TV/Movies Megathread

[Martinus]

Religion should evolve together with our understanding of the world - else it withers and dies, like something we do not need any more.

Well I couldn't agree with you more on that point. Hence why I got my religion. But it also speaks to my annoyance with the emphasis on the superstitious parts of Christianity in those movies. See? It all comes back on topic!

Yeah, I think Unitarianism is pretty close to what I consider a good modern religion. I am not sure, by the way, where this discussion started - the post I originally quoted was the first one I read so I may have been out of context.

Edit: I just realised I didn't originally quote any post - so I guess I read maybe 2 or 3 posts before the one I made.

[Admiral Yi]

Caught a little bit of Billy Jack t'other night.  An hour and a half of pure hippy nonsense combined with 2 minutes of total badassery.  It's unwatchable.

[garbon]

Yes that film is terrible. i got to watch it as my mother had teen nostalgia and had not recalled how bad it was.

[11B4V]

Caught a little bit of Billy Jack t'other night.  An hour and a half of pure hippy nonsense combined with 2 minutes of total badassery.  It's unwatchable.

Bong Soo Han & Hapkido FTW.

[viper37]

Christianity won because it explained the world better and offered a connection to divinity that was more in tune with the times. It has since faltered in that task. Time to replace it with something more modern. Like Thelema. 

Christianity spread to the poor because it spoke to them.  It did not differentiate between a slave, a Jew or a Roman.  At a time when there was a, sort of, stratified system of classes, with slaves at the bottom, telling people they'll all be "free" and "equal" in Christ brought a message of hope.
As it spread through the populace, the government eventually had to embrace it to gain the population's support.
And it went downhill from there.  Religion and politics shouldn't mix.
From this moment on, Christianity waged a war on non Christians, and later on any teachings that diverted from the orthodoxy of Rome.

[Valmy]

From this moment on, Christianity waged a war on non Christians, and later on any teachings that diverted from the orthodoxy of Rome.

Well to be fair they started attacking each other over dogma well before they went after the non-Christians. That was the key to Julian's whole strategy for the resurgence of traditional religions.

[Razgovory]

Christianity won because it explained the world better. It has since faltered in that task. Time to replace it with something more modern. Like Thelema. 

Instead of 'Gods did it' they went with 'God did it' and everybody was like: wow it all is so clear now.

Nah, it's not just that.

Early paganism was about the Earth. She was the life giver and the source of the mystery of life. The woman gave birth - and nobody knew why. She was divine!

Then people realised that it was the male that impregnated the female. Without it, she was barren. Hence the religion moved towards the solar, because Earth revolved around Sun, and her cycles depended on his rays - Osiris, Sol Invictus, Mithra, and ultimately Christ - all male solar deities that die and are reborn, like sun, in its is daily and annual cycle.

We now know that neither is true. Stars are countless and they are suns in their own right, there is nothing uniquely special about our own sun. Nor does the Sun actually die or is reborn - it is eternal and death and resurrection is just an illusion. So it doesn't make sense to worship only one god. We all are gods. Hence the outburst of new religions that one way or another acknowledge that - even in such a perverted and stunted form as Mormonism or Scientology do.

Religion should evolve together with our understanding of the world - else it withers and dies, like something we do not need any more.

You know what should also evolve?  The study of comparative religions.  It's 2016 not 1906.

[Admiral Yi]

Bill Hickok was the one holding the dead man's hand when he got shot, wasn't he?

Wonder why Deadwood doesn't dwell on that.

[crazy canuck]

I really dislike those show's reliance on the supernatural bullshit. I mean Christianity did not win in the West because of its magical powers.

Disagree.  From Constantine's victory at the Milvian Bridge, to the miracles of saints and the worship of relics, the history of the Church was very much about "magical powers".

Sure, it adapted the mysticism of the existing mystery cults, but Valmy's point still holds - that is not why it became the dominant religion. 

[Savonarola]

I saw the preview for "London has Fallen" and started imagining Morgan Freeman narrating:

And so, the penguins have laid waste and wanton destruction to the city of London.  Why do the penguins do this?  Nobody knows, but its up to me, Morgan Freeman, to save civilization from the menace of the penguins.

Unfortunately it seems that it is terrorist, rather than penguins, that are the villains in the film.

[Savonarola]

Cinderella (2015)

Simply a wonderful bit of storytelling; something that Walt would be proud of.   

Lily James's waist is so thin in the ball dress (with the aid of a corset) that the film would almost certainly merit an A+ from Ide.   

[Josquius]

The Martian- Not what I expected. Quite a light fun film. Given the subject matter I expected something much grittier and darker.

[The Minsky Moment]

You know what should also evolve?  The study of comparative religions.  It's 2016 not 1906.

Yeah pretty confident the Egyptians understood impregnation long before the rise of the solar cults.

[The Brain]

You know what should also evolve?  The study of comparative religions.  It's 2016 not 1906.

Yeah pretty confident the Egyptians understood impregnation long before the rise of the solar cults.

Not a lot of rain in Egypt.

[Josephus]

The Martian- Not what I expected. Quite a light fun film. Given the subject matter I expected something much grittier and darker.

Didn't it win best comedy or somehting at some awards show?