British Universities Film & Video Council

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Root of All Evil?, The

Synopsis
Nine months before the release of his bestselling book ‘The God Delusion’, Richard Dawkins had the world buzzing with his television documentary ROOT OF ALL EVIL? In Part 1, THE GOD DELUSION, Richard Dawkins thinks it is time for science to stop sitting on the fence. He meets leaders from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions to find out how their beliefs fit with modern science’s extraordinary knowledge of our world and the wider universe. Dawkins accuses the religious establishment of preying on people’s desire to believe in a greater being; abusing reason and humanity in the process. Ultimately he asks how they can defend what religion has done, and is doing to us? In Part 2, THE VIRUS OF FAITH, Richard Dawkins asks why, despite science having exposed old religious myths, militant faith is back on the march? The mechanism for perpetuating beliefs that Dawkins describes as leading to murderous intolerance, is by imposing religion on children who are too inexperienced to judge it for themselves.

During the filming, Richard Dawkins conducted many fascinating interviews with people from around the world. Unfortunately much of this footage was cut to fit the 50-minute running time for each of the two programmes and some entire interviews were omitted. This DVD collection showcases eight raw and uncut interviews from the original tapes, allowing the viewer a rare vantage point into these revealing exchanges. The interviewees are: Jill Mytton, Ian McEwan, Bishop Richard Harries, Michael Bray, Hell House Pastor Keenan Roberts, Alister McGrath, Adrian Hawkes, and Rabbi Gluck.

NB The 4OD streamed versions are of the programmes as broadcast.
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Year of release
2007
Year of production
2006
Notes
Broadcast on Channel 4, beginning 9/1/2006
Subjects
Philosophy; Religious studies
Keywords
Christianity; Islam; Judaism; philosophy of science; religious belief and practice

Online availability

URI
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-root-of-all-evil/4od
Price
free
Delivery
Streamed

Credits

Contributor
Richard Dawkins

Distribution Formats

Type
DVD
Format
Region 2 PAL
Price
£14.99
Duration/Size
400 minutes
Year
2010

Sponsor

Name

Channel 4

Distributor

Name

4OD

Web
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/4od External site opens in new window
Name

Burning Shed

Email
support@burningshed.com
Web
http://www.burningshed.com/ External site opens in new window
Phone
0 1603 767726
Address
Windsor House
74 Thorpe Road
Norwich
NR1 1BA

Record Stats

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