Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Stephen Whitty
SIDEBAR: Film review: `Religulous’ a satirical tour de farce
By Stephen Whitty — October 2, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Bill Maher is a believer _ in the lethal effects of belief. His new film, “Religulous,” is an impassioned, mocking, sarcastic and at points enraged sermon against faith. “The plain fact,” he says, as he fulminates toward his conclusion, “is that religion must die for mankind to live.” So, […]
The only thing that needs to be expelled is this film
By Stephen Whitty — April 19, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Pop quiz: What is the real source of evil in the modern world? Greed? Intolerance? Well, according to “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” it’s Darwinism, a philosophy that posits the pointlessness of life and encourages the “de-privileging of human beings” _ and, as such, is responsible for everything from atheism […]
Film Takes a Fresh Look at Lives of Sudan’s `Lost Boys’
By Stephen Whitty — January 13, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) They are called the “Lost Boys,” and like Peter Pan’s crew, it has been years since they last saw their homes or families. But while Peter’s cohorts lived in perpetual childhood, these children have been stripped of theirs. While Peter’s friends played at pirates and Indians, these are trying […]
Jonestown Documentary Traces Cult From Promise to Perdition
By Stephen Whitty — October 19, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Here’s a list of questions to remember if a friend or child or lover ever tells you he or she has found a wonderful new group of friends. Do the new friends encourage them to leave home and move in with them? Do they discourage them from continuing old […]
`Jesus Camp’ is More Camp Than Jesus
By Stephen Whitty — September 21, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Parents want their children to think for themselves. Just not yet. Before their offspring come to that stage, most mothers and fathers lay down some no-nonsense, no-argument essentials. They raise their sons and daughters according to their own beliefs. They try to instill specific moral values. They try to […]
For Hollywood, Faith Has Always Been a Contentious Issue
By Stephen Whitty — May 23, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) There is faith, and there is religion, and Hollywood has never really embraced both. Movie makers have occasionally paid lip service to the second. The Old Testament remains a sturdy source of spectacle; the rites of the Roman Catholic Church regularly enliven horror movies. Screenwriters in search of a […]
`Da Vinci’ Strong But Not Super at Box Office
By Stephen Whitty — May 23, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) You don’t need a Harvard symbologist to decode this one. With its built-in advantage of a best-seller source novel _ and the dependable Ron Howard directing fan favorite Tom Hanks _ “The Da Vinci Code” translated fame into box-office success on its first weekend in release. Its estimated Friday-through-Sunday […]
`Da Vinci’ Follows Long Line of Touchy Films
By Stephen Whitty — May 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Hollywood loves a good argument. You’re not supposed to talk about sex, race or politics in polite American society. Yet the movies’ first blockbuster _ D.W. Griffith’s “The Birth of a Nation” _ did all three in 1915. And although it was immediately met by protests by the NAACP, […]
FILM ANALYSIS: Minus `Manly Men,’ Hollywood Redefines Male Heroism
By Stephen Whitty — April 28, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) A good man is hard to find. Which must be why everyone is trying to track them down, increase their numbers or just attempt to explain who the heck they are. “In Praise of Manly Men,” gushes the cover of this month’s O (“the Oprah magazine”). “Who are they, […]
FILM REVIEW _ `La Petite Jerusalem’: A Film About a `Nice Jewish Girl’ and the Agony of
By Stephen Whitty — January 31, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) To some eyes, perhaps, Laura is the stereotypical image of the nice Jewish girl. She studies hard in college, holds down a work-study job on campus and picks up extra money tutoring. She lives at home with her mother, older sister, brother-in-law, and four rambunctious nieces and nephews. She […]
FILM REVIEW: In This Film on the Crusades, the Christians Are the Bad Guys
By Stephen Whitty — May 7, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) For years, Muslim, Christian and Jew have lived in an uneasy peace. Tensions have been contained. Religious freedoms have been granted. Cultures have coexisted. But there are always those who do not see a profit in peace. And urged on by extremists, their easily influenced forces march blindly and […]
FILM REVIEW: Prophet Muhammad Subject of Animated Film
By Stephen Whitty — November 17, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) To critical nonbelievers, the Quran may seem a blueprint for holy war. But as brought to the screen in the new animated film “Muhammad: The Last Prophet,” it’s honored as a path to enlightenment. Sometimes the message we hear depends on the messenger delivering it. “Muhammad: The Last Prophet” […]
HOLIDAY FEATURE: As millennium ends, forces of good triumphs over cinematic evil
By Stephen Whitty — January 1, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service UNDATED _”Guy cuts an avocado open and sees the Virgin staring at him,”a world-weary bishop observes in the upcoming”The Third Miracle.””It’s the millennium coming, isn’t it?” Sure feels like it. After years of being pushed off-screen by secular stories, the forces of evil returned with a vengeance in 1999, in […]
Page 1 of 1
