Videos - Athiesm, freethinking, logic. The Story of God. Professor Robert Winston presents a definitive three-part documentary series on the history of mankind's quest to understand the nature of God. The Story of God is an epic journey across continents, cultures and eras exploring religious beliefs from their earliest incarnations, through the development of today's major world faiths and the status of religious faith in a scientific age. The series examines the roots of religious beliefs in prehistoric societies and the different ways in which humanity's sense of the divine developed.
It looks at the divergence between religions that worship a range of deities and those that represent strict monotheism. The series begins with Professor Winston examining the religions which believe in many different gods and explores why mankind started to believe in God at all. "But most of all the answer," says Professor Winston, "lies in the human desire to be united with something bigger than ourselves. " (Excerpt from bbc.co.uk) God Is American. During WW II, the US navy used the island in Southern Pacific to build a military base and when the islanders met the American soldiers it was a tremendous cultural shock.
The islanders have believed that the Americans were demi-gods. During this period, John Frum, an American pilot landed on Tanna. No one knows him except the islanders. They believe that John Frum is their prophet and they still wait for his return. "...they (cargo cults) do provide a fascinating contemporary model for the way religions spring up from almost nothing. Except that, this is a sad story of pride, loneliness and hopelessness. This documentary is available for preview only - . Cults: Dangerous Devotion. The Fundamentalists. Devil’s Bible. At 165 pounds, and allegedly made from the skins of 160 donkeys, the Codex Gigas is the world's largest and most mysterious medieval manuscript. Filled with satanic images and demonic spells, according to legend, the cursed text sprang from a doomed monk's pact with the Devil. Now, Nat Geo follows a team of scientists as they embark on an unprecedented quest to unravel the secrets behind the book's darkened pages.
Using ultra-violet fluorescence imaging, handwriting analysis and a re-creation of the text, forensic document experts attempt to uncover the cryptic truth behind this ancient Devil's Bible. The Devil’s Bible is so huge that it requires at least two people to carry it. Once considered the eighth wonder of the world, the Codex Gigas stretches three feet long and weighs a hundred and sixty-five pounds. It is the only book that places the Old and New Testaments alongside violent, holy incantations. It was insured for $15.1 million during the transfer. The Lost Gods. Is there a God? It's an eternal question that all ancient civilizations have answered. Not with just one God, but with hundreds of them. Bringing them to life on earth, these civilizations fashioned their images in wood, paint and stone. And built spectacular holy shrines to house them. So what happened to these Gods? Do powerful faiths just vanish? Can Gods die? The Egyptians.
The Greeks. The Romans. The Maya. The Celts. This documentary is available for preview only. The Secrets of Scientology. This is a very disturbing video documentary for the BBC programme Panorama, by reporter John Sweeney. BBC reporter John Sweeney's last investigation into the Church of Scientology resulted in an explosive confrontation with church officials. This time, in a Panorama Special, one of those officials has turned whistle blower to help him reveal the dark secrets of the church, which boasts Hollywood A-listers Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its devotees. There were no histrionics from John Sweeney this time but a second look at Scientology underlined the insidious aspects of the controversial organization. As Sweeney delved into L Ron Hubbard's mysterious pseudo religion and found himself hounded and harassed, the group's continued denial that it is a cult seemed laughable.
This is a so-called church, yet so much of its treatment of non-believers smacks of paranoia, notably the revelation that Sweeney’s 2007 ‘exploding tomato’ impression was encouraged. Watch the full documentary now. Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus. Flock of Dodos examines the disagreements that proponents of intelligent design have with the scientific consensus position of evolution. The evolutionarily famous dodo (Raphus cucullatus) is a now-extinct bird that lived on the Island of Mauritius, which is approximately 500 miles east of Madagascar. When Portuguese sailors arrived on the island, the possible combination of over-hunting and introduction of new predators (i.e. pigs, macaques) seems to have led to its extinction by approximately 1700. Due to its lack of fear of humans and inability to fly, the dodo was easy prey, and thus became known for its apparent stupidity. It failed to change with an evolving environment, which ultimately led to the birds' demise.
The film begins by going over the history of intelligent design thought from Plato and Paley to the present-day incarnation promoted by the Discovery Institute. Watch the full documentary now - Louis Theroux: Fundamentalist Christianity. Pagans. Is paganism a living tradition with roots deep in prehistory or just a collection of superstitions, magic tricks and witches' spells?
Pagans explores the origins, history and beliefs of Europe's ancient religions. Sexy Beasts - Looks back to a time before sex was taboo, when humans saw themselves as an integral part of the natural world. Through history and prehistory, the representations of the ancient gods and traditions followed by pagans have been marred by propaganda from other religious groups eager to rein in those they defined as wild barbarians. In truth, the word pagan is a Roman term meaning 'country folk', and the general concept of paganism is of oneness with nature and a quest to fully understand the world around us. Magic Moments - Today magic is used as a form of entertainment. It still thrills us to see an apparently impossible phenomenon happen before our eyes. Sacred Landscape - A strong pagan belief is that the natural world is embedded in all of us. The Naked Truth. Who’s Got God’s Millions? Robert Llewellyn attempts to discover which of the world’s top four monotheistic religions has the most money.
His journey takes him from Canterbury Cathedral to Vatican City and Israel, as he bids to calculate the income and assets of the Anglican Commune, the Catholic Church, Judaism and Islam. As an atheist, I’ve always wondered how much money the faiths keep stuffed under the mattress, says Robert Llewellyn. In this time of financial crisis, when billions of pounds are being coughed up to support struggling banks, Robert feels it is time to discover the financial interests of the world’s great monotheistic faiths – Anglicanism, Catholicism, Judaism and Islam.
Robert’s first stop is Canterbury Cathedral, where he is surprised to learn that financial figures for the Church of England are readily available. Robert then travels to Westminster Cathedral to learn about the Catholic Church’s status in England. Watch the full documentary now (playlist - 45 minutes) Around the World in 80 Faiths. Discovering Religion. Welcome to Discovering Religion - an original series on the discrepancies between a literalistic belief in religious mythologies and the cold, hard facts of evolution and 21st Century scientific discoveries of the Earth and Universe. Here is an excerpt from the YouTube channel description of the maker of this documentary: "I have been asked on multiple occasions to clarify the nature of my beliefs, as the title of my series is a little ambiguous. Neither I nor anyone else can say with 100% certainty whether "God(s)" does or does not exist. Therefore, the aim of this series is to examine what religious philosophies tell us about where we are from and where we are going, then compare and contrast these views against the indisputable facts discovered about the Earth and Universe through rigorous scientific investigation.
From my own investigation of these facts I've determined the Bible inaccurately describes the known Universe and therefore is not something in which I can place my belief.