Denton’s foray into religion
For those of us who either couldn’t be arsed heading to one of the few cinema’s that aired, tonight’s ABC airing of God on My Side was our first chance to view Denton’s subtle but damning broadside against fundamentalist Christianity.
It was so subtle you might even question whether compiling an attack on fundamentalism was Denton’s aim. Well, but for the intro, which proclaims his mission to compare “their” (meaning Muslim) fundamentalists with “ours” (we saved peoples).
I watched in utter amazement as fundies condemned the violence of Muslims, and expressed support for military action against Iran, Nuclear action if need be. I watched a faith that once valued vows of poverty espouse the value of Jesus candy.
On one hand Denton’s doco was amazingly respectful, I feel that the fundies themselves will feel well done by, and may even enjoy the watching. But they will completely miss the point. It’s a timely reminder that what is represented as Islam in the ‘western’ media, be it personified by suicide bombings or Hilaly, should be treated with the same respect we offer this bunch of self exposing* whack-jobs
When I first saw the adverts I shuddered, how dare Denton try and do Safran. In hindsight I recomend it to the religious and rational alike.
btw, am I the only one who thought that the individual who believed dead bodies condemned him for failing to talk to them about god, could use a sedative and some counseling re his obvious PTSD? Or did you respect his religious beliefs?
* not in the sense of lacking clothing, you fool!
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Posted: by Kieran May 22nd, 2007 under Media, Society.
Comments: 3
Comments
Comment from Dave Bath
Time: May 22, 2007, 12:39 pm
(1) There were some non-whackos, like the guy who’d actually done a theology degree (and shock, horror, had friends who voted Democrat!), the european broadcasting in Arabic, and the reporter.
(2) The others had a very poor grasp of theology and the history of compilation and translation of the Bible. The one who asked Denton “Have you read the Koran”, and denounced Islam as having a different god, obviously hadn’t, as he would have picked up the simple fact that Islam is Abhramist, and approximately mid-way theologically between Judaism and Christianity.
(3) The rabid Bush-lovers were scary, as neither “God’s man in the White House” nor they had read the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the peacemakers”.
(4) We need to be concerned here in Oz about the rise of similarly unsophisticated Christianity, with both Howard and Rudd sending supportive taped messages to the “Catch the Fire” audiences, who are just as bad as the worst of the yanks.
Comment from Dana
Time: May 22, 2007, 6:25 pm
David: The guy who did a theology degree is a producer and is clearly well versed in spin when he tried to portray fundamentalist “Christianity” as being about “for” something rather than “against” something. I guess that doesn’t make him a whacko, but I don’t think that really redeems him much either.
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I find that a lot of these fundamentalists don’t really understand the religion they claim to believe in any real depth, rely on archaic bits of old Scripture and instead ignore the word or the spirit of what Jesus had taught them.
The fundamentalists of this age always remind me of the Pharisees of old.
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Time: May 24, 2007, 10:48 pm
[…] at the Dead Roo enjoyed Andrew Denton’s documentary on Christians. He asks: btw, am I the only one who thought that the individual who believed dead bodies condemned […]
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