movies/tv God's Not Dead

[ReGen 1,466]

Just before I state my opinion, I have to say this: Am I the only one bothered by the term Christian film? It just seems so... unnecessary. You never hear about Atheist movies or Buddhist movies (If there are, I certainly have never heard of them), so why do there have to be movies made just for Christians?

 

Anyways (this is gonna be hard without sounding like a total bigot...), I most likely will not see this movie. Never minding the fact that it has all the classic cliches, I just can't get past how stereotypical the characters are. The professor is a huge example of this. I'm an Atheist myself and while I don't agree with religion, I won't force others to think otherwise. What is he even teaching?

[MelancholicMemory 2,022]

Seems like just another strawman propaganda movie to me. There are lots of them. This one doesn't seem particularly good either, just based on the trailer. No professor, especially no philosophy professor, would ever act like that. Their job is to create discussion, not yell out universal facts that can never be questioned. Also most philosophy classes study lots of philosophers in chronological order, rather than just harping on Nietzsche forever. In fact everything in this scenario seems totally unrealistic. Most people in the US are at least vaguely Christian, so no one is persecuting Christians here. There is no massive attack on Christians in America. It is just the producer or writer or whatever having a massive martyr complex.

 

In fact, quite the opposite of this situation happens. My religion class consists of being force fed morals with absolutely no discussion allowed. Most of what I learn in that class is blatantly false, but I have to sit there and be taught nonsense for an hour.

 

The whole point of this movie is to support Christians and attack nonbelievers based on false premises. It's a strawman. It shouldn't be taken seriously. It is just really bad propaganda, not thought provoking in the least.

 

Movies you can watch to actually make you think:

 

 

Life of Pi

The Man from Earth

Into the Wild

Wall-E

V for Vendetta

A Beautiful Mind

Dead Poet's Society

 

Watch one of those instead.

 

 

 

Anyway, I'm not attacking Christians. I am fine with Christians, and most of my friends are Christians, many very devout. I go to a private Christian school even. However, this movie is taking on a philosophical question in a very biased, one-sided manner. This is clear from just the trailer. It's like a Chick Tract, almost. Also, I just hate bad writing in general.

[Discordian 6,013]

Just before I state my opinion, I have to say this: Am I the only one bothered by the term Christian film? It just seems so... unnecessary. You never hear about Atheist movies or Buddhist movies (If there are, I certainly have never heard of them), so why do there have to be movies made just for Christians?

 

Anyways (this is gonna be hard without sounding like a total bigot...), I most likely will not see this movie. Never minding the fact that it has all the classic cliches, I just can't get past how stereotypical the characters are. The professor is a huge example of this. I'm an Atheist myself and while I don't agree with religion, I won't force others to think otherwise. What is he even teaching?

You make an excellent point but there is a bit of a theme to the movie. I don't think I've ever run into a movie that is specifically about preaching the Atheist or Buddhist teachings as this movie is obviously intending to do.

 

And my guess for the professor, based on his rather rough attitude towards religion, isn't just that he's meant to be portraying an Atheist but I think he's probably going to be a guy with a chip on his shoulder who has a personal grudge against the Christian God more than he is just a staunch non-believer.

Seems like just another strawman propaganda movie to me. There are lots of them. This one doesn't seem particularly good either, just based on the trailer. No professor, especially no philosophy professor, would ever act like that. Their job is to create discussion, not yell out universal facts that can never be questioned. Also most philosophy classes study lots of philosophers in chronological order, rather than just harping on Nietzsche forever. In fact everything in this scenario seems totally unrealistic. Most people in the US are at least vaguely Christian, so no one is persecuting Christians here. There is no massive attack on Christians in America. It is just the producer or writer or whatever having a massive martyr complex.

 

In fact, quite the opposite of this situation happens. My religion class consists of being force fed morals with absolutely no discussion allowed. Most of what I learn in that class is blatantly false, but I have to sit there and be taught nonsense for an hour.

 

The whole point of this movie is to support Christians and attack nonbelievers based on false premises. It's a strawman. It shouldn't be taken seriously. It is just really bad propaganda, not thought provoking in the least.

 

Movies you can watch to actually make you think:

 

 

Life of Pi

The Man from Earth

Into the Wild

Wall-E

V for Vendetta

A Beautiful Mind

Dead Poet's Society

 

Watch one of those instead.

 

 

 

Anyway, I'm not attacking Christians. I am fine with Christians, and most of my friends are Christians, many very devout. I go to a private Christian school even. However, this movie is taking on a philosophical question in a very biased, one-sided manner. This is clear from just the trailer. It's like a Chick Tract, almost. Also, I just hate bad writing in general.

Wouldn't be the first time a movie was totally one-sided and made out the other person to be totally bad and stereotypical for the sake of plot.

 

I'm just not even much of a movie watcher. The main reason this one caught my eye is probably because of the song, cuz I really like that song.

Edited September 5, 2013 by Discordian

[Dusknight Haze 161]

I just learned of this movie from my mom. I'm not Christian in any sense of the word but I love philosophy and I am always down for a good movie.

 

Now, some might ask...why would I make a topic about this? I'll tell you why: Because this movie has much to prove for the religious people here and looks to be an interesting look into Christian ideology.

 

Plus I love the song God's Not Dead by the Newsboys and Kevin Sorbo is in it. I learned that he had a stroke a few years ago which is why he hasn't been around much and he's found solace in the arms of God's people. Funny that he's playing the anti-religious person in the movie, eh?

 

What do you think of it? Will it be good? I'm not very well versed in Christian-based movies so I don't know if this is a typical movie or not but it was specifically pointed out to me by my mother and she doesn't watch movies all that often herself.

 

And how about any non-Christians: Would you watch this movie? Do you think it will be good as a movie or just be good as a Christian movie?

 

1. In terms of the questions it brings up, it will fail philosophically. In my experience there has literally never been an effectively philosophical movie that is truly thought through and through both in themes and presentation as a conventional film about divinity and deities. 

 

I have seen a lot of movies. The very few movies that ever convinced me of challenging and engaging philosophical questions about god and divinity are the ever-famous 2001, the sadly not-so-famous Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky, and a few other ones that bring up the question passingly like The Mission and The Fountain. The topic is just too complex to be handled by your average writer, director, cinematographer, etc.. It takes wholly involved and learned inspiration to broach the subject appropriately.

 

2. As far as this movie goes, from the trailer, it looks so utterly conventional so as to be boring. The cinematography is bland, the narration is stereotypical, and although it seems like the acting may be done rather well, the situation it sets up are so obviously cliche, biased, and rote, it's painful. Not even bad enough to be funny. Just kinda... bad.

 

While there are fiery, bitter, and insecure professors that enjoy taking apart the concept of god, I can assure you that those learned in contemporary philosophy outside of the mainstream vein of New Atheism and "Scientism" are weary to allege such a ridiculous thing as "God is Dead" since the basic understood principle of teleological divinity as that we cannot make such allegations from our own points of view or even as a consensus because we have vastly limited physical information relative to the hypothetical construct of an omnipotent and omniscient god.

 

Thus, the movie, which could have been a mediated criticism of New Atheism, fundamentalism, and a lack of critical thought, just sort of looks like a circus to me.

 

3. I am not a christian, but I am extremely critical of atheists and fundamentalists alike. 

 

4. Sources for my statements: philosophy major, theist, tons and tons of time spent watching movies, etc. If you are looking for challenging films about God and divinity, I recommend watching the previous four I mentioned: Stalker, 2001, The Mission, and The Fountain. They all have differing positions and allegations.

[Heretick-Tock 462]

Just before I state my opinion, I have to say this: Am I the only one bothered by the term Christian film? It just seems so... unnecessary. You never hear about Atheist movies or Buddhist movies (If there are, I certainly have never heard of them), so why do there have to be movies made just for Christians?

 

Anyways (this is gonna be hard without sounding like a total bigot...), I most likely will not see this movie. Never minding the fact that it has all the classic cliches, I just can't get past how stereotypical the characters are. The professor is a huge example of this. I'm an Atheist myself and while I don't agree with religion, I won't force others to think otherwise. What is he even teaching?

The thing I don't get is why Christians feel they are persecuted. There is literally no resistance against Christianity. Nearly every politician in America identifies with Christianity, or else they're shunned.

 

Most of my professors are Chrisitan, so is my dean. I'm one of the few non-Christians in my college (which happens to be secular) and I constantly get invited to church by other students.

It's not I oppose Christianity but I really it rather not be part of my life.

Edited September 5, 2013 by Heretick-Tock

[Discordian 6,013]

1. In terms of the questions it brings up, it will fail philosophically. In my experience there has literally never been an effectively philosophical movie that is truly thought through and through both in themes and presentation as a conventional film about divinity and deities. 

 

I have seen a lot of movies. The very few movies that ever convinced me of challenging and engaging philosophical questions about god and divinity are the ever-famous 2001, the sadly not-so-famous Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky, and a few other ones that bring up the question passingly like The Mission and The Fountain. The topic is just too complex to be handled by your average writer, director, cinematographer, etc.. It takes wholly involved and learned inspiration to broach the subject appropriately.

 

2. As far as this movie goes, from the trailer, it looks so utterly conventional so as to be boring. The cinematography is bland, the narration is stereotypical, and although it seems like the acting may be done rather well, the situation it sets up are so obviously cliche, biased, and rote, it's painful. Not even bad enough to be funny. Just kinda... bad.

 

While there are fiery, bitter, and insecure professors that enjoy taking apart the concept of god, I can assure you that those learned in contemporary philosophy outside of the mainstream vein of New Atheism and "Scientism" are weary to allege such a ridiculous thing as "God is Dead" since the basic understood principle of teleological divinity as that we cannot make such allegations from our own points of view or even as a consensus because we have vastly limited physical information relative to the hypothetical construct of an omnipotent and omniscient god.

 

Thus, the movie, which could have been a mediated criticism of New Atheism, fundamentalism, and a lack of critical thought, just sort of looks like a circus to me.

 

3. I am not a christian, but I am extremely critical of atheists and fundamentalists alike. 

 

4. Sources for my statements: philosophy major, theist, tons and tons of time spent watching movies, etc. If you are looking for challenging films about God and divinity, I recommend watching the previous four I mentioned: Stalker, 2001, The Mission, and The Fountain. They all have differing positions and allegations.

Perhaps the fact that I don't watch many movies is showing. A lot of people are saying this movie looks boring but it looks like any blockbuster movie to me. But then again, I don't really pay much attention to the movie scene unless it's an animated film.

 

I now question whether I should've made this topic at all but eh, it is what it is.

The thing I don't get is why Christians feel they are persecuted. There is literally no resistance against Christianity. Nearly every politician in America identifies with Christianity, or else they're shunned.

 

Most of my professors are Chrisitan, so is my dean. I'm one of the few non-Christians in my college (which happens to be secular) and I constantly get invited to church by other students.

It's not I oppose Christianity but I really it rather not be part of my life.

I'm in the same position somewhat. My entire family is Christian and I live in a predominantly Christian town. Not to mention that I live right next to a Church that I went to for a few months.

[Dusknight Haze 161]

Perhaps the fact that I don't watch many movies is showing. A lot of people are saying this movie looks boring but it looks like any blockbuster movie to me. But then again, I don't really pay much attention to the movie scene unless it's an animated film.

 

I now question whether I should've made this topic at all but eh, it is what it is.

 

I can assure you that of the films I listed, only one of them is famous. You may have trouble even finding the others 

 

I don't follow the movies of the day, either. I merely observe what is acclaimed and praised and view it for myself to make my own judgments; those who live to the praise, like Kubrick, Tarkovsky, and Aronofsky, become citations for me. Those who don't, well, I don't make an effort to remember.

 

The topic itself is fine. It is just that discussing things like God on forums can get a little out of hand since people feel very strongly about the topic.

 

As an aside, I am using the extension Ponify, so whenever someone else types "God" it appears on my screen as "Celestia." It's quite funny to me. 

 

 

The thing I don't get is why Christians feel they are persecuted. There is literally no resistance against Christianity. Nearly every politician in America identifies with Christianity, or else they're shunned.

 

The sociological reason behind this is twofold; first and foremost is a false assumption that liberal positions are based on atheism and secularism, which stems from both of the historical Red Scare incidents in which socialism was conflated with atheism (and to be fair, that is true) but this assumption is just an assumption since the modern liberal movements can barely be called socialist. Thus, where conservatives have problems with liberals, they also have problems with atheists.

 

The second reason is that most atheists are in the young age group and thus there are two general consensuses formed by the conservative public: the new generation is "corrupted" and that the youth are "corrupting" each other. Let me tell you, people get very defensive about their children. Have you ever disagreed with your parents on an ethical or philosophical question? It can get extremely heated very quickly.

 

Thus, Christians that intersect with conservatism conflate the atheism that sometimes (but not as often) intersects with liberalism, and thus that drives a very strong persecution complex since liberals are now the majority. Children becoming atheists also angers and scares religious parents.

Edited September 5, 2013 by Dusknight Haze

[Discordian 6,013]

I can assure you that of the films I listed, only one of them is famous. You may have trouble even finding the others 

 

I don't follow the movies of the day, either. I merely observe what is acclaimed and praised and view it for myself to make my own judgments; those who live to the praise, like Kubrick, Tarkovsky, and Aronofsky, become citations for me. Those who don't, well, I don't make an effort to remember.

 

The topic itself is fine. It is just that discussing things like God on forums can get a little out of hand since people feel very strongly about the topic.

 

As an aside, I am using the extension Ponify, so whenever someone else types "God" it appears on my screen as "Celestia." It's quite funny to me. 

I know religion on forums is kind of a no-no but I can't help myself. Either I want to encourage those who want to find their way in religion or I want to cause controversy with those looking to argue. I can't help myself.

 

I've never used this Ponify thing. What exactly does it do? Just take words and change them to something pony related or does it change things you type too like a sort of spellcheck?

[Dusknight Haze 161]

I know religion on forums is kind of a no-no but I can't help myself. Either I want to encourage those who want to find their way in religion or I want to cause controversy with those looking to argue. I can't help myself.

 

I've never used this Ponify thing. What exactly does it do? Just take words and change them to something pony related or does it change things you type too like a sort of spellcheck?

 

It just replaces words with a pony variant on webpages. You can also remove all the pony variants and substitute your own, or you can add even more pony variants.

 

It only changes things already rendered on a page, not things that are being typed into that page. Also, only the user can see it.

 

You can easily turn it off for any important pages or domains as well. I turn it off for anything involving work or university.

 

EDIT:

 

I have never understood why anyone would say "God is dead."  If God exists, He cannot die.  If God does not exist, He cannot die.  Either way, it makes no sense.

 

The term stems from the famous nihilist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (Neech-uh), who alleged that since god was created by men to explain the natural world and we can now explain it with math, science, philosophy, etc., and that morals and meaning can be derived from internal interpretations of experiences rather than external sources, god does not need to exist as a societal concept.

 

To me, it's a bunch of hooey. Nietzsche is widely considered by most schools of modern philosophy to be an insane syphilitic quack who did, of course, say things of value and of intelligence but had vitriolic and unnecessarily contrarian and even nonsensical positions and opinions. In his statement "god is dead" he did not even acknowledge the actual concept of a physical god, he just automatically assumed that it was an idea only created by man.

 

That assumption is not very philosophically sound since it completely ignores the definitions of existence stemming from a hypothetical all-powerful being, which is a very valid argument in my opinion; he just glossed over it entirely.

Edited September 5, 2013 by Dusknight Haze

[FoxyCryptid 4,328]

It looks like it could be fairly interesting, and I like the point he made about "he wants us to decide for ourselves". 

 

As for region, as someone who's Christian in a way(abet, mixed with random spirituality and respect for quite a few other religions). My main issue is the why so many churches preach hatred and bile. The way they've become obsessed with dogma instead of actually having a relationship with God and loving one another.

 

It often makes me wonder if religion itself is a test, and those who see the lies and spiteful nature of it and find their own individual faith are the ones passing it.

 

"Don't confuse real faith with the supposedly faithful"  

[Dusknight Haze 161]

It looks like it could be fairly interesting, and I like the point he made about "he wants us to decide for ourselves". 

 

As for region, as someone who's Christian in a way(abet, mixed with random spirituality and respect for quite a few other religions). My main issue is the why so many churches preach hatred and bile. The way they've become obsessed with dogma instead of actually having a relationship with God and loving one another.

 

It often makes me wonder if religion itself is a test, and those who see the lies and spiteful nature of it and find their own individual faith are the ones passing it.

 

"Don't confuse real faith with the supposedly faithful"  

 

Not gonna name names and I don't want to offend anybody but I can practically guarantee you that in any part of the world where there is religion, the ones that spread hate and filth are fundamentalists 95% of the time. The idea that religion affects material reality rather than spiritual is an evil one since it basically gives you permission to judge others based on material categories rather than spiritual ones (instead of judging whether someone is a good person, you get to judge them for being gay, being trans*, being atheist, etc.) which is generally the opposite of those who are more orthodox or reformed.

 

While there certainly is ignorance in all religions amongst the laypeople of the orthodox and reformed varieties of various religions, it in no way approaches the near-violence and sometimes-violence that fundamentalists use.

[FoxyCryptid 4,328]

Not gonna name names and I don't want to offend anybody but I can practically guarantee you that in any part of the world where there is religion, the ones that spread hate and filth are fundamentalists 95% of the time. The idea that religion affects material reality rather than spiritual is an evil one since it basically gives you permission to judge others based on material categories rather than spiritual ones (instead of judging whether someone is a good person, you get to judge them for being gay, being trans*, being atheist, etc.) which is generally the opposite of those who are more orthodox or reformed.

 

While there certainly is ignorance in all religions amongst the laypeople of the orthodox and reformed varieties of various religions, it in no way approaches the near-violence and sometimes-violence that fundamentalists use.

 

Agreed, as I said, there's way to many people that are in it for the rules instead of the spirituality and relationship with God. In the end what matters is what's in someone's soul. I personally believe that you can't call something a sin if it's not hurting anyone. 

[techno915 407]

I like the trailer. I'm rather interested. also, i love the song it's named after. one of my favorite Christian songs, actually. and for the record, yes. I am a Christian. I'm a proud Roman Catholic.

[ReverseFaller 2,483]

This doesn't look too bad, I'll probably give it a shot. I was never really one for religious movies, but this one looks bearable. This looks a lot more appealing than some other Christian movies I've seen trailers for in the past.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,513]

There are two things that bother me instantly when I read the title, having not watched the trailer yet: 1. It is apparently presuming that there is this sweeping revolution of atheists and other non-Christian god spiritual beliefs and this movie was made to show that 2. Christians are still right regardless.

 

I just do not feel any importance to seeing this film. All it sounds like is a religion propagating itself up to being right, as most religious films seem to do. Plus, it just sounds boring. Who knows, maybe I am wrong and there is a lot more to this movie, but the title alone sounds a bit odd. There are still tons of Christians around as far as I know. It would be just like making a movie and calling it 'Prayer should still be in school.' When non-mandatory prayer is still perfectly fine. Apparently a lot of people don't know that.

 

No offense intented, I just eon'y see the point to movies like this, even if I were a Christian I wouldn't see the point, just like how I do not see the point in church, at all.

[Sir Cal Stonehoof 596]

Wow I really want to see this movie.. It looks well put together, and there seems to be a good cast too. 

 

I mean it is a big question. Is God dead? When you look at the state of the world, it is easy to say yes. Greed, murder, malice, and deception are running rampant.  People around the world are dying from illness, and hunger. If God is alive, then why doesn't he (or she) do something about the world problems? I don't blame nor condemn anyone that thinks God has abandoned us.

 

What I do condemn, and blame is religion. Religion puts blinders on a person's eyes, ignorance in their minds, and hatred in their hearts. Religion will not save a person's soul, or help solve the world's problems. I mean the Bible was written over 2,000 years ago, and can anyone honestly say, that in that time, that nothing was lost in translation? Maybe some Kings, or priests changed what was written to facilitate their own gains? I hope this film isn't one of those that has that "Christianity is the only right way." messages at the end. That would kill it for me, because..its not Christianity, but Jesus that is the way. Maybe if more Christians started acting more like Jesus, then we wouldn't have so many people feeling like God is dead. 

 

Sorry I didn't want to turn this into a religious discussion. As a follower of Jesus, I simply try to live by his commandments. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul", and "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:30-31) Yes I paraphrase them, but you get what I am saying. I try everyday to show the love of Jesus to everyone around me. I don't do it for any reward that may or may not come after I die.  I do it because I want to...the world needs more love...more kindness..

[Heretick-Tock 462]

For those interested, r/occult has a fantastic thread about this very topic (Who Killed God?)

http://www.reddit.com/r/occult/comments/1lawym/who_killed_god/

Not going to lie when I say that Reddit always has the answer.

[DiscordPF 139]

The big problem I have with this is that teachers are NOT allowed to do things like this.  You are allowed to disagree with the teacher.  In fact, it doesn't matter which side you root for, as long as you make a convincing argument in your essay/presentation/etc. then that's what's being graded.

 

I will chalk the above up to "Hollywood" and leave it at that, for the sake of simplicity.

My main concern with this movie is this:  This movie can only be effective if the protagonist gives a thorough and extremely convincing argument for the existence of the christian ideal of God.  If this is not done, then the whole point of the movie is mute and the audience is simply fed a bunch of bull (I'll stop there, but you get the point).

 

Now, I'm not a Christian, but I came from that background.  I've studied the bible, and I honestly don't have a problem with Christianity as it is in the bible.  However, I have a problem with ignorant beliefs held by "Christians" that contradict what the bible says.  I'm very afraid that many of these things will be played out in this movie, thereby increasing the ignorance of the general populace as to what Christianity truly is.