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by JazzX
12 minutes and 59 seconds. A 301Mb .wmv
Dr. Richard Lawkins is proud to announce the release of his new documentary, "The God Illusion - Root of all Ills?" "Part I - Unintelligent Design"
In this episode, he visits the Grand Canyon and Liberty University, the Gabon jungle and Arizona desert. All in an effort to show that natural causes and not unproven deities are responsible for the creation of life. He locks horns with the late Jerry Falwell (in his final TV interview) and questions the validity of his Liberty University and the age of the allosaur bones on display there.
About the filmmaker:
Richard Lawkins was born in Libreville, Gabon, on September 27th 1947 but moved to England at the age of 3. Educated at St. Mark’s Catholic School for Boys (Buckinghamshire), he quickly took an interest in nature, and at the age of only 17 was given entry into Cambridge University after taking early A-level exams in Biology, Chemistry, History, English Literature and Latin.
He renounced his Catholic faith immediately upon arrival at Cambridge, claiming famously to a room-mate that “there’s nothing like a strong dose of science to put things in perspective!”
He completed his 4-year course in zoology in just 3 years, achieving a First Class with Honours degree. He spent the 4th year travelling the world studying hard for his postgraduate thesis on “embryonic evolutionary states” which won him the coveted “Michael Stubbs Research Award” (MSRA) when the thesis was published 3 years later.
A further 4 years of research into “Genetic Symbiology” gained him his Doctorate and he was duly employed by Cambridge University as a full-time lecturer.
But that wasn’t enough for Lawkins, as he confessed to Stephen Hawking in a debate at the Sir Isaac Newton Institute in 1975, “nobody listens to a scientist – we’re so up our own ******!” He set about re-making his thesis as a popular science book which evolved into perhaps his most famous work to date, “The Greedy Gene”. Hawking also went on to attempt to communicate to the layman his complex scientific theories – the most famous book being “A Brief History of Time”. Arguably, Lawkins could therefore be considered the father of the popularisation of modern science.
Four more books followed up until 1982, “The Cosmic Shell”, “The Evolution of Ideas and Ideology”, “The Deaf Deity” (his first overtly anti-religious book), and “The Memes to an End”.
1984 saw a return to Cambridge where he became Natural History Lecturer-in-Residence at the appropriately named Darwin College.
The BBC gave Lawkins free license to make a TV programme in 1986 for the popular “Horizon” series of scientific documentaries. He chose to use this as a platform to set the record straight on the misunderstood aspects of his first book, “The Greedy Gene”, which many now believe unintendedly led to Thatcherism and Reaganomics gaining popular acceptance. His argument in the programme (entitled “Nasty Guys Finish Last”) was that there are many ways for an organism/gene to be greedy – and that altruism has proven to be one of the most effective of all. “I’m greedy for kisses from my wife - but I better be nice to her first!” briefly entered the British popular culture lexicon between 1986 and early 1987.
In 1990, he presented the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures – where he told an audience of mainly children, in relatively simple terms, his views on matters of religion, science and the importance of evolution, using many innovative “experiments”. The five lectures were collectively titled “Grow Up! You’re in the Universe Now!” All were aired live on BBC 2 in Christmas week of that year.
Five more books were published between 1993 and 2002 - “The Living Rocket Fuel”, “Creationism (is) For Dummies”, “The Idiot’s Book Club”, “Dinosaurs – How They Lived” (children’s book) and “The Memetic Virus”
In 2003 Lawkins received the inaugural “Lance Holmes Award for the Public Education of Science” from Nottingham University, followed in 2004 by the “Allan Dellar Popular Science Literature Award” for his work on “The Forefather’s Story” (2003).
In 2005, due to the rise of religious fundamentalism around the globe, often at the expense of science and reason, Lawkins began work on a new book which will be named “The God Illusion” upon completion next year. He already describes it as “the most important book I’ve ever written.”
Needless to say, when we heard about this, we approached Dr. Lawkins and asked him if he would like to turn his research into a documentary. He agreed, and work was begun on a series of programmes in May 2006.
This episode, “The God Illusion – Root of all Ills? Part 1: Unintelligent Design” is aired both on the TMO network in normal quality, and on-demand in HD-SHR.
According to government sources, Lawkins is alleged to be receiving a knighthood next year – a first, considering that he would be receiving it from the head of the Church of England (Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II). It would be the first time any outspokenly vehement anti-religionist has received such an honour from such a high level religious leader. Asked whether he would accept the honour, Lawkins jokes “… well it beats a Fatwa!”
Chillingly, Lawkins has already been sentenced to death for blasphemy by no fewer than 14 Islamic factions, mainly centred in the Middle East, including the Islamic Republic of Iran where anyone caught in possession of a Lawkins book faces hanging. In the USA, two extremist Christian groups have offered large rewards for anyone who assassinates “Satan’s messenger”.
Unperturbed, “The God Illusion” involved many visits to the USA where the battle between religion and reason is being played out in science classrooms across the land. Indeed, not one American TV network has dared to commit to showing a single minute of “The God Illusion – Root of all Ills?” (at time of writing) for fear of upsetting the religious majority.
Next year, Lawkins will promote his new book with an exhaustive tour of the USA, giving lectures at bookstores as well as in the more familiar environment of university lecture halls.
Dr. Lawkins has been married and divorced three times, he is currently rumoured to be engaged to ex-“Doctor Who” assistant Janet Fielding (“Teagan” between 1981-84). He has one daughter, Lorna, by his second wife.
“The God Illusion – Root of all Ills?” is to be broadcast in four self-contained parts entitled:
Part 1: Unintelligent Design
Part 2: The Morality of Faith
Part 3: The Virus of Ignorance
Part 4: The Purpose of Life
Credits - Part 1:
Written and Narrated by Richard Lawkins
Assistant to Dr. Lawkins – JazzX
Assistant to Dr. Falwell – AnotherNewDawn
Music composed and performed by JazzX
Sound Engineering – JXR (JazzX Research)
Sound Effects – www.MediaCollege.com
Sets, Props and Animations – Fraasmovies, Bongoman, Daninsky, SBHedges, KirinRiotCrash, Monkeybiz
Overlays and Backdrops – Creative Commons and Public Domain
Produced and Directed by JazzX
Made entirely using Advanced Progressive Shooting Technique (APST, Dylen 2006/JXR 2007)
Synchronised using Export Shaving Techniqe (EST, JXR 2006)
Running time: 12:59
BBFC rating: PG (Parental Guidance) for mild insults, graphic animal violence and religiously sensitive material
JXTV is a subsidiary of JazzX Productions
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