'Around the World in 80 Faiths' episode 4
This series has been very interesting so far.
Episode 2 was about the Far East, and covered Buddhism, Taoism and so on. I liked the sect of 'Mother Goddess' worshippers, who brought offerings to the temple, which were then handed out again by the priestesses- it was interestingly earthy compared to most of the other religions in the area which are very...cerebral.
Episode 3 covered Africa, which was again very interesting, but he seemed to miss some intriguing parallels, like how the doors of this ancient Ethiopian church were painted in yellow, green and red, in the same order as the Rasta flag, and that in the church, everyone knelt like in a mosque...Oh well.
Now, I was looking forward to episode 4, which was looking at the Middle East, as it's the base for several religions that I find fascinating. However, while it is perhaps understandable given where he was, he had said that he wasn't going to talk about the "Big 6", but spent most time discussing Christianity, Islam and Judaism and their different claims to the land. There were some interesting sects, such as the African Hebrew Israelites, that I hadn't heard of before, but the "normal" strands dominated the programme.* Sufism barely got a look in- just some (admittedly lovely) footage of a Dervish, but no discussion of music or poetry (no Rumi!). A big deal was made of the danger of going to Iraq to visit some Yazidis, to which there was very little substantial coverage- some mention of the egg-cracking ritual (Yes, it does look like a pagan fertility ritual, doesn't it? Funny how the Greek Orthodox Church does exactly the same thing around Easter! Oh, you don't want to mention that...Ok...), and the cloth-throwing. He found it necessary to mention that their chief angel, Melek Taus, wasn't Lucifer as some might think, but not the fact that Melek Taus is believed to be in the form of a peacock...Oh well.
I hadn't heard about the Turkish Alevi's before, which was interesting, as was his very brief coverage of Baha'i.
Next week's episode is about America, which should be...varied, I think.
(If he does Europe after that, then that's 6 episodes. But, erm...India? Seriously, you'd think...)
*He also did not seem to deem it of note that 97% of the people he spoke to about each different religion were men. Even when there were clearly other women in the room, he was talking to men and didn't seem to find it odd. Argh.
Episode 2 was about the Far East, and covered Buddhism, Taoism and so on. I liked the sect of 'Mother Goddess' worshippers, who brought offerings to the temple, which were then handed out again by the priestesses- it was interestingly earthy compared to most of the other religions in the area which are very...cerebral.
Episode 3 covered Africa, which was again very interesting, but he seemed to miss some intriguing parallels, like how the doors of this ancient Ethiopian church were painted in yellow, green and red, in the same order as the Rasta flag, and that in the church, everyone knelt like in a mosque...Oh well.
Now, I was looking forward to episode 4, which was looking at the Middle East, as it's the base for several religions that I find fascinating. However, while it is perhaps understandable given where he was, he had said that he wasn't going to talk about the "Big 6", but spent most time discussing Christianity, Islam and Judaism and their different claims to the land. There were some interesting sects, such as the African Hebrew Israelites, that I hadn't heard of before, but the "normal" strands dominated the programme.* Sufism barely got a look in- just some (admittedly lovely) footage of a Dervish, but no discussion of music or poetry (no Rumi!). A big deal was made of the danger of going to Iraq to visit some Yazidis, to which there was very little substantial coverage- some mention of the egg-cracking ritual (Yes, it does look like a pagan fertility ritual, doesn't it? Funny how the Greek Orthodox Church does exactly the same thing around Easter! Oh, you don't want to mention that...Ok...), and the cloth-throwing. He found it necessary to mention that their chief angel, Melek Taus, wasn't Lucifer as some might think, but not the fact that Melek Taus is believed to be in the form of a peacock...Oh well.
I hadn't heard about the Turkish Alevi's before, which was interesting, as was his very brief coverage of Baha'i.
Next week's episode is about America, which should be...varied, I think.
(If he does Europe after that, then that's 6 episodes. But, erm...India? Seriously, you'd think...)
*He also did not seem to deem it of note that 97% of the people he spoke to about each different religion were men. Even when there were clearly other women in the room, he was talking to men and didn't seem to find it odd. Argh.