It wasn't the message of Jesus which moved masses of humans to fighting. It was the natural history of humans. Each camp has its own view, whether they are Christian, Muslim, Jewish, atheist or other religions. It would be hard to weave this all into a story that's easy to follow, but without being complete (in a summary form) and balanced, we have the appearance of taking sides. Should Christians drop their guard if Muslims do not? Should injustice-- such as anti-Semitism-- be the grounds for bias in the _other direction? Should liberals be mad when a conservative preacher finds his gay side after all? Modern thinkers could be tolerant and understanding of a human being's journey to self-awareness.
The film is probably trying to make the world better and tackle some of the most difficult issues -- human violence and hypocrisy. But once that's resolved, humans are still leaving a huge & increasing ecological footprint on the biosphere. Violence against non-humans is a major problem too! With religion, historical rigor and intelligence, this film's aspirations are higher than other films. So, the design of those higher realms should still be rigorous, to sustain the weight of reason and knowledge.
And so, I'd like the filmmakers to see their calling as being.... to persuade _all sides that what's good in their theology should not impel us to mass destruction. Without the inclusive listing of atrocities by both sides ... indirectly... any story encourages the regimented opponents of Christianity... to attack. Or, if one thinks the balance is really tipped against Christians, one needs to make a full case of that in a chapter with citations for alert scholars.
Some reviewers have already revealed sides of this vast topic area which the author and filmmaker could use, next time they explain things. We're all descendants of epic struggles for dominance. It's a good topic and in this film, it is told with blunt intelligence. It's a very difficult film to make and very high-minded of them to try. This film's bravery, research and sentiment for good.... earn six stars from me... for a movie that I'm not yet satisfied with. This film was rather quiet on the universal question-- that of whether our nature gives rise to religion or whether religious ideas deserve separate consideration.
The film is probably trying to make the world better and tackle some of the most difficult issues -- human violence and hypocrisy. But once that's resolved, humans are still leaving a huge & increasing ecological footprint on the biosphere. Violence against non-humans is a major problem too! With religion, historical rigor and intelligence, this film's aspirations are higher than other films. So, the design of those higher realms should still be rigorous, to sustain the weight of reason and knowledge.
And so, I'd like the filmmakers to see their calling as being.... to persuade _all sides that what's good in their theology should not impel us to mass destruction. Without the inclusive listing of atrocities by both sides ... indirectly... any story encourages the regimented opponents of Christianity... to attack. Or, if one thinks the balance is really tipped against Christians, one needs to make a full case of that in a chapter with citations for alert scholars.
Some reviewers have already revealed sides of this vast topic area which the author and filmmaker could use, next time they explain things. We're all descendants of epic struggles for dominance. It's a good topic and in this film, it is told with blunt intelligence. It's a very difficult film to make and very high-minded of them to try. This film's bravery, research and sentiment for good.... earn six stars from me... for a movie that I'm not yet satisfied with. This film was rather quiet on the universal question-- that of whether our nature gives rise to religion or whether religious ideas deserve separate consideration.