too much religious hoo ha



I started to watch this because I love nature and science, but after the 5th religious quote about how only god could blah blah blah, I was done. It seems lately every time I turn on PBS there's some show that sneaks in religious overtones disguised as history or archaeology. There's already 5 channels in L.A with televangelists scamming people 24/7, I thought PBS was supposed to be "public". (And why the F is one of the OC PBS DTV sub-channels another televangelist outlet?)


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Ambient, Experimental & Neo-classical Music : http://www.myspace.com/mrdreamstream

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The reason why there is so much religious overtones is it is speaking to the historical perspective and quoting peoples experiences back during the founding of the national park system. Remember all of this started around the same period as manifest destiny. You have to think those quotes being more along the lines of poetry and not preaching.

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I think no one has spoken to God in around 2,000 years. He is coming back to do game shows! LOL

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Oh Sam.

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I started to watch this because I love nature and science, but after the 5th religious quote about how only god could blah blah blah, I was done.

Those religious quotes were from people living in the 19th and early 20th century when people were very religious and often referenced God. It would've been dishonest (and just plain silly) in the part of Burns to edit out any reference to God.

Is a shame that it turned you off, it really was an excellent program.

It seems lately every time I turn on PBS there's some show that sneaks in religious overtones disguised as history or archaeology.


I haven't noticed. Can you give me some examples of this? But please, this documentary is not it.

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I think that there are religious overtones, but I agree with others in this thread that point out how important religion was during this time period. Ken Burns has been true to the people of the time, how they felt about the majesty of our natural monuments. They had no other way to express how overwhelming and spiritual these places were to them.

And I second the request for more PBS religious program examples. Are you referring to Wayne Dyer?

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If you are trying to avoid religious overtones, how do you leave your house? Religion (especially Christianity) is everywhere and is still a huge part of American culture. Whether you choose to believe in God or not is up to you. But when the majority of people out there do, religious overtones do tend to show up.

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So what makes you think those people who observed those wonders of nature through a religious context didn't get it right?

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Yeah, and if they don't give credit to it they may be getting it wrong, too.

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Heck, Tabbby, you made my point better than I was able to express it!

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Eventually. No, I'm kidding. But if you can't see and feel anything spiritual in those vistas, what will it take for you to experience it?

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Why do you assume they sleep in beds?

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One of the leading arguments held by philosophers is that of the existence of God as seen through nature. Part of the argument follows that animals do not appreciate a beautiful sunrise, but humans do. Some believe that we are created in the image of God, thus our appreciate for nature and beauty.

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So I'm an "internet weasel", eh? Good grief, what's significant about the edit I made to the post that so offends you. Oh, yeah, your part of this discussion has ended, fine. I thought of just making a new post but thought I'd just add to the other one. No big deal. Understand??? NO BIG DEAL!! NO BIG FREAKIN' DEAL!

You know, Infamous-Sulla, I had you pegged pretty well. I thought, "I wonder how many more posts I can exchange with this guy before he resorts to name-calling."

So editing, or in my case, adding to, a post is worse than calling someone who has been civil to you an "internet weasel"?

I guess that's the case.

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Good job PBS, you have all these "educated" people believing America was full of religious nonsense in the past, ala Fox news "christian nation" propaganda. Ridiculous to see so many use it as an excuse for all the biblical crap in a show about the beauty of nature. Try reading the founding father's REAL views on religion and remember "god" wasn't in the pledge to the flag or on our money until the 20th century. This country was a product of the Enlightenment and rationalism not religious fairy tales, there are other ways to describe beauty than your silly childish big daddy in the sky fantasy.

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Ambient, Experimental & Neo-classical Music : http://www.myspace.com/mrdreamstream

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Alas, the Founding Fathers (who were deists, yes) were no longer around when we started creating the national parks -- but there were plenty of people with religious viewpoints who *were* involved and who were part of the conversation back then. To ignore them and what they had to say on the matter is to ignore part of the history of the national parks (and much of the rest of our history). If that bothers you, deal with it: this is reality. It is there for you to learn from it, without actually requiring you to be a believer of any sort. In fact, part of the point in creating the parks and preserving this land is that people DO feel that spiritual connection to wilderness, and this is thought to be a GOOD thing. That spiritual connection need not be specifically religious, but it often is. If religion isn't for you, fine. But that doesn't mean the influence of religion doesn't exist in the larger society, or that admitting as much necessarily makes you an evangelist (it doesn't).

It seems to me that what you are really complaining about is the heavy-handed existence of religion in our society at large and, perhaps, the way people who believe sometimes forget that their rights end where yours begin, and that they have no right to impose their religious views on you, either socially or by trying to incorporate those religious views into civil law (that's unconstitutional, but it doesn't stop the ultraconservative right, for example). Perhaps that's why you are so oversensitive to even tangential religious references when Ken Burns was merely doing his job as a documentarian, and a good job at that. And I say this as a secular humanist: dude, get a grip.

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You're missing a great documentary by zeroing in on a detail that offends your one-issue axe-grinding mentality. Forget the us-and-them nonsense and watch the thing on its own merits, and you'll have a much better experience (not just of this documentary, but of everything). Life is bigger than such a parochial outlook allows for. Why should people a hundred years ago have to share your prejudices about the existence of God? Why should it bother you that they didn't?

Besides, if you've seen any of the places they talk about in this show, they do evoke religious feelings. I don't believe in God, but I feel like I know what it would be like to see him after seeing the Grand Canyon.


Get on up.

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Hoo Ha is good for you, try it .

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Religion was a big part of the country. Should Ken Burns avoid all quotes that have reference to God in them even if they are made by people in talking about the topic at hand? You cannot edit history to fit your own view of the world. It would be like doing a documentary about The Civil Rights movement and not bring up Martin Luther King because he was a religious man and was constantly bringing up God.

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