I had time to take in the first twenty minutes. The discussion is informative. I will try to catch the rest later.

I've been spending time watching debates on youtube and there is a treasure of wonderful people and information available. This was a recent find I felt I had to share here.

I hope you do watch the entire series as it is well worth the time in my view.

From Arthur Miller and the American atheists, and to what George W Bush thought of them to Democritus, and the early Greeks.

Well worth watching all the way through if one has the time. I will view the other episodes, too.

New DUer here, just surfing various topics; I have much to learn and little to say.

Thanks, again for posting.

I will watch this several times as I don't absorb or retain information as well as I did in my younger days. Ill health has taken a toll…but retirement and relative comfort has afforded me an unexpected opportunity to educate myself in ways that I couldn't have imagined before computers. Science, ain't it a wonder?!

I'm happy that you found something useful in this wonderful series and that I was able to share it here.

Thank you for taking the time to post in reply.

I must be mad to be here. and you all are mad, too.

How wonderful ! What a wonderland in the looking glass!

Theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist, sculptor, doctor and...atheist!

He's wonderful, and I thank you for the information about him. I crave intelligent discussion and real civilization.

on edit….what's a beeb?

Mr. Blur is an Actual British Person and I hope I'm not stepping on his toes here. But since he is in a distant Time Zone and you may be 'Murikan like me, I thought I would give you an answer quickly.

Ah, too late.

There are lots of things I' d change about the UK, but having the Beeb - funded by us, not dependent on advertising, no commercials etc. - isn't one of them.

Oh, and I mis-spelled Jonathan.

Oh, and welcome smartphone!

I thought that might be it. I start my youtube searches "BBC…..", I agree with you on all counts.

...the amazing rest of the story.

PBS took years to show this series in the USA. None of the usual foundations, organizations or donors would fund it.

When it finally did show up in One Nation Under Jesus, the title had to be changed to drop the dreaded "A" word. IIRC, its original British title was "Atheism: A Rough History."

Hours of outtakes edited from the original shows were used to create another series, "The Atheism Tapes."

Thanks for reminding of this. I have all 3 episodes and need to watch it again. Along with Dawkins' "Root of All Evil" etc.

I'll check wiki for the rest of the story…thanks for the heads up.

It has taken 40 years to undermine our country to this extent…it makes me so sad and ashamed.

Ah yes the dreaded "A" word…*spit*

I'll look up "The Atheism Tapes"….

I watched all 3 episodes which are available in full on Youtube.

I recommend them all to anyone as unschooled as me in this topic.

Three hours of good viewing, I learned and re-learned a lot of history today, from ancient pre-Christian Greek thinkers to Thomas Paine, Jeremy Bentham, Darwin, Freud, to Richard Dawkins and Arthur Miller. Very worthwhile.

I didn't know this guy before this series, nor anything about how it was censored or changed in any American broadcast. Interesting that our nation of freedom of speech can't simply broadcast worthwhile British productions.

And of course, you may already know all about them and I'm...uh...just preaching to the choir, if you'll excuse the expression:

Root of All Evil? (2006)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0774118/

Educational, infuriating and HILARIOUS!

Richard Dawkins endures a lecture about "arrogance" from Ted Haggard. (Hey Ted - Dawkins isn't the one claiming a personal relationship with the Supreme Ineffable Ruler of the Universe.) This was shortly before Ted's personal relationship with meth and rent-boys went public, which makes it even better.

The God Who Wasn't There (2005)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455507/
The IMdB description: Documentary filmmaker Brian Flemming examines the Bible and discusses the history of early Christianity, raising doubts as to whether the New Testament personage Jesus ever really existed.

This next one is not a documentary but a "movie movie," though it's based on a true story from Ireland in the 1950's. I threw it in because it is one of the very rare movies with a sympathetic atheist character. He's a wounded hero of the Irish Revolution. When one of his neighbors says he fought for his country, the atheist replies: "Yes, and I didn't fight for my country to see it torn apart by superstitious nonsense." (meaning religion)

A Love Divided (1999)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0198668/
The IMdB description: The true story of a Catholic man and his Protestant wife, and the events resulting in the Co. Wexford, Ireland community when the wife decides she doesn't appreciate being forced to send their daughter to a Catholic school, despite the local priest's insistence she is bound by the pre-marriage agreement she signed to raise any children as Catholic.

I have watched the first two but have yet to see the third.

I think recommendations on good videos is essential to our discussion here.

You are marvelous!!

I especially enjoyed his discussion with the philosopher about the nature of the term "belief". I'll definitely watch the other two episodes later.