RDFRS US:
The mission of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science is to support scientific education, critical thinking and evidence-based understanding of the natural world in the quest to overcome religious fundamentalism, superstition, intolerance and suffering.
The Magic of Reality
for the iPad
Sean Faircloth:
Attack of the Theocrats!
Another of the films reviewed by that magazine is Zeitgeist, available to watch online at www.zeitgeistmovie.com (it's the one on the right). I just watched it, it's about 2 hours long and came out in 2007. It's probably been discussed somewhere on this site before, but here's a quick review for anyone interested.
After 8 minutes of guff, there are 3 parts. The first is a deconstruction of the origins of Christianity, some parts of which are convincing, others less so. It has little relevance to the rest of the film.
The third part (at about 1:14) is 'standard' conspiracy fare about how bankers control the world and where we're heading - some eyebrow-raising and worrying bits. Trouble with this, and with the whole film, is that a great deal is asserted but little is proven - perhaps too much bitten off in a single film.
However, I was gripped by the second part, beginning at about 40 minutes in. It's all about 9/11 and whether it was staged. There are hundreds of books and films about that, but this serves as a striking 45-minute overview of the Big Questions and is really compelling stuff. It isn't enough to prove a conspiracy, but it's enough to suggest that there remain questions that are serious and unanswered.
There's an entire second movie on that link too, Zeitgeist: Addendum, which I haven't watched yet.
Permalink Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:04:00 UTC | #280315