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"Hard to say, but maybe curiosity" - John Follis
John's documentary "Leaving God", explores a shift that appears to be happening in America away from God and religion (recent Pew Research reports about 30% of Americans are now religiously unaffiliated). In John's film he explores this trend through the eyes of his own personal journey with God. John grew up Catholic in the 60's, a time when questioning the church was not something you did. Throughout his life he grappled with the question of if God was real, if church was beneficial, and at one point was even an award-winning adman/agency owner who actually helped to sell God.
It was really interesting to hear more about John's background and personal story with the church. He explained that he was raised with a relatively strict Catholic upbringing, but from a very early age his curiosity pushed him to question what the church was actually saying and why. It might be easy, given the title of his documentary, to assume that John has some personal grudge against God/religion and is just trying to convince people to see things his way. However, from the conversation and his film you will see it is much more complex than that. John appreciates how significant God is in so many people's lives, so he wanted to share his experience to others can make a more informed decision.
As I often do, I played "devil's advocate" (no pun intended) and we actually spent a bit of time exploring if the religious believers are really that different from John and others that choose science or a more secular approach to life. We questioned if "curiosity", the value that seemed very important to John (and myself), was being applied consistently in our assessment of religion and science. We also explored the the "morality" of advertising, trying to understand if there is something inherently bad whenever we try and convince/influence someone to believe something. John and I didn't always agree, as you will hear in the episode, but it is always super insightful to debate topics like this with someone willing to explore their view points at a deeper level.
Here is the link to his documentary if you want to check it out- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5x1X4eBBB4&list=PLLrP-KpjctO0J7yly7yqsKYs-CRAwcx9M
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By Terry McMullen
5
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John's documentary "Leaving God", explores a shift that appears to be happening in America away from God and religion (recent Pew Research reports about 30% of Americans are now religiously unaffiliated). In John's film he explores this trend through the eyes of his own personal journey with God. John grew up Catholic in the 60's, a time when questioning the church was not something you did. Throughout his life he grappled with the question of if God was real, if church was beneficial, and at one point was even an award-winning adman/agency owner who actually helped to sell God.
It was really interesting to hear more about John's background and personal story with the church. He explained that he was raised with a relatively strict Catholic upbringing, but from a very early age his curiosity pushed him to question what the church was actually saying and why. It might be easy, given the title of his documentary, to assume that John has some personal grudge against God/religion and is just trying to convince people to see things his way. However, from the conversation and his film you will see it is much more complex than that. John appreciates how significant God is in so many people's lives, so he wanted to share his experience to others can make a more informed decision.
As I often do, I played "devil's advocate" (no pun intended) and we actually spent a bit of time exploring if the religious believers are really that different from John and others that choose science or a more secular approach to life. We questioned if "curiosity", the value that seemed very important to John (and myself), was being applied consistently in our assessment of religion and science. We also explored the the "morality" of advertising, trying to understand if there is something inherently bad whenever we try and convince/influence someone to believe something. John and I didn't always agree, as you will hear in the episode, but it is always super insightful to debate topics like this with someone willing to explore their view points at a deeper level.
Here is the link to his documentary if you want to check it out- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5x1X4eBBB4&list=PLLrP-KpjctO0J7yly7yqsKYs-CRAwcx9M