The Zeitgeist Movie

After several people recommended "Zeitgeist the Movie" to me, I decided to watch it this week (on YouTube). It's recommended by the same people who recommend "Loose Change" (about 9/11). I found the "documentary" to be an interesting and intriguing look at the world, though I do have my critiques.

"Zeitgeist" is a German word that literally translates as "times" + "spirit". Loosely translated, it basically means the spirit of the times. You know...like when slavery finally came to be seen as immoral, or when the American Revolution was inevitable. It's the spirit of the age, when an idea has achieved "critical mass." This film hopes to be that kind of influence on humanity. However, we're still too new in this century to know its impact.

The film is divided into three sections. The first section is about Christianity, which the documentarians have decided is based on astrology and rips off other religions. I also watched what the film's detractors had to say about it and all the ones I've found on YouTube aim most of their criticism at the first section of the film. I don't know enough about ancient Egyptian religion or the others to know how much of it resembles the Christ mythology. I'll have to research it further. What did intrigue me about the first section was the astrological parallels, with the "Son" representing / replacing the "Sun." I knew since a teenager about the move to make Jesus' birthday fall near the Winter Solstice to convert pagans. In my faith tradition, many believe Jesus' birthday was more likely in April (which also happens to be the birth date of the Latter Day Saints movement). What really intrigued me about this section was that Jesus supposedly represents the Age of Pisces (which is symbolized by a fish). Each astrological Age is approximately 2,500 years and the next age is of Aquarius. Historically, there is some sort of upheaval associated during the transition from one age into another. Thus why some feel like we are entering the "end times" of Revelations.

The thesis of the documentarians is that the Christ myth is the first lie to con people into a sort of complacent mental slavery. However, that's only one way of looking at it. The people who made this film make it seem like Jesus didn't exist, that he was entirely made up. However, while I have my own beef with the way the Christ story has been misused and abused, the example I get from his life story is that he showed us how to live, which might upset the powerful people in the church institution and their strict obedience to following "the letter of the law." He showed us that how we act towards one another, by seeking forgiveness and peace in our interactions, that we can transform society. So, I don't agree that Jesus was a con job. He is a worthy example of how to live life. It's the people who created a church in his name that have caused a lot of problem, especially when they made salvation dependent upon a person's acceptance of Jesus as a personal saviour by professing to believe literally in the resurrection and the reason behind the resurrection (that he died for our sins). I don't accept that view of Jesus at all. But I'm not going to throw Jesus out just because evil men have manipulated his life story to control the mass of ignorant people.

The second part of the film deals with 9/11. I won't go into detail here, because I already shared my views about 9/11 on 9/11's post. This part of the film is like a condensed version of "Loose Change" and worth watching because once you look at the events through the lens of logic and science (particularly the laws of physics and chemistry), there's only one conclusion to make: 9/11 was committed by evil men in our government to shock the people with fear and obedience so we can go along with pre-emptive wars for oil, the stripping away of our Constitutional rights, and the slippery slope all of it leads to (unlawful detentions, torture, and inability to speak to a lawyer). Very chilling, but even skeptics should see this part of the film and ponder the meaning, even if they don't quite believe it to be true.

The third and final part of the film deals with the financiers who supposedly manipulate market crashes to have greater control over the economy and wealth. It was most interesting watching this segment on the heels of our latest financial disaster. I have no problem believing that something is afoot and it can't be good. Someone has benefitted financially from this mess and I wouldn't be surprised if it was planned all along. Fascism is easy to enact when economic times are uncertain. We've seen too many strange things happen during Bush's presidency that I believe elements of our government have nothing but evil designs for our nation if they continue to have their lizard-like claws on the real power of our country.

The problem I have with the final segment is that it goes into the "One World Government" conspiracy that I heard so much about since the 1980s. I just don't see it as possible because our world is too diverse. There is a such thing as a spiritual force at work that can undermine those in power. Empires over extend and collapse. It happened to Rome, to the Ottoman Empire, to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to Prussia and the Soviet Union, and to the United Kingdom. France and Spain had their glory days of empire as well. Now America's empirical ambitions are collapsing under the weight of debt. I have a hard time believing that these global financiers with an ambition towards a one world government could succeed because there's such a thing as old age and death. And betrayal. For example, if Dick Cheney were the evil mastermind behind it all (the stolen election, 9/11, war in Iraq, and the financial crisis) and wanted to be a leader of this so called "one world government", well...he has a weak heart, he's old, and the fucker is going to die someday (soon, we can all hope!). No human being can escape that fate God gives all living beings of planet earth. People who crave absolute power always have to watch their back because there are other men who want that power for themselves.

Another difficulty I see in establishing a "one world government" is that the narrator of "Zeitgeist" said that there are plans underway to form a "North American Union", an "African Union" and an "Asian Union" to rival the European Union. This is supposedly a step towards "one world government" (as was the United Nations, which has proven itself to be more a chamber of hot air and rhetoric than an effective enforcer of resolutions on violating nations). For one thing, Africa is so technologically behind the times and impoverished that I don't see global financiers bothering with such a continential union. There are too many tribal differences with ethnic clashes and guerilla warfare and corrupt leaders. We've seen time and again (with Ethiopia, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Darfur and Zaire...to name but a few) that the world pretty much doesn't care about the plight of poor Africans. Starvation, disease, chronic poverty, violence, genocide. The world doesn't care about that continent to spend time or money forming an "African Union" on the European model.

The "Asian Union" is equally absurd because it's the world's largest continent and the most diverse. The Chinese and Japanese don't trust one another, and neither does Pakistan and India. Then there's the diverse Arab and Muslim nations, some of which stretch across North Africa. Would Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt be part of the Asia Union or the Africa Union? And what about the much talked about Pan-Arab nation-state? They've never been able to form one because those countries don't like or trust each other. What about the Iranians, who aren't Arabs, but Persian? And then there's Israel? Would it agree to be part of some Asian Union? I highly doubt that. They'd rather be the 51st state.

We don't hear any talk about a North American Union. While I agree that Canada and the U.S. should form one country (I know that Canadians would oppose such a deal), Americans would be against Mexico becoming part of the North American Union. There's still too much nationalism in many nations for things to progress towards these continental unions as a step closer towards "one world government." So, that's my major beef with this documentary. It's a bit alarmist, but it does get you to think. Everyone should watch it and think about these issues because we need to be aware of attempts to manipulate us through fear of terrorism that is designed to get us to give up our freedom and liberty. No where is this more critical than the idea of implanting a microchip inside our bodies. That should absolutely not be allowed to happen. It would be a new form of slavery and we would all be less secure (watch "Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace" for an idea of how a microchip can be used. Anakin Skywalker spells it out perfectly).

All in all, an interesting film and worth watching. I'm more optimistic than the producers of the film because I believe that the spirituality of the age will defeat the totalitarian designs of manichean and authoritarian technocrats. Jesus showed the way and it's up to anyone who considers themselves "Christian" to join this fight against any move towards a totalitarian society. Unfortunately, too many of them have authoritarian impulses and want to establish a Christofascist society as it fits in with their perverse view of apocalyptic theology. It's time to join the zeitgeist and awaken to our power as spiritual beings so we can prevent this future from becoming reality.