luvluv

Just saw "The God Who Wasn't There" and saw your (dare I say, our?) beloved Richard Carrier. Was shocked to see how young he was, or at least, looks.

Of course, the movie was a terrible hatchet job (now I know how conservatives who see a Michael Moore movie feel), but I was geeked to see somebody I talked to on the net before in a movie.

On the movie, I wish it would have focused on misrepresenting just one thing and took it's time with it, rather than try to fit the very controversial Jesus Myth thesis into a general critique of modern Christianity. It has all the objectivity of an abandoned woman writing the biography of her ex-boyfriend, but I can look past that in a documentary if it's informative. But since it was so scattershot, the director barely had time to say much about the Christ-myther theory (and what he did say was quite hyperbolic). I still haven't read much about the whole thing and was hoping to get a little info out of the movie, but alas, nay. Plus, the guy portrays the Christ myther theory as if it's the theory of Price and Carrier, and unless I've missed something (entirely possible) I thought both guys were agnostic about it.

Anyway, interesting movie. I actually like Sam Harris, who is in my mind one of the few celebrity atheists who is actually motivated by a love of mankind as opposed to a hatred of religion. So it's always good to hear him talk.

Be interested to see what any of you all thinks of the movie, particularly you, young Richard Carrier, if you're around.

luvluv

Oh, and the music was horrible. Horrible. AWFUL. BAD. ATROCIOUS. HORRENDOUS. INSUFFERABLE! BAD!!!!!

Minnesota Joe

In his recent book defending metaphysical naturalism (which is excellent by the way) he says he is "approaching middle age". That might mean he is in his thirties, I don't know.

I read somewhere--if I remember, it was Carrier's online office--that he has become less agnostic about it. I won't characterize it beyond that, because I might screw something up and I'm sure he can respond himself if he is around.

If that is correct (I haven't seen the movie but I plan to), it would be really unfortunate. Bad music can really ruin a movie. By "bad" do you mean the sound was bad or the genre was bad?

luvluv

The genre. And plus there's just too much of it. Other folks might like it, particularly if they frequent raves or the like. It was like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

Toto

Richard Carrier was born December 1, 1970. (I remember this because I went into shock when I read that.)

The movie was a short documentary meant to provoke thought, not provide a comprehensive scholarly presentation. If you get the DVD, there are some extended interviews with Doherty that might be more what you want.

Carrier recently announced on this board that he has decided the weight of the evidence favors mythicism. Price is agnostic in a formal sense; he has said that if there was a Jesus of history, there is no more, since all historical evidence is lost. He has also said that he thinks mythicism is most probable, but there is not enough evidence to prove it.

Viti

I met Richard this summer, and though he is close to my age, I thought he was at least 10 years younger.

Malachi151

As an atheist and supported of the Christ myth view I can say as well that I thought the film was less than good, and had a lot of room for improvement, BUT, hey, at least he made it.

"If I had made it" I would have done many things differently, BUT, I didn't make it, so I'll take it the way that it is.

luvluv

I saw William Dembski on the daily show and he looked like a teenager in his father's clothes. It's hard to take these guys seriously when you realize how young they are. I mean they're both older than me, but they seem like they've been writing for like 20 years or something. It's weird.

Malachi I think if he made the movie about the Jesus myth that would be one thing, if he made it about how Christianity is going to take over the world with it's sinister evil, that would be another. But to try to do both in an hour is just a bad idea.

Could he not get funding for a longer movie or what? To be honest, it felt like he had to stetch it a bit to even get to an hour, what with the cheesy clips from old Jesus movies and that extended clip of the Passion. He could have made a good movie just about the Christ Myth, which is actually what I thought I was gonna get.

Aspirin99

I just received the DVD in the mail. I'm an agnostic. My wife is Christian, though very "liberal." I was hoping to entice her into watching it with me. She read the back cover which said someone like "Christians are as blood thirsty now as they ever were." She said that if that over-generalization was typical of the whole movie, she had no interest in watching it.

I was planning on seeing it this weekend.

Aspirin99

One more thing. I'm a huge fan of Richard Carrier's work. It's one of the main reasons I purchased the DVD.