DVD's on Religions for Ds

[kathymuggle]

Ds has quite the interest in religions - I believe it is mostly from an academic POV - but part of it may be searching for something he believes in. He enjoys documentaries and it is something we do together.

Anyone have any suggestions on DVDs that tackle religion in an information giving, non biased sort of way? Any religous DVD recommendations welcome - but Judaism, Buddhism, Shintoism and Islam top the list - probably in that order.

TIA!

[Liquesce]

"Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet" gives a simple, beginner's overview of the origins of Islam and the lives and beliefs of contemporary, mostly American Muslims. IIRC it's not very deep, but it's also not a proselytizing piece ... I think it was a PBS production. At any rate, it's certainly youth accessible.

[Callimom]

The Teaching Company has a series on World Religions. The one called Comparative Religion might work.

The History Channel did one called The History of God which explores Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.

What is true an introduction to secular humanism by Paul Kurtz would be good to look at the "flip side" of world views.

PBS has a World Religions series (which I have not seen).
Here's their teacher resource page for world religions which would be a good starting point.

And although it isn't a DVD, have you explored Speaking of Faith?

good luck
Karen

[Bluegoat]

There are some good things on Youtube. Just search for the religion you are looking at. I have not looked for any on the topics you are interested in that I can recommend, but I have seen some really nice ones on Orthodox Christianity if you decide to expand your list.

[Holland73]

I know that you are asking for documentaries, but the BEST books on the Religions of the World would be anything by Huston Smith. I particularly like: The Illustrated World Religions

Huston Smith also did a 5 part series with Bill Moyers about the six great religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith


Additionally, PBS recently did a great documentary on the history of the Buddha:
The Buddha You can rent it via Netflix.

[kathymuggle]

Thanks everyone - I am in line for The Buddha - and will look up the rest.

Keep them coming!

Kathy

[kcstar]

The people I've spoken with in the UU church also recommend Huston Smith. I think I've seen one of his videos, and it was all right.

I'm a big fan of Joseph Campbell, but it can be heavy academic reading. Joseph Campbell takes a Jungian psychological perspective to religions. One of the more approachable of his books on the subject is "Hero with a Thousand Faces". The most academic would probably be the four-volume "Masks of God" series: "Primitive Mythology", "Oriental Mythology", "Occidental Mythology", and "Creative Mythology."

There's also a Bill Moyers special with Campbell, I think I've read the transcript but not seen the show.

[Bluegoat]

Originally Posted by kcstar

The people I've spoken with in the UU church also recommend Huston Smith. I think I've seen one of his videos, and it was all right.

I'm a big fan of Joseph Campbell, but it can be heavy academic reading. Joseph Campbell takes a Jungian psychological perspective to religions. One of the more approachable of his books on the subject is "Hero with a Thousand Faces". The most academic would probably be the four-volume "Masks of God" series: "Primitive Mythology", "Oriental Mythology", "Occidental Mythology", and "Creative Mythology."

There's also a Bill Moyers special with Campbell, I think I've read the transcript but not seen the show.

There was a time when I liked Joseph Campbell, until I saw him in an interview where he wanted to say that Western religions were about good vs evil and division, and Eastern religions were about oneness. He illustrated this by using two creation myths, which he presented as opposites. But he only told part of each myth, the parts that matched what he wanted to argue! I couldn't take him seriously after that although I know his ideas are very influential to a lot of people.

[mamabadger]

A documentary called Who the Jew are You? has received a lot of attention here in Canada. Trailer. It deals with figuring out the Jewish identity and whether belief in God is an essential part of being Jewish.