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Teringer An Exercise In Nonsense

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

josiahkwhite How can this awful movie possibly get a higher IMDb rating than Higher Ground? Higher Ground also came from a recovering fundamentalist, but treated her religious experiences with great insight and sensitivity. Compared to that movie, this one is embarrassing.I give it 4 stars because it was at least very thought-provoking. It's very interesting because it doesn't just debunk Christian theology. Instead, it actually goes so far as to come up with an "atheist theology" which is even easier to debunk.I mean, seriously: Jesus didn't exist because many parts of his life are also found in the lives of contemporary gods like Dionysus? Dionysus and countless others are also depicted as having had a virgin birth, a resurrection, etc. Therefore, Jesus was no more real that Dionysus and the others? Seriously? There's a perfectly reasonable alternative explanation. Imagine God saying the following to himself, before sending his son to earth: They already have a model or a prototype that they expect their little gods to follow, even though these gods are completely mythical. So I'll blow them away even more if I more-or-less follow that model, but make it all true: really heal the sick, really resurrect dead people, etc. But again and again, this director ignores the possibility of reasonable explanations, and never proves his assertions like, "Therefore, Jesus is no more real than any of these other mythical gods were." And why attack Mel Gibson's Passion movie for being so violent? Was his point that Christians should be criticized because they actually liked this portrayal of their Christ? Perhaps the world is simply, on occasion, a very violent place. It's like criticizing patriotic Americans because they like the violence of Saving Private Ryan. I didn't like the violence of WW2, but the reality of what our troops suffered on Omaha Beach made me respect their heroism more, not less.While I'm no fan of any kind of fundamentalism, this movie made it clear that atheist fundamentalism can be equally as obnoxious as the religious kind is. Many atheists are actually very nice people who believe religion is at best a crutch used to help and comfort those too weak to stand on their own. They would never go around kicking the crutches of people recovering from broken legs. But the obnoxious tone of this whole movie is nothing more than "kicking the crutch" out from under Christians who need their faith to get through life.See Higher Ground instead. That was so well done. This movie did nothing but ridicule, and instead ended up making itself ridiculous.

Bento de Espinosa I'd like to give this movie a 10 for what it's trying to say, because, at the end, in the whole, it's true. But unfortunately, technically this movie is not very good. It feels amateurish. Background music is too loud, annoying, narration could be better and it even wrongly quotes Jesus with a passage out of context. That Paul didn't believe Jesus had lived on Earth is also just plain wrong.Because of this and its tone of disdain, people who should be encouraged to use their brains and convinced that they believe in ridiculous things will dismiss this movie as inaccurate and biased.Nevertheless, the message itself is true: FEAR is the central element in Christianity (and most religions). Fear (of going to hell) prevents people from truly, deeply REFLECTING. If they would reflect, they would stop believing, because when you think about all these things, you SEE how absurd they are.

moriahhesed I have come out of Christianity too but did not like many tactics Brian used to make this film. Man made dogma has created many problems as far as controlling and misleading people. Just because man-made dogma is wrong does NOT mean God does not exist. You can sense Brian's bitterness in this film. I was mad at first too when I discovered, after much study of the scriptures, the error in the NT. Most of us do not know the Tanach well enough to detect them other than we recognize the verses when they are used as coming out of the Tanach, but normally there is no reference so it cannot be checked easily unless you make the effort, much like Brian's mistake. How many of you got your Bible and checked out his use of some quotes? One was Luke 19:17, where Brian implies Jesus is speaking about his enemies, but if you go back in the chapter to the beginning, Jesus is talking about a nobleman in a PARABLE who makes this statement, yet Brian wrongfully implies it is Jesus, talking about his enemies. Now, I am sorry, but I find that hypocritical because I think he would have known he took it out of context while making a film of this nature. Also Hebrews 8:4 was somewhat misleading, but that might be debatable, depending on how you look at it, since my husband & I both came up with a different understanding of it. I have removed the NT from the Tanach in my bibles(the Hebrew Scriptures, what Jesus used, OT, Original Text, I do not like to call it now what Christians do since it is disrespectful. How would Christians like it if Muslims added the Qur'an to the NT and started calling the NT the Old NT and that the Qur'an was now the currant word of God. I do not think they would like it at all. Each faith should stand on their own if you are going to choose to follow one.) I do not like labels, they divide us. I think we should all learn to say "Perhaps," even the Atheists, that way we are not demanding everyone believe as we do and that they are wrong and we are right and visa versa.I think if you want to get the attention of Christians, you need to be more respectful and address the misconceptions and quotes out of context with concern and seriousness, not sarcasm, such as I picked up on in the film. Again, I can understand the sarcasm but it is not helping while addressing Christians. Brainwashing is a serious state of mind and you are challenging someone who has been taught to love that teaching so if you want to introduce truth, extend some grace and be factual but gentle. I believe it is actually God who brings people out of the man-made dogma and points them to truth. One has to have an open mind and a teachable spirit. Often our ego gets in the way because we do not want to believe that we have been taught wrong and willingly accepted that error. There are "fear" verses used to control them as well. Very sad. Again, if Brian wanted to make progress in educating people, sarcasm probably is not the best approach. God is most important in my life but not as man has created Him, nor as Brian has lost sight of him in the movie . Seek God, Seek to Improve YOUR Spirit and harm no one in the process. God will look at your heart and mind, not your label. Do your own research. We are accountable for what we believe. It will affect the decisions we make and the outcome of your life.

raptorsnest Before I begin this review I must say I am surprised that I am even writing it. My reviews mainly consist of big blockbusters and anime. Do not get me wrong I enjoy documentary and fiction based stuff (Bill Maher's Religulous is one of my favorites) I just don't feel the need to comment on them, but with is film I felt needed to.As an agnostic I truly take no sides in the thesis or atheist argument when it comes to religion, I am a person to who see's both sides of any debate. Therefore I have seen interesting films that are both religious and non religious and The God who wasn't there was another one of these films.The beginning of the film is quite interesting where the director brings up inconsistencies in the Gospels and showing how other religions had similar figures to Jesus and his life; also it was good to show some people in both the religious and political spectrum twist certain ideas of faith to fit there own agendas and justification of violence.However, the director lost me when he returned to the fundamentalist school he attended as a youth where he basically tricked and cornered the school superintendent into trying to admit his teachings were wrong.While I am agnostic and have no real opinion on faith, I do think any sort of belief is a good thing and to go and make it seems like brain washing or something evil is just wrong, after watching the film it seemed more like a personal purging of the directors angst rather than a impartial argument of the existence of God.In closing, I would not say do not see this film it brings up some good points, but go in knowing that it is not unbiased view point. Otherwise it will leave a bad taste in your mouth.