God's Warriors

[Samerron]

http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/gods.warriors/

Anybody planning to watch this TV program? I find it really interesting and intriguing. I have been discussing a very similar topic with a friend of mine, plus I always wondered about such religious believes.

It's going to be on CNN. I'm not sure if all CNN channels, because I know there is a CNN channel for the US and another for Europe I guess.

 

[SFG75]

This is going to be one heck of a good series. Christiane Amanpour is a great journalist and the link you provided has some interesting tidbits. I won't watch on tv, but I'll listen on SIRIUS.

 

[Samerron]

This is going to be one heck of a good series. Christiane Amanpour is a great journalist and the link you provided has some interesting tidbits.

True! Looking forward to it... and afterwards we can discuss it here

 

[SFG75]

Episode one starts tonight, 9 eastern in the states.

 

[abecedarian]

Too bad our tv is just a glorified movie machine..this sounds interesting.

 

[sparkchaser]

Too bad our tv is just a glorified movie machine..this sounds interesting.

I'm sure you can find torrents of it or something but don't tell anyone I told you that.

 

[SFG75]

I only caught bits and pieces about the Israeli zealot. I'm hoping to catch the Muslim episode tonight, I should have a clear evening.

 

[Samerron]

The CNN channel broadcasting here in the Middle East will start the show tonight. I'm planning to watch, unless something comes up.

For those who watched the first part, how long was it?
I guess the first episode is about Jews, second about Christianity and third is about Muslims.

 

[beer good]

For those who watched the first part, how long was it?
I guess the first episode is about Jews, second about Christianity and third is about Muslims.

1st about Jews, 2nd about Muslims and 3rd about Christians - which is an interesting setup, since it's bound to leave some viewers on a bitter "Oh, so you thought we were better than them? Guess again!" note.

Based on the first ep, though, I'm not completely sure it was a good idea to give each religion separate episodes. Especially when it comes to the Middle East, the three Abrahamic religions are so tied up in each other both historically and ideologically that it's hard to present a picture of just ONE of them isolated from the others. For instance, how do you explain Israeli extremism without Palestine extremism and vice versa? How do you explain US support for Israel without going into the evangelical idea that the battle on Armagedon is almost upon us? They touched upon it, but since the focus was on Judaism this time around, they couldn't go much into it.

Still, I liked the first episode. It was well-balanced, well-researched and not so opinionated as to make it easy to dismiss, yet in parts truly frightening. Amanpour did a great job of letting people speak for themselves as opposed to putting words in their mouth.

 

[Samerron]

I’ve seen the first part. A 2-hour session rich with information. CNN is amazing and especially the distinguished reporter. I really liked it and initiated lots of thoughts about the conflict and about religions and how every sect believes they are following the only right religion and God has chosen them. This is a very beneficial documentary that everyone should see. I guess it eventually be on youtube.com.

Well, can’t wait to watch the rest. I’m definitely going to free myself for them. Watch it guys and we'll discuss it...

 

[beer good]

Part 2 was also very informational and well-researched, though I did have some issues with it. Part of it is what I mentioned about part 1: that by treating the fanatics of each religion separately, you miss out on any similarities between them (there were quite a few quotes in today's episode about the decadence of modern society, and about the need for religion-based laws, that I think might as easily have come from an evangelical preacher as from a muslim one). The question WHY religious fundamentalism has been on the rise for the last 100 years - and especially the last 30-40 or so - is largely brushed off as "being dissatisfied with the modern world", and I think it might be a lot more complex than that. And while they take every chance to point out that terrorists and their sympatizers are a minority, they never really address the question of how small a minority, and what the alternative is. Considering how many in the Western world consider Islam to be a religion consisting purely of terrorists, I think that's a problem.

 

[Samerron]

The one about Islam was quite good. It got lots of information. I agree with you beer good that they talk about sects and minorities but not mention how small are they. I also realized they didn't mention Saudi Arabia much, though they covered Iran and Shia pretty well.

 

[silverseason]

The question WHY religious fundamentalism has been on the rise for the last 100 years - and especially the last 30-40 or so - is largely brushed off as "being dissatisfied with the modern world", and I think it might be a lot more complex than that.

In Karen Armstrong's The Battle for God she deals with fundamentalists in the three major religions. As I recall her point of view, she sees it as a flight from modernism, not the technology, but the loss of security of belief. And of course in the Middle East there are additional issues of political and military domination where seekers of power find the fundamentalists useful.

 

[beer good]

In Karen Armstrong's The Battle for God she deals with fundamentalists in the three major religions. As I recall her point of view, she sees it as a flight from modernism, not the technology, but the loss of security of belief. And of course in the Middle East there are additional issues of political and military domination where seekers of power find the fundamentalists useful.

Thanks for mentioning The Battle For God! That is an excellent book, which everyone with the slightest interest in these matters should read, and I do wish they had given Armstrong and other scholars a bit more room in the series.

The third part was good too, I thought, though again: it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if they had put some of the Evangelicals (that guy who claimed popular culture was all about raping virgins, for instance) and some of the Moslem extremists from the previous episodes in one room together. I expect they would have been fast friends.

On a whole, I liked the series, but it could have done with a bit more analysis and comparison. Much like the (otherwise pretty good) documentary film Jesus Camp, which is also recommended, it's really more of a primer, using a little bit of shock value (Amanpour's love for the title phrase, for instance) to raise awareness, but not really going far beyond that.

 

[SFG75]

episode one

Finally got around to listening to episodes one and three on SIRIUS. The first one was very informative. I've heard of the "end of times" evangelicals who are diehard zionists before,but Amanpour's story made it more personable. I didn't know that they shared religious services on occasion, not to mention raising money for zionists to relocate to the occupied territories. I am kind of nervous about a movement that supports all Israeli policy in the hopes that it would bring about armageddon, but that's just me.

I also listened intently when the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin was discussed. I didn't know it, but his killer was at a funeral of an Israeli citizen who shot 20+ muslim worshippers before being stomped to death by a Muslim crowd. His actions were carried out in turn due to a suicide bombing in a business near his neighborhood, which in turn must have been the result of......... Rabin's assassin thought the shooter of worshippers was a martyr. I also didn't know of the radical zionist threats against Rabin. The use of curses against the Jew who had gone "astray" and it's historical roots is something I didn't know about before.

it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if they had put some of the Evangelicals (that guy who claimed popular culture was all about raping virgins, for instance) and some of the Moslem extremists from the previous episodes in one room together. I expect they would have been fast friends.

In his latest book, Jimmy Carter does an excellent analysis of "fundamentalism." There is a common theme of not allowing them in positions of power within the church, despite earlier histories that indicatethe opposite. Not to mention rigidity in "moral" matters and a perpetual fear of being persecuted. If you could get them to talk about feminism and moral decline, they would more than be at home with one another. Though they think the other person would be the one who would go to hell.