Louis Theroux and the Westborough Baptist Church
As a humanist and an observational documentarist, Louis doesn't just show us extreme behaviour, but reveals the human urges beneath it. In this case, the 'behaviour' is religious extremism and cult worship.
Example A:
Around 24 minutes, we see that the naked fear of hell as a motivating factor. The young man wants to join because he fears what will happen in the afterlife - a powerful motivation for many belief systems. You can practically see his fear and desperation in that short exchange with Louis Theroux.
Example B:
Religious extremism often comes with a lack of sound reasoning. This is very apparent on 4 minutes, where Fred Phelps' daughter explains how she knew Barak Obama was the Antichrist.
Her 'justification' for this belief is basically:
"I suddenly had this idea. He fits all the criteria. Everyone agreed with me. Therefore he is the Antichrist."
Genius.
By the way, I realised over the weekend that Jay-Z is in fact Jesus. He fits all the criteria (famous, loved, huge crowds). All my drunk friends agreed with me. Therefore Jay-Z is Jesus.
Example C:
Humanists see rebellion as a natural human process.
Extremists see it as evil.
In the argument around 9:45, the battle between unquestioning belief and the right to rebel is captured in the exchange:
"When the Lord afflicts somebody with a thing, he's decided that's going to happen, what are you gonna do are you gonna complain against God?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because's it's a human reaction."
"It's a rebel reaction."
Somehow, Louis' managed to capture the debate between humanism and extreme religion in this brief and heated exchange.
Example D:
Interesting to see how children are indoctrinated - and how they have to push aside their thoughts to believe in these ones. The inner struggle is never clearer than it is here.
From 5:41, watch the children explain how they deal with their doubts.
Example E:
Louis' anthropological approach often comes out in his narration. When the young women of the Church put together a dance routine to reworked Lady Gaga tunes on 25:30, he describes it as follows:
"There seemed to be two urges as work... one to spread the message in the Phelps style, and the other simply to provide a hobby and an outlet for the younger members."
As a humanist and an observational documentarist, Louis doesn't just show us extreme behaviour, but reveals the human urges beneath it. In this case, the 'behaviour' is religious extremism and cult worship.
Example A:
Around 24 minutes, we see that the naked fear of hell as a motivating factor. The young man wants to join because he fears what will happen in the afterlife - a powerful motivation for many belief systems. You can practically see his fear and desperation in that short exchange with Louis Theroux.
Example B:
Religious extremism often comes with a lack of sound reasoning. This is very apparent on 4 minutes, where Fred Phelps' daughter explains how she knew Barak Obama was the Antichrist.
Her 'justification' for this belief is basically:
"I suddenly had this idea. He fits all the criteria. Everyone agreed with me. Therefore he is the Antichrist."
Genius.
By the way, I realised over the weekend that Jay-Z is in fact Jesus. He fits all the criteria (famous, loved, huge crowds). All my drunk friends agreed with me. Therefore Jay-Z is Jesus.
Example C:
Humanists see rebellion as a natural human process.
Extremists see it as evil.
In the argument around 9:45, the battle between unquestioning belief and the right to rebel is captured in the exchange:
"When the Lord afflicts somebody with a thing, he's decided that's going to happen, what are you gonna do are you gonna complain against God?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because's it's a human reaction."
"It's a rebel reaction."
Somehow, Louis' managed to capture the debate between humanism and extreme religion in this brief and heated exchange.
Example D:
Interesting to see how children are indoctrinated - and how they have to push aside their thoughts to believe in these ones. The inner struggle is never clearer than it is here.
From 5:41, watch the children explain how they deal with their doubts.
Example E:
Louis' anthropological approach often comes out in his narration. When the young women of the Church put together a dance routine to reworked Lady Gaga tunes on 25:30, he describes it as follows:
"There seemed to be two urges as work... one to spread the message in the Phelps style, and the other simply to provide a hobby and an outlet for the younger members."
