TVSquad

God's Warrior, a CNN documentary, will delve into the world of religious fundamentalism.

A lot has been said about religious fundamentalism in the United States, but CNN's doc, hosted by reporter Christiane Amanpour, has a wider scope, looking not only at Christian fundamentalism here at home, but Jewish and Islamic fundamentalism around the globe. The doc will also feature the final television interview of the late Jerry Falwell, who passed away back in May. The report will center on how certain groups wish to bring religion and politics together, and how this is happening everywhere in the world, not just the United States.

Larry Charles, director of Borat and a writer and producer for Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, is teaming up with comedian Bill Maher (HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher) for a new film about God and religion. Their goal: make it funny.

To quote Variety, quoting Maher: "this movie will make you laugh so hard you'll pray for it to stop."

Maher and Charles traveled throughout the Middle East, interviewing people to try and find humor amongst the tragedy. It was undoubtedly a rough undertaking, but the result was hundreds of hours of footage that Maher and Charles are currently paring down to a feature-length film.

A simple search on this site for the words "moral" and "orel" should provide you with all you need to know about my feelings for this Adult Swim series, but in a nutshell: I've been a fan since the first Christmas episode aired back in December of 2005.

As it turns out, "The Best Christmas Ever" was actually supposed to be the last episode of the first season, something that is discussed at length on the audio commentaries of this DVD set, which hits stores on April 24. Going back and watching the shows in order (the set contains all of season one and the first five episodes of season two), it's easier to see how the writing and animation improved as the creators became more and more comfortable with the town of Moralton and its citizens. The first ten episodes follow the same basic template of Orel trying to do good but ultimately having his intentions backfire, resulting in such chaos as attacks by Christian zombies who pray before they devour people, and a rash of pregnancies across town caused by Orel injecting his sperm into women while they sleep using a pastry bag.

I've said before on this blog that I'm not a big fan of reality programming in general, but finally someone has come up with a concept that I can relate to. The new reality pilot from producers Bernie Mac and Ben Silverman is called Welcome to the Family and focuses on couples of different races, religions and cultural backgrounds who get engaged and have to tell their respective families for the first time.

The reason this concept speaks to me is that I actually marry and divorce a person from a different background every week. But this isn't about me, so let's move on.

This is the 27th in my twelve-part series where my friends (that's you) and I (that's also you, but in this case: me) try to learn all we can about a subject by turning to that great teaching tool known as television.

Many people will tell you that whether or not a person ultimately believes in a supreme being is a matter of personal choice, hopefully arrived at through study and reflection. This is not true: both atheism and religion are based on cheese, and which of the following items most interests a person, this:

This is the first in a 376-part series* in which I try to better myself, and in turn better the rest of you, by turning to the font of information known as television, courtesy of this other font of information known as the internet.

It is my belief that everything we need to know can be learned from television. We have relied too heavily on books for too long, and it's time we stopped reading and started accepting everything TV tells us.

Today, let us all learn about Christianity, one of the three Abrahamic religions along with Judaism and Islam:

If ever a subject of this PBS documentary showcase series lived up to the title "Independent Lens," it's eighteen year old Shadya Zoabi. Shadya is a Muslim Arab living in Israel, a beautiful, athletic and headstrong girl who loves karate and who has very little interest in following the typical Muslim path of becoming a servant and housekeeper. Throughout the film, Shadya's feminist views clash with those of her older brothers, the eldest of which insists Shadya must give up karate and behave in a manner more fitting to Muslim customs and laws. Shadya, meanwhile, flaunts her independence at every turn. She even gives up praying because she says she hasn't got the time.

PBS will air a four-part documentary on Wednesday, January 10 and Wednesday, January 17 at 9pm titled China from the Inside. The documentary will delve into both the history and current political landscape of China from all perspectives. It will also examine how women are treated in the country, problems with air and water pollution, religion, and the government's slow response to the AIDS epidemic. The four parts of the documentary are:

1. "Power and the People"

2. "Women of the Country"

3. "Shifting Nature"

4. "Freedom and Justice"

China is quickly becoming a major player on the world stage, but little is known about it. The creators of this documentary hope to shed some light on a country that still remains a mystery to many. I love the idea, and hopefully it will be as in-depth as they claim it to be.

Over the holidays while I was back in Iowa visiting family, my mother and I stayed up late one night engaging in one of those perpetual conversations about "God vs. Science." Like anyone else, I have my own feelings about how the universe operates, so when I was sent this link to a new boardgame from Growing Pains hunk turned evangelical Kirk Cameron and minister Ray Comfort called Intelligent Design Vs. Evolution, you can bet my brain lit up with about a dozen opinions.

More precisely, you can learn about Hell on the History Channel tonight at 8pm by watching Hell: The Devil's Domain. Forgive my morbidity, but I'm endlessly fascinated by the idea of Hell in all its various forms: from the Biblical version to Dante's Inferno to the Greek myth of Hades. All those demons and damned souls always put an extra little spring in my step. I'm sick and I need help, I know.

(S02E06) This episode dealt with the line between faith and reason, which may be why I wasn't as drawn to it as other episodes. I thought it was a good episode, but the way in which the citizens of Moralton use fractured reasoning to explain their religious beliefs has been a major component of the show since it began. This episode merely brought that idea to the forefront, and while it was still funny, there wasn't much to surprise a fan like myself. I laughed several times, but was ultimately left with a feeling of "oh yeah, I knew they were gonna say that." That being said, this wouldn't be a bad episode to introduce someone to the show, as I think it's a great overview of the show and what it's trying to say.

It is said one cannot toss a dead squirrel in the air without it landing on a Christian, what with there being so many of them. Do we really know all about the origins of this religion, though? With the Christmas season upon us, CNN will be airing a two-hour documentary, CNN Presents: After Jesus – The First Christians, which will examine the early days of Christianity, including the persecution of early Christians and debates over the direction the religion should take even among its own followers.

I consider myself a non-religious person who's still interested in learning about religion. While I don't subscribe to the Christian faith, I'm always interested in learning about the history behind things, and to fill in what I forgot from my college religion courses. Based on the press release, this sounds like it could actually be rather informative, so I'm looking forward to it. It will air December 20 at 7 and 10 pm, and re-air December 23 and 24 at 7 and 10 pm also.

(S02E03) So far this season Moral Orel has delved a little deeper into the lives of the other characters, and it's nice to see Orel's tiny universe expanding to include everyone else.

This episode examines the enigmatic, mostly homosexual and definitely polyamorous Coach Stopframe, who jumps between loyalty to God or Satan as frequently as he gains and loses interest in both men and women. He definitely has a thing for Orel's father, but it's still somewhat vague what their history is exactly, or what it is Clay wants from the relationship. I can't decide whether Clay is in denial about his homosexual tendencies, or if he just likes being lavished with the kind of attention Coach Stopframe gives to him. People don't always reveal themselves with absolute clarity, and Moral Orel seems to understand this, peeling back a little more about each person with every episode.