrets

The Bible's Buried SecretsIn this landmark two-hour special, NOVA takes viewers on a fascinating scientific journey to the beginnings of modern religion.

The Bible’s Buried Secrets vividly recounts the saga of the ancient Israelites and digs deeply into both the Bible and the history of the Israelites through the archaeological artifacts they left behind.

The documentary focuses on the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Old Testament, as the foundation for the great monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

NOVA’s producers worked with an international team of scholars and researchers who studied stories, examined artifacts, deciphered ancient manuscripts, and hypothesized how—in a time of human sacrifice, idolatry, and slavery—the concept of one God emerged.

Posted by Sarah on May 15th, 2010 No Comments

The Atheism Tapes

The Atheism TapesAs part of the making of the documentary series A Brief History of Disbelief, Jonathan Miller filmed conversations with some very distinguished minds.

In this ground-breaking series, neurologist turned playwright and atheist Jonathan Miller interviewed six of today’s leading men of letters and science.

New York Times best-selling author Richard Dawkins, Philosophers Daniel Dennett and Colin McGinn, playwright Arthur Miller, theologian Denys Turner and physicist Steven Weinberg discuss their personal intellectual journeys and offer illuminating analyses of non-theism from a wide range of perspectives.

Posted by Sarah on May 15th, 2010 No Comments

A Brief History of Disbelief

A Brief History of DisbeliefJonathan Miller visits the absent Twin Towers to consider the religious implications of 9/11 and meets Arthur Miller and the philosopher Colin McGinn. He searches for evidence of the first ‘unbelievers’ in Ancient Greece and examines some of the modern theories around why people have always tended to believe in mythology and magic.

So few representatives of atheism provide a compelling and earnest account for unbelief, let alone with the lucidity and intellectual vigor of Jonathan Miller. He is sincere and moving in this attempt to explain and understand the origins of the truth of disbelief of religious superstition and faith.

Posted by Sarah on May 15th, 2010 No Comments

Friends of God

Friends of GodThis documentary centers around the relationship between Christian evangelical churches and political activism. It attempts to demonstrate how these organizations have shaped modern politics in regards to issues that include, but are not limited to, gay rights, abortion, and the creation-evolution controversy.

The estimated 50 to 80 million evangelical Christians living in America today have become a formidable force in US culture and democracy. But the evangelical movement is a big tent. To try and get a better understanding of the range and diversity of this community, intrepid filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi hit the road to meet some evangelicals and learn about what their influence may mean for the future of the US.

In this documentary, Alexandra Pelosi visits several of the largest evangelical Christian church congregations (“megachurches”) in the country, such as Lakewood Church and New Life Church (Colorado Springs, Colorado), and interviews their leaders and members. Pelosi also visits other Christian organizations like the Christian Wrestling Federation and Cruisers for Christ (a car club) as well as others committed to spreading the Gospel through their own unique packaging and marketing.

Posted by Sarah on May 15th, 2010 No Comments

Return to Africa’s Witch Children

Return to Africa's Witch ChildrenA story of an estimated 15,000 children in Africa’s Niger Delta being denounced by Christian pastors as witches and wizards and then killed, tortured or abandoned by their own families.

Two-and-a-half-year-old Ellin is one such child. Found at the side of the road, her body having been severely burnt with boiling water. Nwanakwo, eight years old, had acid poured over him after being labeled a wizard, and later died.

Return to Africa’s Witch Children is a documentary that follows the work of Gary Foxcroft, an Englishman whose charity, Stepping Stones, raises funds to help care for more than 150 children accused of witchcraft, and blamed for catastrophes, death and famine. Narrated by Sophie Okonedo.

Posted by Sarah on May 15th, 2010 No Comments

The Muslim Jesus

The Muslim JesusA documentary about the Islamic Jesus – a man born of a virgin, and a man who performed miracles, but there was no crucifixion and no resurrection.

Yet there is a Second Coming, when he shall descend in the clouds as a Muslim to destroy the Jews and ‘the swine’.

The Muslim Jesus uses the Qur’an and other Islamic texts to explore the differing ways in which Christian and Muslim faiths both acknowledge Jesus.

Scholars, teachers, parents, rappers, poets and historians come together for the one hour special narrated by Melvin Bragg.

The differences between the Qur’an and Bible’s portrayal of Jesus are explored in detail, from the role of Mary and his death and resurrection, to the coming of the Anti-Christ.

Posted by Sarah on May 15th, 2010 No Comments

Who Wrote The Bible?

Who Wrote The Bible?Robert Beckford learned the Bible at his mother’s knee and grew up believing that it was literally true.

But, 20 years on from his Baptist upbringing, Beckford is no longer so sure that ‘the good book’ is the pure, unadulterated word of God untouched by human hand.

For Beckford, who wrote the Bible matters more today than perhaps at any other moment in living memory.

His journey takes him from Birmingham to the West Bank, from Jerusalem to Turkey, and from Rome to Bible Belt America.

Posted by Sarah on May 15th, 2010 No Comments