Root of All Evil?

The modern man, singular in history, carries the unusual pride of living in his own era - a novel sentiment born from the marvel of technology and a Promethean mindset. We proclaim that science unveils the mysteries of nature, imagining ourselves freed from illusions and superstitions. Yet science itself rests upon beliefs and subtle superstitions, differing only in form from those that existed before the Enlightenment. The "scandal of reason," as Kant called it, persists: we cannot conclusively prove the simple evidence of an external world independent of ourselves. Karl Popper, with prudent diplomacy, suggested that this external world is merely a working hypothesis for natural science, careful not to offend the sensibilities of the modern spirit.

This documentary came out around when I was born. At a young age, I had questions about a lot of things discussed in this piece. Though never answered, or answered with abuse and fear of hell, I thought I was not normal or maybe Satan had more control over me than others. Turns out I was lucky to have those questions.

I never knew at the same time a person had already asked those questions as I was doing, but in a far more disciplined and organised way.

Later on my journey led me to atheism, and today to this documentary. And I wish I had watched this earlier.

Anyone who questions or at least thinks about religions, whether a muslim, Christian or an atheist, must watch this. This documentary is not for atheists only, this is a piece of curiosity and questioning for anyone who has the brains to question things and is in search of truth and meaning.

It's about time that somebody made a documentary like this. All religions are the same - foolish superstition -. Do these people actually believe that their holy books and myths were written by divine supernatural pan-dimensional beings? There were written by Human Beings not unlike themselves. There is no longer any purpose for these superstitions. They have no redeeming qualities - unless fear, shame, lies, intolerance and hatred are your ideas of good qualities -. God is dead... it's about time. Try having faith in Humankind instead because that's the only way things get done. Vapid religions succeed in creating hate, praise Mankind instead

This documentary provides a great view at religion and its contradictory evilness. As we live in a world that's threatened by religious fanatics and almost all major conflicts are based on religion, shouldn't it be time we start questioning religion? Dawkins does question religion and everything else. And he continually stresses that as opposed to faith, science tries to discover the world and congratulates everyone who makes theories obsolete.

There's a common word used against people like Dawkins - arrogance. But isn't arrogant the one who says he knows everything? Dawkins says he knows nothing but what the facts reveal him.

Fear the one who offers all knowledge for he is lying.

This is a 90-minutes documentary that examines and challenges religion. It covers an impressive amount, addressing Judaism, Islam, Christianity and Catholicism, without any of them being glossed over. It raises questions that have to be asked, and makes remarkable points. The aggressive and uncompromising way of more than one of the groups should not be ignored. Like The Enemies of Reason, this has disturbing material. This is put together of footage taken from the various areas(including famous sites) that writer Dawkins visited in making this and interviews with people from both sides, several of which are specifically known for their views on the subjects. This is more confrontational and impassioned than the later-produced, aforementioned piece, and this is sure to offend some. I don't think that is as much the intent as a side-effect... I would say that Richard means to provoke exploration, reflection, independent, free thought. I doubt he is particularly likely to go for shock value. The subject matter does perhaps make for more emotional responses, what with the deeply personal nature of it. Richard Dawkins asks great questions, and argues impeccably well. Not always equally respectful, but invariably eloquently and intelligently. I recommend this to any skeptic, and anyone in general who is willing to hear him out. 8/10