The Beast

[AudioArtist]

There is a new movie being released on the 6/6/2006, preaching the message that Jesus never actually existed.

http://www.thebeastmovie.com/

I wonder what effect it will have?

 

[Ellethidhren]

Anyone trying to prove Jesus did NOT exist, when there are tons of historical documents and evidence (excluding the Bible) proving that He did, is just out of their mind insane or lived in a cave most of their life.
I feel sorry for the children born on that day. No doubt many will be named Damien or Lucifer . Watch and see.

 

[Cliche Guevara]

...there are tons of historical documents and evidence...

Yeah?

Where?

 

[Norseman]

There is a new movie being released on the 6/6/2006, preaching the message that Jesus never actually existed.

http://www.thebeastmovie.com/

I wonder what effect it will have?

Effect? Probably none. Atheism is generally a self-evident path, so if you don't see it already, this movie probably won't help you. It might nudge some agnostics further away from Christianity, but most English speaking non-believers are already moved well away from Christianity, mostly by creationists and televangicals who give it a bad name, so again, I doubt this movie will have much impact.

Edit: I also doubt many Christians will watch it, so again, I suspect it will have very little impact.

 

[AudioArtist]

I am reading the forum (from the Beast website), and I must say I my beliefs are being somewhat threatened right now. I would love to talk to some reasonable Christians who have good reasearch to establish that Jesus definately existed, because most of the Christians on the forum are being battered by non believers.

The 6th/6th/2006 will be an interesting day indeed, because of this movie. Hopefully there won't be a large scale loss in faith, although the effect such things is larger then many people think. If merely reading about such things can cause Christians to deconvert, what about watching them?

 

[AudioArtist]

I dunno. You could always wear a tinfoil hat or something.

Very witty.

 

[Norseman]

The teaser trailer was nice, but it was kind of cheesy. I didn't like that they left the text up so long, I kept having to wait. The movie might be good, it depends. I doubt it will go very far in the U.S., but atheists are much more international than pretty much all religions (not that we are greater in number everywhere, but that we are equally divided just about everywhere with greater and lower concentrations here and there).

 

[Cliche Guevara]

Oh, heck. Hal Lindsey, Fred Phelps, Jerry Falwell, the far "Religious Right" - they've had a greater impact on the decline of Christianity than this movie will have, I think. I've gone from agnosticism a few years ago to outright rejection of "Christianity" and the Christian *movement* as it exists today. It doesn't even matter to me anymore whether Jesus *really* lived or he didn't, because many of the humans involved are...well...Beastly.

 

[Ellethidhren]

Yeah?

Where?

http://members.aol.com/FLJOSEPHUS/testimonium.htm

for one.

Early church fathers.

http://www.ccel.org/fathers2

Seek and you will find.

 

[Dracil]

Shouldn't it be released on 6/1/6 now?

 

[AudioArtist]

I am sure that many Christians would be able to see that Fred Phelps is a closet homosexual with severe mental problems, who isn't following Christ's teachings in any way with his hateful, bigoted words, mr. Guevara. However, while nutcases like him can be dismissed, a movie claiming to have solid evidence will not be able to be dismissed so easily in the minds of many Christians, hence why I feel it will have a bigger effect.

 

[Norseman]

Shouldn't it be released on 6/1/6 now?

 

[Cliche Guevara]

http://members.aol.com/FLJOSEPHUS/testimonium.htm

for one.

Early church fathers.

http://www.ccel.org/fathers2

Seek and you will find.

At a brief skim before I lay my weary head to bed, I can't really see any proof of anything. Just writings that came well after the death of Christ, which may or may not be fictional.

 

[Norseman]

I am sure that many Christians would be able to see that Fred Phelps is a closet homosexual with severe mental problems, who isn't following Christ's teachings in any way with his hateful, bigoted words, mr. Guevara. However, while nutcases like him can be dismissed, a movie claiming to have solid evidence will not be able to be dismissed so easily in the minds of many Christians, hence why I feel it will have a bigger effect.

If there's solid evidence that Christianity isn't true, then that's that. It isn't true and there's no point crying over spilt milk. If it doesn't present solid evidence, then I doubt you'll see many people leave Christianity over it. It really does depend on what they've got. If it's impossibly convincing, I suspect recently deconverted Christians will show their friends and you'll end up with a chain reaction going on (scary scenario, but here's an upside, atheists/agnostics are statistically less likely to commit crimes of any sort than Christians, so crime rate down=good).

 

[Cliche Guevara]

I am sure that many Christians would be able to see that Fred Phelps is a closet homosexual with severe mental problems, who isn't following Christ's teachings in any way with his hateful, bigoted words, mr. Guevara. However, while nutcases like him can be dismissed, a movie claiming to have solid evidence will not be able to be dismissed so easily in the minds of many Christians, hence why I feel it will have a bigger effect.

I'm a woman.

Well, I'm not going to say too much until I can see the movie, but if it has evidence - let it present it. If the evidence is shonky, it will be debunked.

But in all honesty, I sincerely doubt this film will have much influence over anything.

Did The Magdalene Laundries; a film based on real people - some of whom still live today - and based on real institutions that existed until recent times have any great impact on Christianity as it revealed the cruelty and sickness of some Christian thinking? Maybe for a fleeting moment, but overall it didn't.

 

[Cliche Guevara]

Anyway, I gotta crash - I'm dog-tired.

G'night.

 

[AudioArtist]

Anyway, I gotta crash - I'm dog-tired.

G'night.

Good bye, and sorry for calling you a "mr."

"If there's solid evidence that Christianity isn't true, then that's that. It isn't true and there's no point crying over spilt milk."

Norseman, are you an ex-Christian? If not, then it's hard for you to comprehend how distressing a loss of faith can be, especially if you took it very seriously in the first place. I have been there, and those were dark, depressing and unpleasant times.

 

[Norseman]

Did The Magdalene Laundries; a film based on real people - some of whom still live today - and based on real institutions that existed until recent times have any great impact on Christianity as it revealed the cruelty and sickness of some Christian thinking? Maybe for a fleeting moment, but overall it didn't.

Well you've got the crusades, the spanish inquisition, the salem witch trials etc. The usual rebuttal is that while they have done what they did, they can't be considered representative of Christianity as a whole. The acts of Stalin don't make atheism wrong, they just make Stalin wrong. On the other hand, if this movie has something really spectactularly convincing, then it may have much greater effect. However, as a I said before, I doubt many Christians will watch it to begin with, so I doubt it will have much effect on anyone. That is unless it has an ironclad proof that Jesus couldn't have possibly existed, in which case we're back to that chain reaction I was talking about.

 

[Norseman]

"If there's solid evidence that Christianity isn't true, then that's that. It isn't true and there's no point crying over spilt milk."

Norseman, are you an ex-Christian? If not, then it's hard for you to comprehend how distressing a loss of faith can be, especially if you took it very seriously in the first place. I have been there, and those were dark, depressing and unpleasant times.

Yeah, I'm a non-Christian. Ex-Christian, actually. I never did take my faith very seriously though. I mean I believed God existed, but I wasn't like some of those wackos who think you could just jump off a 10 story building and God would save you. I guess I'm fortunate. For most people, I'm told deconversion is a sad and grueling process, but I deconverted when I was around 9, so change came mostly painlessly for me. I think my deconversion was a fairly long process as well, so the gradual nature of it might also have helped make a painless transtion. I know many ex-Christians who deconverted later in life, and so I have some understanding of what it's like. I'm a very truth-oriented person, however. If my beliefs are wrong, I want you to come out and say it, and I want you to give me good evidence. Likewise, if someone else's beliefs are wrong, I'll come right out and say it, and I'll give good evidence. Truth, for me, is one of the most important things out there, and I think that's best found by being open to other viewpoints (although by open, that doesn't mean I'll automatically accept other viewpoints, just that I won't automatically not listen to what someone has to say). Sometimes the truth is painful, but the world is made a better place by it.

 

[MidnightBlue]

I wonder what effect it will have?

It will be taken entirely too seriously by people who are unable to distinguish fact from fiction, or sound research from a good plot line. Conspiracy theorists will slobber with excitement, and fundamentalists will slobber with rage. A well-known religious leader will appear on Hannity and Colmes or some comparable show, denouncing the movie. Hal Lindsey and/or Jack Van Impe will mention the movie as proof that the end is near. It will turn out to be an unremarkable movie, but will do pretty well at the box office because of the controversy.