Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Sephiroth · 04-02-2002, 01:08 AM

Any religious program in the US seems to be bound to slant towards Christianity so I'm not surprised.

cymbalina · 04-02-2002, 01:44 PM

I really have a problem with the "educational" shows on the Discovery Channel and TLC (for instance) that push the incredible as being credible-- aliens building the pyramids, Atlantean technology, Noah's flood happening, etc.
Probably my worst experience was one of those shows about the Shroud of Turin. I was in my teens at the time, and breaking away from Catholicism for the *second* time, and then they broadcasted one of those shows that concludes that not only is the Shroud real, but that the image on it was caused by the Resurrection... it terrified me. I spent the night worrying about what if it were true, and how I'd have to go back to the Church if it were.
Fortunately, sites like II exist to help me lay all those doubts to rest in a rational manner.

Nuts to the Discovery Channel!
Cymbalina

Marduk · 04-02-2002, 03:15 PM

"This is the same network that routinely broadcasts things about the 'bermuda triangle' and 'atlantis' as if they really existed"

Oh they exist, just not in the way they are often portrayed.
Discover is best when they stick to BBC productions like "Blue Planet" or "Walking with Dinosaurs" The Peter Jennings special on Jesus last year was the only one where they even bothered to interview a 'Jesus as Myth' scholar, a much better show.
A & E and the History channel have had much more skeptical shows on the Bible, but they often have their own "Mystery" type shows to where you have to wait till the last 10 minutes for the debunk.

BTW tonight & tomorrow at 9 EST 'The Gods of Egypt' on History Channel.

sullster · 04-02-2002, 07:24 PM

Discovery Channel is disappointing at times and does pander to believers of all sorts of nonsense. This is surprising considering that the magazine "Discover" does a good job of staying with the perspective of science and reason. Once in a while they have a science topic that is a bit on the fringe but usually show opposing views. Shame on the TV channel for being so stupid.

Seeker196 · 04-02-2002, 08:29 PM

"All of his companions carried through with the pact, but Josephus didnt. He walked away free by defecting to the Romans."

oo you have got to take a course on interpreting Classical history!

If you just read it cold, they always talk in extremes 'all' massacred, 'every woman and child', the 'whole multitude', etc.

Especially read Herodotus, there are a few times when an island or city-state whose 'whole' population was supposedly enslaved or killed is mysterious there again a year later...

Often, the ancients like to exaggerate those sorts of things, especially when they didn't have exact numbers or they are trying to emphasize the cruelty of a king, etc.

You should usually read 'all' to mean 'most of' or even 'some', when reading about classical massacres and such.

The actual acheological evidence usually shows that, in fact, large numbers are spared, escaped, bribed, etc etc. in these sorts of events (see massacre of the Babylonians, the Lydians, etc.)

Ruy Lopez · 04-04-2002, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by butswana:
<strong>That's typical. I have NEVER seen a show where they even mentioned that jesus might be a myth. They all assume he was a real dude. Pretty fucked up, but you don't want to piss off too many people. Those advertising dollars are hard to come by.</strong>

I have seen one Discovery 3-part program about three years ago in the international broadcast. The title is "From Jesus to Christ". It ran for three days before Christmas, replayed the following week and never appeared again. It was of the secular biblical scholar type.

tronvillain · 04-04-2002, 10:32 AM

I find that Discovery Canada is pretty good about this sort of thing. There was an excellent show on "The Flood" a while ago, and it treated the Christian account as a myth.

Marduk · 04-04-2002, 03:22 PM

"I have seen one Discovery 3-part program about three years ago in the international broadcast. The title is "From Jesus to Christ"."

That was first on PBS NOVA, I have the series on videotape, you can still get it from the PBS website. A lot of Discover
shows were first aired on NOVA, PBS or BBC. I guess they buy them.

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04-02-2002, 01:08 AM	#11
Sephiroth Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Georgia, USA Posts: 625	Any religious program in the US seems to be bound to slant towards Christianity so I'm not surprised.

04-02-2002, 01:44 PM	#12
cymbalina Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Michigan Posts: 12	I really have a problem with the "educational" shows on the Discovery Channel and TLC (for instance) that push the incredible as being credible-- aliens building the pyramids, Atlantean technology, Noah's flood happening, etc. Probably my worst experience was one of those shows about the Shroud of Turin. I was in my teens at the time, and breaking away from Catholicism for the second time, and then they broadcasted one of those shows that concludes that not only is the Shroud real, but that the image on it was caused by the Resurrection... it terrified me. I spent the night worrying about what if it were true, and how I'd have to go back to the Church if it were. Fortunately, sites like II exist to help me lay all those doubts to rest in a rational manner. Nuts to the Discovery Channel! Cymbalina

04-02-2002, 03:15 PM	#13
Marduk Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: the 10th planet Posts: 5,065	"This is the same network that routinely broadcasts things about the 'bermuda triangle' and 'atlantis' as if they really existed" Oh they exist, just not in the way they are often portrayed. Discover is best when they stick to BBC productions like "Blue Planet" or "Walking with Dinosaurs" The Peter Jennings special on Jesus last year was the only one where they even bothered to interview a 'Jesus as Myth' scholar, a much better show. A & E and the History channel have had much more skeptical shows on the Bible, but they often have their own "Mystery" type shows to where you have to wait till the last 10 minutes for the debunk. BTW tonight & tomorrow at 9 EST 'The Gods of Egypt' on History Channel.

04-02-2002, 07:24 PM	#14
sullster Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: North of Boston Posts: 1,392	Discovery Channel is disappointing at times and does pander to believers of all sorts of nonsense. This is surprising considering that the magazine "Discover" does a good job of staying with the perspective of science and reason. Once in a while they have a science topic that is a bit on the fringe but usually show opposing views. Shame on the TV channel for being so stupid.

04-02-2002, 08:29 PM	#15
Seeker196 Regular Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Canada Posts: 278	"All of his companions carried through with the pact, but Josephus didnt. He walked away free by defecting to the Romans." oo you have got to take a course on interpreting Classical history! If you just read it cold, they always talk in extremes 'all' massacred, 'every woman and child', the 'whole multitude', etc. Especially read Herodotus, there are a few times when an island or city-state whose 'whole' population was supposedly enslaved or killed is mysterious there again a year later... Often, the ancients like to exaggerate those sorts of things, especially when they didn't have exact numbers or they are trying to emphasize the cruelty of a king, etc. You should usually read 'all' to mean 'most of' or even 'some', when reading about classical massacres and such. The actual acheological evidence usually shows that, in fact, large numbers are spared, escaped, bribed, etc etc. in these sorts of events (see massacre of the Babylonians, the Lydians, etc.)

04-04-2002, 10:32 AM	#17
tronvillain Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 5,658	I find that Discovery Canada is pretty good about this sort of thing. There was an excellent show on "The Flood" a while ago, and it treated the Christian account as a myth.

04-04-2002, 03:22 PM	#18
Marduk Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: the 10th planet Posts: 5,065	"I have seen one Discovery 3-part program about three years ago in the international broadcast. The title is "From Jesus to Christ"." That was first on PBS NOVA, I have the series on videotape, you can still get it from the PBS website. A lot of Discover shows were first aired on NOVA, PBS or BBC. I guess they buy them.

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