Zeitgeist: The Perfect Antidote to Christianity?

[SirJosephPorter]

An online movie documenting the close ties between ancient pagan religions and today's Christianity is "anti-Christ" in nature, but nevertheless is sweeping the Christian world, destroying the faith of believers.

That's the claim of a Christian historian and author, Richard Rives who ironically, has been educating the public about the impact Pagan sun worship has had on traditional Christianity.

The documentary is "Zeitgeist," a 2007 documentary written and narrated by Peter Joseph, a film editor and producer in New York City.


Literally meaning "spirit of the time," "Zeitgeist" was released on DVD and the Internet, and Joseph claims it has been viewed more than 50 million times on Google Video, and more than 100 million times when all the outlets accounted for.



The movie combines the various legends which have influenced Christianity, legends of Horus, Krishna, Mithra (Egyptian God), Dionysus (of Greece etc.). We have discussed this issue here before, in bits and patches. Thus we have discussed Horus, Krishna etc. However, this move brings it all together, and describes how Christianity is nothing more than a mish mash of old legends.

Apparently the movie has been very effective. Rives, also known for his hunt for the Ark of the Covenant, added, "Millions of believers have watched 'Zeitgeist' and many are throwing away their long held faith in Jesus as a result. I am receiving calls from people concerned about family members who are doing just that.”

YouTube - Zeitgeist - The Movie - 2 of 13 (Part 1 of 3 on Religion)


Could there be hope for Christians yet? It may be that after seeing the movie, some of them may see the light. As least some of them are, according to Rives.

 

[Cliffy]

There is hope for all religious people. Belief in myths should have been abandoned when we left the caves but through some genetic defect we have held to superstition even until today. As we become more educated, superstition is becoming less prevalent and in the not too distant future, we may see an end to people willing to kill for their erroneous beliefs.

 

[Johnnny]

YEa why can zeitgeist be a perfect antidote to christianity, and not to ALL religons???

DOes the author Peter Joseph from the new york times have a alterior motive against christianity?

 

[Johnnny]

Look im a christian whatever big deal if you want to blast me for my faith, message me.... But anyways

I would love to see a movie that bombs all religons in a slash and burn format, seriously... Im waiting

Until then i see the attacks my religon takes as being fuelled by some alterior motive to erode our foundation so it can be replaced by another in this country...

 

[Cliffy]

People of all religions run the spectrum from pious to the lunatic fringe. There are those who quietly practice and there are those who blow themselves up in public places. So not all religious people can be painted with the same brush. For me, it is the utter waste of time and life spent on superstition, believing and acting as if the afterlife is going to be special as long as you genuflect in just the right manner and number of times in the day or hold your dick in just the right way when you pee. It is all just as ridiculous.

If you want to believe in sitting on a cloud with a harp or boinking 73 virgins, who cares. But if you are willing to kill for those beliefs, then we have a problem.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

YEa why can zeitgeist be a perfect antidote to christianity, and not to ALL religons???

DOes the author Peter Joseph from the new york times have a alterior motive against christianity?

I am not concerned with all religions, Johnny, I am concerned with Christianity. Besides, this video tries to show the similarities between the legend of Christ and other legend sin the history of the world.

No doubt a similar documentary can be made of Islam. I think that Islam has borrowed heavily form Hinduism and Christianity (the two dominant religions when Islam was established). However, this documentary has to do with Christianity and not other religions.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

If you want to believe in sitting on a cloud with a harp or boinking 73 virgins, who cares. But if you are willing to kill for those beliefs, then we have a problem.

Cliffy, I think it is 72 virgins, not 73, but perhaps that is quibbling. People have made similar documentaries showing the similarities between Christ and other legends before. What is different about this documentary is that it seems to be working; it is proving to be effective. It is turning Christians away from Christianity.

When a Christian minister is worried that Christians are turning away form Christianity because of the documentary, that tell me that this is something hot. Also, the 100 million hit sounds like a lot.

Christians are forever devising ways to convince non Christians that their religion is the true one. They call it the apologetics. We may have discovered the first non-Christian apologetics.

 

[petros]

These 72 Virgins are just names for God. Sir Jp you'd best dig deeper into what the whole "Zeitgeist movement" is all about. It's the workings of The Venus Project. Although these films and lectures do leave many punch drunk after being beaten by reality it' is also important to seperate yourself from the Venus Project which is a technocratic communist world vision.

 

[Johnnny]

Alterior motives, dont believe everything you read especially from new york

 

[SirJosephPorter]

These 72 Virgins are just names for God. Sir Jp you'd best dig deeper into what the whole "Zeitgeist movement" is all about. It's the workings of The Venus Project. Although these films and lectures do leave many punch drunk after being beaten by reality it' is also important to seperate yourself from the Venus Project which is a technocratic communist world vision.

Petros, I don’t know what zeitgeist movement is about, though I have heard the word. It doesn’t matter anyway, I am not about to subscribe to their movement or their goals.

I am only commenting upon this one video. What I find remarkable and unusual is that it seems to be very effective in turning Christians away from Christianity (according to a Christian minister).

Anything that turns Christians towards non belief is to be welcome. I welcome this video to that extent only. I am not familiar with what zeitgeist stand for, and I don’t care much. I am not about to adopt their beliefs and positions.

 

[Vereya]

There is hope for all religious people. Belief in myths should have been abandoned when we left the caves but through some genetic defect we have held to superstition even until today.

Superstitions remain, because they actually do work. Most superstitions, like omens, for instance, are like programs, "installed" into this world for a specific reason. Some of them are good, some are worse, some work everytime, some do not, but I wouldn't just brush them all aside. And I tend to think that all omens and superstitions have a sound foundation. Creating an omen is quite interesting, by the way. After I came back from my lst trip with acid, I eventually realized how to make an omen that would work for you. I made several, and passed them on to my friends :lol: And these omens do work, which never ceases to amaze me. Now, if I were in a position to influence the minds of large masses of people, not just a few close friends, I would've made these omens national ones. the more people believe, the better the omens work. Besides, omens can be used to create the kind of situations you need, if you know how to use them. Some superstitions are useful, once you get to the core of them.

Besdies, the etymology of the Russian word for "superstition" is very interesting. In Russian it is "predrassudok", a compound word that consists of "pred" (before) and "rassudok" (reason). So it means that it is something that is engrained into human beings deeper even than reason itself. So I guess that is why we will never let them go.

 

[Vereya]

Look im a christian whatever big deal if you want to blast me for my faith, message me.... But anyways

I would love to see a movie that bombs all religons in a slash and burn format, seriously... Im waiting

Until then i see the attacks my religon takes as being fuelled by some alterior motive to erode our foundation so it can be replaced by another in this country...

Pre-Christian and pre-Muslim religions are all based upon the laws of the Universe, human potential and natural forces and phenomena that actually exist in this world and can be seen and touched. So you see, there is nothing to bomb there, unless you want to bomb the world itself.

 

[VanIsle]

SirJoseph says:When a Christian minister is worried that Christians are turning away form Christianity because of the documentary, that tell me that this is something hot. Also, the 100 million hit sounds like a lot.
So you think "a" minister being concerned matters. When they all get concerned, you can jump with glee for your beliefs. 100 million hits means squat. Lots of Christians (such as myself) click on that crap, have a glance and click it off. Then it counts as a hit amongst all the others. It's 2 years old and I've never heard of it until today.

 

[Vereya]

When a Christian minister is worried that Christians are turning away form Christianity because of the documentary, that tell me that this is something hot. Also, the 100 million hit sounds like a lot.

This is indeed a great documentary. I watched it some time ago, and it is really impressive.

 

[VanIsle]

This is indeed a great documentary. I watched it some time ago, and it is really impressive.

It might be. I am not out to prove or to create doubt in christianity so I'm not interested in watching it. I watched about 2 min. and I found it quite silly. I don't worship the sun and I don't believe in horoscopes either. I also don't believe in war in the name of religion so I guess I am one of the quiet worshipers that Cliff speaks of. I'm not here to argue religion either so this is the last of my say in this thread.

 

[petros]

Anything that turns Christians towards non belief is to be welcome.

People are programmed to believe something rather than nothing so where or what will those types turn to?

 

[Cliffy]

People are programmed to believe something rather than nothing so where or what will those types turn to?

I agree. Programmed people may experience withdrawals from religion and go through some serious depression or decompression. Most will just go looking for some other, just as silly, belief system. I know many, who I call guru groupies, who bounce from one fad to another as often as they change their shorts.

Unless someone has the where-with-all to step out on their own, who have an inquisitive mind, are brave enough to look at life anew in every moment, then they will look for belief systems. For every free thinker there are hundreds of sheep ready to be fleeced. Just remember, that in every group of people, religious, political or non committal, there are relatively harmless individuals and there are psychopaths.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

So you think "a" minister being concerned matters. When they all get concerned, you can jump with glee for your beliefs.

Sure it does, Islandpaciifc. If the maker of the move says that it is being effective and is turning Christian’s away form Christianity, one doesn’t think anything of it. After all, he is bound to think highly of his movie. However, when a Christian minister says that the movie is turning Christians away from Christ, it is a big deal, at least in my opinion.

It's 2 years old and I've never heard of it until today.

Perhaps it may have taken that long to observe the full effects of the movie. After all, if the first month or two it appears that it is converting Christians, that may be just a passing phase. However, after two years the picture becomes much clearer. And if it turned out that even after two years Christians are watching the movie and as a result are turning away from Christ, that is a cause for concern,.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Not sure what to make of that little video clip. I don't know much about all those sun gods it talks about, all being born of a virgin on December 25th and all that, but the astronomy's fundamentally wrong. At no point does a line drawn through the three stars of Orion's belt to Sirius point to the location of sunrise, ever. Such a point would have to be where the horizon and the ecliptic intersect, and it's not, it's about 60 degrees to the south of it. Similarly, in order for the sun to spend three days in the Southern Cross before starting its northward journey again, the Southern Cross would have to be one of the zodiacal constellations, and it's not. The sun cannot appear anywhere but in the zodiac, that's how it's defined.

Makes me strongly doubt the veracity of everything else in it.

 

[Johnnny]

i believe in the boogyman