It’s been days now since I sent email messages to the History Channel and to filmmaker Christopher Cassel concerning advertisements for Cassel’s documentary that describe the “Dark Ages” of European History as “godless”. I have received a response from neither the History Channel nor Christopher Cassel.
It seems that they are unrepentant about their use of a slur against non-religious people, and about the gross historical inaccuracy of their advertisement. The so-called “Dark Ages” of Europe certainly were not “godless”. The barbarity of those times took place in large part because of the dominance of men who considered themselves godly, and of religious organizations that were corrupt through and through. If anything, the Dark Ages can be considered to be a time when godliness was dominant to such an extent that it became a threat to peace and goodwill.
But, the History Channel saw fit to attack godless people, claiming that godlessness, which does not appear in the historical record as a force in Europe the time of the Dark Ages, was responsible for the savagery of the time. The History Channel has been caught in an outrageous historical error, but they don’t seem ready to correct it, much less apologize for it.
Whether filmmaker Christopher Cassel took a direct part in the decision to promote his documentary with inaccurate and insulting advertisements is unclear. However, Mr. Cassel seems unwilling to take a stand against the offensive commercials. Cassel’s professional reputation is likely to suffer as a result – at least among those who care about accuracy in documentaries. If Cassel wants to make a career out of wild sensationalism and exploiting religious discrimination, he’s well on his way to success.
You’re still misunderstanding the ad: it’s not saying that people were godless, it’s saying that there was godless behavior. As I wrote in the comments on your previous post, American conservative Christians think that you can’t be good without being religious, so, to them, “godless†is a synonym for “evilâ€. It’s still insulting, but it’s not ahistorical.
I don’t think I’m misunderstanding the ad. I don’t follow your path of generous interpretation, that’s all. I don’t buy the argument that godless behavior could take place without godless people. Godless behavior is done by godless people, just as murderous behavior is done by murderers, and rude behavior is done by rude people.
The big point here is that The History Channel doesn’t understand what godless behavior is. Godless behavior is the actions taken by people who don’t believe in gods. So, not going to church or participating in pagan rites of worship would be godless behavior. Is there a record that such behavior was the dominant mode of the Dark Ages, as the commercial for The Dark Ages suggests? There’s no historical evidence for that.
I watched the show and there are many many factual errors and misrepresentations in the show. Errors that are readily correctable by even a modicum of research that the filmmaker obviously didn’t do. I was looking forward to a show about the Dark Ages and was beyond disappointed. But I’ve watched the History Channel for some time now, and they are more jingoist and establishment oriented than they are a channel about the factual events of history.
Truman,
Someone who participates in “pagan rites of worship” are not godless. By that definition, all of the history of civilization was godless, including the Roman Empire, which fell, according the History Channel, less than 100 years after the Empire was Christianized. Pagans believe in gods. There’s a whole pantheon full of them. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a godless people since the beginning of religious expression, some 50,000 years ago.
We’re not talking about “a godless people” – as in an entire godless nation. We’re talking about godless people – as individuals. Agreed, pagans were not godless.