With the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the emotional whiplash that followed, the monotheistic religions of the West took a more stridently political turn. It was in this context that Jonathan Miller, the British theatre and opera director, felt compelled to create a three-part documentary tracing the history of religious skepticism and disbelief.
Broadcast by the BBC in 2004 under the title, Atheism: A Rough History of Disbelief, the series wasn’t broadcast by PBS in America until 2007, and only after “Atheism” had been removed from the title and the word “rough” changed to “brief.”
“I’m rather reluctant to call myself an atheist,” Miller says at the outset. “It’s only in the light of such current controversies with regard to belief that I’ve found myself willing to explicitly articulate my disbelief.”
Miller goes on to guide the viewer through the historic evolution of religious doubt, from the skepticism of Greek and Roman philosophers to the Deism of Enlightenment intellectuals and the emergence of explicit atheism in the writings of the 18th century French aristocrat Paul-Henri Thiry, the Baron d’Holbach, who wrote in his Système de la Nature:
If we go back to the beginning we shall find that ignorance and fear created the gods; that fancy, enthusiasm, or deceit adorned or disfigured them; that weakness worships them; that credulity preserves them; and that custom, respect and tyranny support them in order to make the blindness of men serve its own interests.
Miller also talks with a number of well-known contemporary atheists, including playwright Arthur Miller, physicist Steven Weinberg and philosopher Colin McGinn. Episode One: Shadows of Doubt appears above, in its entirety, with the other two episodes: “Noughts and Crosses” and “The Final Hour.”
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This series was very good.
I don’t believe he understood the difference between being an Atheist or an Agnostic.
For my part, I am an Agnostic. I live a more christian type of life then most christens. When I die, I will be dead, the end.
C9419, you make it clear that it’s YOU who does not understand the distinction. One is about belief, the other knowledge. Many atheists are also agnostic. Agnosticism isn’t some “middle-ground”. Educate yourself before you try to educate others.
It’s a bit rubbish that Miller gets cut off right at the end!
here is a better upload of part 3 — doesn’t cut off the last moments. nnhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft2SypNRvUk&list=PLBC236B825151FAC7
link doesn’t work :(
Why do producers of such intelligent programs insist on inserting nsound effects, noises, so-called music which “dumb down” . It’s like drawing a mustache on the Mona Lisa.
The Question Of The Existence of God:
Logically as the result of suffering in the world there is no appropriate explanation that could jutify a carring,or existing God.
Mind is Everything,and Without Mind there is Nothing seems correct.
The problem is for those who have had intervention of entities unknown by way of voices,etc,there is a question which cannot be answered other than to say the mind is playing tricks.This is not suitable for many.
My position is some sort of conscious force exist that for a select group for whatever reasons are communicated with,
Justice does not rule with this force.I have done nothing special,yet I have been contacted when having life thretening experiences,and on other occasions.
It has been implied that some are more receptive than others,and that is why all are not conscious of the force.
I call it God Force,but it can be called what you please.
The Force has ask me what I want to do,or that I would be okay.It never has told me what to do,or talked about bad things I have done.
My connection with the force is rare.I do not pray to it.I only think of it on occasion.
Since I have been ask by the force if I wanted to live,or die on several occasions,and I am not dead when I should have been I believe in the force,but no not why,or what it is.It never stated to me who,or what it was.
I don’t believe,but do believe in the God Force as it seemed to be able to give me a choice.
If it is all in the mind,so be it.
Walter Haas—God Bless America
As a recovering catholic and old fart. First rate information. Thank you. : )
Does anyone know how to buy the DVD?
As a Presbyterian so extreme as to have become an atheist, this gave me a new appreciation of the comic Series “Calvin and Hobbes”.
Does anyone know how to purchase the DVD or series in any format? I’m trying to find it anywhere either to purchase the streaming or any form of media dvd/bluray etc. Any ideas?
Thanks.
But … who is Jesus?
It seems that the third part has disappeared. That is unfortunate.
Hi Walter
I too have received messages from your so-called God Force.
I am a self described Pantheist in the broader sense of the definition.
I believe old souls are not mortals, but spiritual energy forces that inhabit our physical bodies throughout life and get seperated from their host body at death and transcend to another dimension in a parallel universe. String theory may have some explanation for this.
In that light, there are no epiphanies, no good or bad luck, only messages sent from old souls and received by a chosen few.
I am not atheist or agnostic. I believe a being or entity exists that created life as we know it.
I think religions serves most people as a way to define their existence and purpose. A simple way of explaining where we come from and where we are going. Living in a box. They need hope and dread the lack of intellectual ability and effort to doubt such a simple explanation.
That’s my take on the matter.
David Robbins
Do you inherit your soul from you mothers or fathers side? And when and where does this spirit come from?
Either link it says Video 3 is Private, I cannot access it al all!
Please, How can we access Video 3. I shared with my Freethought group and we are all trying to watch all 3 before next meeting, Now everybody is asking me! {Help!
Request for scientific and cultural cooperation: dance from the perspective of Abrahamic religions. Iran, Qom
International dance conference from the perspective of Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic religions
Hello dear
I am Ali Rezaei from Qom, Iran. The subject of my PhD thesis was “Dance based on Shia Jafari jurisprudence”. This thesis was presented in the seminary of Qom. In this thesis, which became a book, important topics are discussed: the history of dance in Islam. Traditions of prohibition and permission of dancing in Shia and Sunni. Prohibition and permission of dancing in Shia and Sunni jurisprudence. Examining new dances from the point of view of Shia jurisprudence; Such as artistic dances, school dances, therapeutic dances, sports dances and religious dances such as Sama dance. This research, with its scope, still needs additional research and discussion with experts.
Some topics that need more research and discussion with university and dance experts are: individual freedom and religious restrictions with a dance approach, the history of dealing with the phenomenon of dance in Abrahamic religions (Islam, Judaism, Christianity), the nature. Dance and its functions in non-Abrahamic religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Tao, Confucianism, etc.), femininity of dance: from the perspective of history and culture, the nature of sports dances and its types, the nature of therapeutic dance and its function, the role of dance in the system Elementary education with the approach of sports dances, the cultural or political nature of dance and the taboo nature of dance in religious societies, investigating the tendency to dance in non-Abrahamic religions.
I hope that with your cooperation I can complete this research and publish it internationally. This research is not supported scientifically and financially in Iran due to the hatred of dance. I look forward to your help and I hope that with your cooperation, we will establish a scientific-religious cooperation.
Reminder:
1. The publication and translation of books on the topic of dance is allowed under copyright.
2. This book and the plan of the international conference “Dance from the perspective of Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic religions” have been sent to universities, dance companies and the UNESCO organization, and you are not alone in supporting this plan and conference.
3. The book report and the result of this research will be presented at the international dance conference, and if needed, it will be taught in a short course at your university or institute.
4. The femininity of dance and women is an important issue in the discussion of dance from the point of view of Islamic religion and Islamic history. Now extreme Muslims (Shia and Sunni) have a problem with female dancers and punish them for dancing. Islamic traditions are also different about women’s dance. This issue is the most important challenge of Islam and Abrahamic religions in research and social issues related to dance.
5. International Dance Conference:
A) This conference is in collaboration with UNESCO (representing the world community), the Vatican (representing Christianity), Azhar University in Egypt (representing Sunnis), Najaf Ashraf Seminary (representing Jafari Shiites) and the Union of Rabbis of Islamic Countries. will be held. held by the Jews).
b) This conference is held every two years in one of the five continents. Its permanent secretariat is at the World Dance Organization in Paris.
c) The purpose of holding this conference is to clear the confusion of art, music and dance from the point of view of scholars of Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic religions.
d) This conference will be held with the presence of scholars and university professors and dance theorists.
e) This conference will have four main commissions: religion and dance, women and dance, history and dance, society (culture) and dance.
f) The expenses of the conference are provided by charities and universities and it has no government or religious affiliation.
g) In addition to this scientific conference, television programs and documentaries with the presence of experts will be produced and broadcast about the various aspects of dance from the perspective of Abrahamic religions and in the history and today of Islamic societies (Shia and Sunni).
h) This meeting will be a model for other challenging cultural and artistic issues in Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic religions. Topics such as: Women’s identity in Abrahamic literature. Music in Abrahamic religions, clothing and clothing in Abrahamic religions, painting and sculpture in Abrahamic religions. Games and entertainment in Abrahamic religions. Happiness in Abrahamic religions
j) This meeting will bring the convergence of religions and religions in challenging cultural-artistic issues and will turn your institution into a center for the discussion of civilizations and religions and the center of discourse of religions and religions. This international event will be your honor and I will be happy to share in this honor. I hope for your wise decision and the center. A decision that will have strong media coverage and will affect several billions of followers of different religions and inform all of them about the participants of the conference and this conference.
Ali Rezaei
Iran. Qom
Resume summary
Year of birth: 1971
Place of birth: Najaf Ashraf, Iraq
Iranian nationality
Occupation: researcher and writer: screenwriter, expert in Islamic history and Shiite jurisprudence.
Degree: Ph.D. from the seminary of Qom (with the title of dance from the point of view of the Jafari sect)
Master’s degree: Faculty of Broadcasting, Qom branch
Religious sciences: participation in the advanced courses of Ayatollah Vahid Khorasani, the late Ayatollah Javad Tabrizi, Seyyed Ahmed Madi Mousavi (jurisprudence and principles).
Address: Iran. Qom. Rouhani St
Kausar4. Number 326.
tel:0098–9198516612