Why am I going on about this? Well, there is one thing I absolutely have zero tolerance for; a bible thumping movie. I can’t stand religious propaganda shoved down my throat. Not long after Left Behind went to DVD my dad rented it thinking it was Sci Fi. (we used to go out to dinner and watch a movie afterward as sort of a regular family night) I saw that Kirk Cameron was in it, thought that was a bad sign, but gave it the benefit of the doubt and promptly wasted 2 hours of my life to that dreck. That night Butch (my nearly perfect husband) and I made a pact never to sit through a horrid movie again.

So when I see a movie preview that could look like it’s a “God Movie” I would rather steer clear. Unfortunately a lot of god movies mask it in the previews, and some movies that really don’t have a strong pro-god/pro-religion tone might look like it in the previews.

Enter Christian Answers Movie Reviews! My friend Dan shared this site with me and now I am passing it on to you because I actually found it useful.

I picked a movie I was leery about, The Book of Eli, and here’s what I discovered. First, they describe a lot of scenes so it is a bit of a spoiler. Second, I learned it’s a pretty god-heavy movie that would probably set my nerves on edge. Here’s part of the review:

“The Book of Eli” has an incredible Biblical message, which tells the story of Eli’s unwavering faith as he honor’s God with his life and follows God’s will no matter how hard the journey may be. We see Eli’s faith remain steadfast as he faces many trials and tribulations,

After Solara joins Eli on his mission to preserve the Bible, she inquires about Eli’s inner-strength. He explains to her that he walks by faith and his commitment to follow God’s will has kept him strong. Later in the film, Solara asks Eli to read some passages from the Bible to her, so he recites several passages that he has memorized, and the beauty of the words move her.

While “The Book of Eli”’s respect for the sanctity of God’s Word and the depiction of Eli’s obedience to God is refreshing and inspiring, especially in a mainstream film, brutal violence and language are pervasive throughout.

Carnegie forces Solara to offer herself up to Eli as a prostitute, as leverage to try to get Eli to relinquish the Bible to him. When Solara comes to Eli’s bedroom door to offer herself to him, he refuses and tries to send her away, but Solara pleads with him to let her stay or Carnegie will hurt her mother. Eli takes pity on Solara and lets her stay. He takes the opportunity to teach her how to pray and tell her about God.

There are approximately 12 uses of the f-word, and the Lord’s name is profaned approximately two times in the film.

While I was disappointed to see the end of the film momentarily stray from its powerful Biblical message by subtly implying that the Bible is equal to other religious texts, this implication pales in comparison to Eli’s last amazing act of faith at the end of the film.

Eli’s steadfast commitment to his faith and obedience to God no matter what the price, embodies Christ’s words in Luke 9:23,

“Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me’.”

Ha! They said the F-word about 12 times! How horrible! And they said Goddamnit twice! Now they’re all going to burn in hell forever! lol! And they called that “extreme profanity”. That cracks me up.

Oh, and don’t get me wrong, I’m not against  a character being religious in a movie. Just don’t preach to me when I want to be entertained. It’s offensive.

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Today I thought I’d share some books, movies and podcasts with you. Like anyone else, I love being entertained. I go through phases where I only read textbooks, then sometimes I only want fiction. I’ve noticed that even when I’m only reading fiction I still seem to always get something more from the book, though. Right now I’m in a fiction phase, pointedly ignoring the dozens of textbooks I have piling up. Yet I still want to share the good ones with you because they are much deeper than just a light read. I also thought it was high time to share my favorite podcasts and some great movies with you. What all these things have in common, aside from being entertaining, is that they are all enlightening too. Bonus!

So let’s start with podcasts. A couple years ago I finally realized that even though most people love music, I don’t care for it much. I prefer listening to people talk about interesting or funny things. Most of the time when I’m working on the computer, I like it quiet. If I’m designing t-shirts, I listen to Ricky Gervais’ podcasts which are really funny and quirky. But whenever I clean or cook I like to have people talk to me. So I am always looking for great podcasts. I love learning interesting things, so most of these are science oriented.

My Favorite Podcasts:

• The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe: Intelligent, witty, always interesting. My favorite podcast. I look forward to the new episode every week. Great stuff!
• The Skeptics’ Guide 5×5: Only 5 minutes long, it briefly covers one topic. A good companion to the SGU.
• The Naked Scientists: British, intelligent and always chock full of science and interesting stuff.
• Ask the Naked Scientists: This is a podcast dedicated to answering any kind of science questions. They know just about everything. I always learn cool stuff here.
• Freethought Radio: I have taken a break from this one, but I still get them. I find them a bit overbearing sometimes, but when it comes to religion, it’s usually good to know what’s going on in the world. They are always talking about their billboard campaign though, which personally I think isn’t nearly as amazing as they do.
• Quirks & Quarks: A Canadian podcast about science. I find they have good interviews on new science before most other podcasts, but that might just be the schedule or something.
• Reasonable Doubts: I’m new to this podcast which a friend just told me about a month ago. He said, it’s the SGU but about religion instead of science. These three guys know their stuff and I get a lot out of each episode. It’s for people who don’t just take things on faith.
• Science Talk: Scientific American’s podcast. Quite enjoyable and educational.
• Ricky Gervais: His podcasts are pretty funny. He has an infectious laugh. I love his Guides To stuff. He and his friends Steve Merchant and the irrepressible Karl Pilkington are just perfect together. I literally laugh out loud sometimes.
• Breaking Science: I am just downloading all of the episodes of this podcast right this very minute. I found it while getting links for the other podcasts. It’s from the Naked Scientists, so I am sure I’ll like it.

Enlightening Movies I’ve Seen Recently:

The Day of the Triffids: Ok, stick with me. Back in the early 80′s the BBC did a mini-series based on the book of the same name. I read it when I was young but my nearly perfect husband Butch wanted to watch this for some reason, so I sighed dramatically, expecting to hate it. The special effects are pretty awful, but they are used sparingly. The Triffids are actually not half bad. But the acting is quite good. I recently got the book and will read it when Butch is done with it. Why I recommend it is because it’s one of those movies that makes you think about how we do things and what would happen if almost everyone were struck blind.  I found the way people reacted was fascinating. Most people wanted to wait for help to come. They just knew it would be there soon. Anyway, it’s a very good social commentary.

City of Ember: This was another strange choice by Butch. Again, when I saw the cover and read the description, I sighed dramatically and figured it was going to be pretty sucky. Well, wasn’t I surprised! The acting is great, the story is different and interesting, and the deeper messages are excellent. While it’s for young adults, I found it to be a hidden gem. It’s based on a book by the same name, which I just started reading today.  The social commentary is subtle, but if you decide to watch it, just pay attention to how people react and what they say. That’s the real meat of this movie. I won’t say much else. I hope you’ll like it if you give it a chance.

Great Books I’ve Read Recently:

The Heathen’s Guide to World Religions: This is the last text I’ve read. It’s a short book but quite comprehensive and interesting. You can get this from Amazon but if you get it directly from the author it’s much more affordable, probably because the writer gets to keep more of the profit, which is a good thing. This book irreverently looks at all of the major world religions in just the right amount of detail and wit. The only thing that I can complain about is the book should have gone through another proofreader before printing. That kind of stuff is really irritating, but even so, it’s totally worth reading if you want to know the history and some very  good information about each world religion. I learned a lot and laughed out loud several times while doing so.

His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass): Wow, wow and wow. We saw the movie awhile ago and it was very good. I decided I wanted to read the book and found out it was a trilogy. While the movie was interesting and well done, the books were excellent. I just finished the last one yesterday. I have to say I’m glad I watched the movie first, because it helped me flesh out the books. But now I want to see the movie again so that it will make it even better. The movie is pretty faithful to the first book. But the book is much richer and deeper, and goes further than where the movie leaves off. I went to Philip Pullman’s website yesterday (the author) and he says it doesn’t look like they’ll make the other 2 movies which is a huge disappointment to me. While the first book touches on some interesting subjects, the 2 following books tackle everything from quantum physics and parallel worlds to the world of god, angels, the world of the dead, the church and so much more. I originally watched the movie because of the controversy. I heard that Philip Pullman wrote the books because he felt the Chronicles of Narnia were shallow attempts at indoctrinating children into christianity. (that’s my wording, not his). And they are. I remember when I read them in my 20′s I was totally disgusted when it suddenly became clear that Aslan was god or jesus or whatever. It seemed like a shallow and shameless attempt to sucker children into the church. Mr. Pullman is an atheist. Which makes reading the Dark Materials trilogy even more interesting. I won’t tell you any specifics but trust me, these books are excellent and well worth the read. Fascinating, thought provoking, page turning excellence.

What I’m Reading Now:

The City of Ember:This is a young adult novel that I just started reading today. So far it’s very good. It’s an easy read, but interesting. It seems that the movie is quite faithful to the book, which I always appreciate. This is the first in a series of 4 books. I read the reviews in the front, and one in particular was helpful. The book (and the movie) basically give a very minimal explanation for why the City of Ember was created over 200 years ago. The movie never really explains, but the review of the book says that the reader finds out as the characters start to learn it themselves. So there is a mystery that will unfold, I gather. Part of the deeper message is that the people of Ember seem to have lost their curiosity, or maybe their circumstances forced them to give it up, I’m not sure yet. Anyway, I didn’t want to put the book down, so that’s a good sign.

Ok, so that’s what I’ve been reading, watching and listening to. Do you have any suggestions you’d like to share? I look forward to your comments, as always!

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Here is the full movie (140 minutes)

I learned some interesting facts and tidbits, but most of what Bill Maher finds out in these interviews around the world are not new to me. But combined with his commentary, it is interesting and provocative, to say the least.

I was afraid I’d hate this movie because I was afraid it would fill me with impotent rage, but somehow it didn’t. It frightened me, yes, but Bill Maher is masterful, helped by awesome editing, at telling us all something we need to know in a palatable format.

We’re on the road to nowhere with religion. It demands that people submit and remain ignorant and childish, it encourages people to hate and murder and kill for the stupidest reasons, it lies, and it is insidiously dangerous unlike any other threat in the whole world.

So whether you rent it, buy it, watch it here or however you manage to get a hold of it, watch this movie. Get your friends to watch it. It’s enlightening if you allow it to be, even for a cynical old atheist like myself.

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So this senator, who helps run the country, believes in a snake talking to Eve in the garden of eden 5,000 years ago. The senator makes a funny though. Yeah, really funny.

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The Name of the Rose – A novel written by Umberto Eco that opened my eyes, first with the movie, then with the book. It isn’t the easiest read, but I found it well worth it. I’d watch the movie first, to make the book easier to read.

The New Oxford Annotated Bible – Reading all these historical books, I realized I needed a bible to refer to. I picked this one because it’s annotated. I still use so that I can be informed about christianity. Unfortunately as an atheist you might be called upon to know more about christianity than christians, who are known to misquote the bible.

Holy Blood, Holy Grail – Nonfiction written by 3 British historians, this book reads like a novel and is quite fascinating. Very controversial, to say the least, it doesn’t refute the life of Jesus, but it does look at the bible in a totally different way, as a historical text. This book pried my eyes open wide and rocked my foundation. This is the book that Dan Brown obviously read to write that awful formulaic novel, The Da Vinci Code, which I snored through.

The Sign and the Seal – another nonfiction book, this one about the lost ark of the covenant, also reads like a novel. I found it fascinating. Again, this book looks at the bible as a historical text.

*At this point, Fruitloop begins to seriously put together the fact that all religions have been created by men. While Judaism has no set beginning date, christianity and islam are very much dated in time.

Monty Python’s Life of Brian – Ok, this is a movie, I know, but it chronologically belongs here. This movie takes something deadly serious, the birth of christianity, and hilariously shows how easy it is to make sheeple believe and follow just about anyone, if given the right formula.

*Fruitloop takes a World History class in college to get the facts. The textbook is not that exciting but several things stand out:

• All religions are created by men, two of the top religions have specific creators and time periods of when they started.
• Old religions are somehow mysteriously converted to myths over time.
• Religions steal from one another, christianity being the worst culprit. (See the Stolen Stories page)

I’m now searching for a great, objective book of world history, as well as one of the United States. Feel free to recommend some.
Now I ask you, what books did you read to redefine your belief system? What books would you recommend to others and why?

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When I was about 10, my parents suddenly got religious in the church of christ. More fear of god preaching filled my head, including bible study once a week with the minister. I got baptized two more times in two different churches, for good measure, and went to church faithfully. I was terrified of burning in hell. It didn’t help that my parents were crazy… good christians on Sunday morning, screaming and abusive the rest of the week. Of course they both blamed me for their abusiveness, so I felt damned to hell for being so wicked, even though I was exceedingly good most of the time.

Not long after we started bible study, the minister decided he wanted to go bowling instead of teach us about the lord’s word. He said I asked too many questions. This was the first blatant sign I had of the hypocrisy of the church and I wanted no more part of it. My stepfather thoughtfully punished me severely for not wanting to go to church. But after a month of it, he inexplicably stopped trying to make me go, much to my relief.

When I was in my late teens I tried several different religions and practices, from Buddhism and Taoism (which isn’t a religion, but a way of living) to American Indian practices, to Wicca (which is the ancient mother earth religion). I tried it all and found it all lacking. If pressed, I would have still called myself a christian at this point, I guess. But honestly I had no idea what to believe.

Years went by and I searched for meaning in any way I could think of. I wanted answers.
I was 27 when I got married, in a small ceremony by a woman ordained in some airy fairy light church. I can’t even remember what her ordination was, but it was definitely spiritual/nontraditional. I wanted nothing to do with the christians, but still would have called myself a believer, if asked. I was afraid not to believe in the whole jesus myth. I didn’t have anything to replace it with.

About a year after I was married, I was watching this movie called The Name of the Rose. For some reason, I was suddenly interested in how the christian religion started. It suddenly hit me while watching the movie that the religion didn’t always exist. I basically knew the jewish god and the christian god were actually the same god with just a different name, but what was going on? Did the jewish religion always exist? I was full of questions and started an official Quest for Knowledge.

I read a lot of books at that time, everything I could get my hands on. I got a really nice annotated bible to refer to, and will supply you with all the books I can remember. (Click here to see my book list)  Anyway, I came to realize that the three major religions all sort of just came about!

This to me was a shocking revelation. I also realized that the jewish god was very concerned about other gods, which seemed suspicious. I also realized that the christians kind of took on the jewish god, but the christian god never talked to anyone like the jewish god did. More reading of the bible showed more and more inconsistencies.

In this time I took an early world history class in college. There I realized that all cultures have created religions. I mean, I always knew that, but it suddenly started to dawn on me that those old religions are now called myths. Why would that be? Another inconsistency. More bits and pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place.

After awhile, I realized that all religions are made up! I was rocked to my foundations. Everything I had been taught had to be questioned and reevaluated. Nothing was sacred anymore. There was no more magic in the world, and finally, there was no more god. It was scary to admit it, back then in 2000. But there I was, a rather shocked and sudden atheist.

For several more years I still clung to the idea of the supernatural. I believed in healing energy and other concepts. But finally I had to come to terms with the fact that it was all just silly wishful thinking with no basis in reality and zero evidence, just like the idea of gods and unicorns. But I realized that the world is wonderful without religion, gods and the supernatural. The natural world is incredible and amazing and still mysterious.

Since then I’ve tried to coexist with religious people nicely. I don’t usually tell people that I’m an atheist, I don’t attack their belief system, I don’t ask them to understand mine, I just try to avoid the topic. In fact, often I let people talk to me of their love of god and I don’t say a word. I don’t want to upset them. I guess I’m an overly polite atheist. But also I don’t know how to defend my lack of belief in any god. It seems easier to say nothing.

Recently (2007-2008), I’ve seen things in the government and in society that have outraged me and frightened me into thinking I’ve got to act. I can’t keep my mouth shut anymore. I’ve got to at least tell other atheists they aren’t alone.

I got involved in making anti-religious t-shirts with my husband (he’s an atheist too). Then I stumbled upon Atheist Nexus. I found that there are lots of other atheists out there and have tried to make friends with several of the other members. In doing so, I was inspired to create the 12 Steps to Intellectual Enlightenment by a fellow member.

I started seeking out podcasts because I like the sound of voices talking to me when I’m cleaning or cooking. I found the Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe and realized I still believed whatever I was told to me when it came to pseudoscience. So I have started practicing Critical Thinking since then.

After that it was a crazy ride to Heaving Dead Cats, which is a combination of atheism, my personal blog and Freethinking Skepticism.

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So here we’ll list movies that might either make you ask questions, or maybe even hint at answers.

The movie that changed my life was The Name of the Rose. I highly recommend it, along with the book that it was based on.

Neece’s Motivating Movies:

Great Stuff I Watched Recently (not necessarily about atheism or religion):

• War, Inc. (very clever satire from the headlines. cynical but funny)
• Taken (gritty, violent, excellent retribution!)
• The Day of the Triffids (BBC series. Good acting, 80′s low budget effects)
• City of Ember (DVD) (good movie, much better than the book)

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