A Brief History of Disbelief
JONATHAN MILLER'S BRIEF HISTORY OF DISBELIEF Part 1
From the youtube description of the series: -
In this first ever television history of disbelief, Jonathan Miller goes on a journey exploring the origins of his own lack of belief and uncovering the hidden story of atheism.
Jonathan 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.
With the domination of Christianity from 500 AD, Jonathan Miller wonders how disbelief began to re-emerge in the 15th and 16th centuries. He discovers that division within the Church played a more powerful role than the scientific discoveries of the period. He also visits Paris, the home of the 18th century atheist, Baron D'Holbach, and shows how politically dangerous it was to undermine the religious faith of the masses.
The history of disbelief continues with the ideas of self-taught philosopher Thomas Paine, the revolutionary studies of geology and the evolutionary theories of Darwin. Jonathan Miller looks at the Freudian view that religion is a 'thought disorder'. He also examines his motivation behind making the series touching on the issues of death and the religious fanaticism of the 21st century.
The other parts of the series can be viewed here:
A Brief History of Disbelief 2.
A Brief History of Disbelief 3.
A Brief History of Disbelief 4.
A Brief History of Disbelief 5.
A Brief History of Disbelief 6.
A Brief History of Disbelief 7.
A Brief History of Disbelief 8.
A Brief History of Disbelief 9.
A Brief History of Disbelief 10.
A Brief History of Disbelief 11.
A Brief History of Disbelief 12.
A Brief History of Disbelief 13.
A Brief History of Disbelief 14.
A Brief History of Disbelief 15.
A Brief History of Disbelief 16.
A Brief History of Disbelief 17.
A Brief History of Disbelief 18.
Each video is only about 10 minutes long. Watch them while they are available.
disbelief 
religion 
politics 
philosophy 
science 
theology 
christianity 
islam 
judaism 
jonathanmiller 
jonathan miller 
atheist
They can also be seen at this link should the other links become inactive. (Thanks for the tip Remy.)
posted by beepbeepitsme | 1:15 pm
13 Comments:
Thanks,much appreciated. Is this scheduled for TV?
beep yes thanks!. I've started on them.
I really appreciate your blog, I get so much information here. :)
lexcen:
I think so. (4 May) in the US.
Thanks LT. I am not sure if many people take the time to watch videos, but this program is pretty interesting.
Beep,
KA gave me this link which also has the interviews that were not in the series. They are very good as well.
It probably won't work because I can't figure out how to paste into the comments.
The dot between huge and entity is supposed to be higher up - I can't even do that, but I'm sure you can figure it out.
http://www.huge.entity.com/2007/03/jonathan-millers-brief-history-of.html
I just got done watching it. I was sorta disappointed at the unspoken and very Western bias to the series, but in general I thought it was pretty cool.
I particularly liked how he traced some of the non-scientific ways that disbelief grew in the church -- as disbelievers sought out church protection to study disbelief, hehe.
remy:
Thanks. I have added that link to the post as well.
chris
Yes. It examined the history of disbelief from the greco-roman tradition on. They didn't get into so much why some people have always been disbelievers, but kind of how the greco-roman tradition and the resulting religion of christianity, almost ensured a place for disbelief.
Beep,
.
I have been enjoying these videos very much.
.
Given that I live in The United States, I particularly enjoyed the following quote:
.
"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful."
-Seneca the Younger
.
Thank you!
Excellent series Beep, thanks...:)
keebo:
Glad you enjoyed them.
You too ted. :)
I think the fact that the video aired in the states is great. Of course this video couldn't air in the states without a bit of controversy to go along with it. It is Jesusland after all. Here are a few choice quotes from an article I found.
"One has to wonder why it is so important to them for everyone to understand their 'disbelief,'" she said. "The program is not a dispassionate, positive voice - as they claim. Instead, it is clearly demagogic and propagandistic."
"When I first read about this, I thought, 'Oh, they're attempting some sort of objective history of atheism. That might be interesting.' But when I actually watched it, I realized that it's really an evangelistic piece for atheism," he stated.
and my personal favorite...
"If they really want to be objective, they need to have a three-part series documenting the evidence in favor of Christianity," he added. "If they present propaganda for Islam, if they present propaganda for atheism, I think it's only fair they present propaganda for Christianity, too."
alpha
That's funny. When I watched the series, I thought how balanced it was. It certainly didn't seem like an appeal "to atheism" to me. It was very polite and decidedly english in its approach.
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