60-Second Adventures in Religion - for iPad/Mac/PC

The Open University

Ever wondered why Karl Marx thought religion was like Opium - or whether religion is possible without a god? Voiced by David Mitchell, this series of four 60 second animations examines different ways that religion has been viewed by non-religious thinkers. As well as Marx and Dawkins, religion is put under the microscope by thinkers Auguste Comte and JJ Bachoffen.

  • 1 minute 17 seconds
    Religion as social control
    Had Marx got his way, society would be so happy being revolutionaries, there’d be no need for religion. He’d obviously never been to a Gulag.
    14 September 2012, 1:25 pm
  • Transcript -- Religion as social control
    Transcript -- Had Marx got his way, society would be so happy being revolutionaries, there’d be no need for religion. He’d obviously never been to a Gulag.
    14 September 2012, 1:25 pm
  • 1 minute 16 seconds
    Religion as ritual
    Explore how ancient beliefs developed from “Eggism” into modern day religion. French philosopher, Comte explains how.
    14 September 2012, 1:24 pm
  • Transcript -- Religion as ritual
    Transcript -- Explore how ancient beliefs developed from “Eggism” into modern day religion. French philosopher, Comte explains how.
    14 September 2012, 1:24 pm
  • 1 minute 20 seconds
    Religion as a mother
    Why do so many people picture God as a man? JJ Bachofen suggested there was once a time when it was the Goddess, not God that people turned to for religious guidance.
    14 September 2012, 1:22 pm
  • Transcript -- Religion as a mother
    Transcript -- Why do so many people picture God as a man? JJ Bachofen suggested there was once a time when it was the Goddess, not God that people turned to for religious guidance.
    14 September 2012, 1:22 pm
  • 1 minute 16 seconds
    Religion as a virus
    Can science and religion ever sit side by side? Not according to Richard Dawkins. And he has rock-star mice to prove it.
    14 September 2012, 1:19 pm
  • Transcript -- Religion as a virus
    Transcript -- Can science and religion ever sit side by side? Not according to Richard Dawkins. And he has rock-star mice to prove it.
    14 September 2012, 1:19 pm
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