Groovy Documentary Atheism

BY R ICH AR D CAR R IER / ON AUGUST 1, 2012 / 12 COMMENTS

Let me convince you to help fund a movie. This is the year for positive, uplifting atheist documentaries. (Well, actually, next
year. They are being made now. They’ll probably be out then.) Two are already nearly in the can, The Scarlett Letter
and Coming Out in America. Letter (directed by John Jennings) focuses on atheist leaders (not solely, but largely) and
explores their lives and philosophy and the growing movement of organized atheism in America and what’s driving it (as
you’ll see in the trailer, I was interviewed and will likely be among those featured in it). Out (directed by Christophe
Fauchère) focuses on the goals and challenges of atheists “coming out” as atheists and dealing with the backlash from
friends, family, coworkers, and community, and why more and more atheists are doing it, especially in colleges and high
schools. Two great documentaries I am definitely looking forward to.

But there is another that might get made, if the filmmaker can raise the money
to do it. And I think if you can help, you definitely should. It’s Hug an
Atheist, and it sets itself apart from those other two films in ways that make it
yet another film I really want to see, if only we can find enough financial
supporters to make it possible. It will be directed by Sylvia Broeckx, a cool
Belgian girl living in the UK, and that is unique feature number one: she comes
from a background of European culture that simply sees nothing like the
hostility to atheism we do over here, and she has become increasingly
appalled by it (her trailer exemplifies what I mean, as does her accompanying
mission statement). She will be able to give us a nuanced compare-and-
contrast point of view between how it is and how it could be, informed by
her foreign background and point of view.

But unique feature number two is even more important: she will be focusing not just on documenting the unusual
hostility and ignorance and fear and bigotry toward atheists and atheism in America, but even more on showing positive
atheist values and what atheist lives and families are really like. As Sylvia puts it in her video:

“
The film will show how [atheists] find meaning and purpose by highlighting how they deal with some of
 “
life’s key aspects, such as family, work, love, marriage, and grief.

This is really something of value we need to see produced and available. Several other
atheist movement leaders have endorsed the project and want to see it made as well,
including Hemant Mehta and Greta Christina. I’m with them on this.

Sylvia is a professional filmmaker and will be fronting nearly half of the $50,000 budget, but she needs $27,000 of it to
come from outside investors. You won’t get any ownership of the film, but you will get various gifts the more you give (see
her Indiegogo page, and look at the options down the right margin: the more you donate, the cooler stuff you get,
although really you will just be giving to see the film get made, and that’s reason enough). At last look she had raised only a
tenth of her goal, and she can’t go forward with the project if she doesn’t meet her target (she will already be fronting a lot
of the cost herself, and these kinds of projects are not cheap to pull off).

As with most funding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, if she doesn’t reach her target, all your money is refunded. If she
does reach her target, the film gets made. And then you’ll get to see it next year. So it can’t hurt to pledge something. This
kind of project really needs wealthy donors who can pledge a lot (so do, if you can). But if enough small donations come
in, that can make a difference, too. That would require you to get more people than just yourself on board, so if you want
to see this film made like I do, try to convince at least two more people to join you, and try to convince them each to get
two more people to join them, and so on. I have donated $100 to her project myself. Can we convince 250 people to do
the same?

Let’s try!

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B A D SCIE NCE PROVE S DE M IG ODS E XIST! A CORRECTION A ND REB UTTA L

12 comments
DR DA VE • AUGUS T 1, 2012, 10:47 AM

Richard, you successfully recruited me for an equal amount, and I put it up on Facebook. Perhaps I can snare
some of my HSGP friends.
R E P LY

GEOJI M • AUGUS T 1, 2012, 9 :03 P M

Oops, I think you meant ‘Hug an Atheist’ instead of ‘Hug and Atheist’.

R E P LY

R IC H AR D C AR R IER • AUGUS T 2, 2012, 6 :21 P M

Oh that’s wild. I read that several times to proof it and every time I saw “an” where there
was “and.”

Good example of what Dennett was talking about in Consciousness Explained: our brain
fills in what we see with what it thinks is there, not necessarily with what our eyes are telling it
is there.

Fixed!

R E P LY

E M P I R I C A L LY Y O U R S • A U G U S T 1 , 2 0 1 2 , 1 1 : 0 7 P M

Thanks for the heads up on these great projects Richard. Couple of things, Sylvia is Belgian and a typo, Hug and
Atheist should be ‘an’.

R E P LY

R IC H AR D C AR R IER • AUGUS T 2, 2012, 6 :26 P M

Ack. Egg on face. Fixed. Thanks!

R E P LY

S Y LV I A • A U G U S T 1 0 , 2 0 1 2 , 3 : 5 7 A M

Thanks for noticing, it made me smile that someone noticed. My passport says I’m Belgian,
but my first language is Dutch and if anything, my nationality is Flemish (Flanders). So it can
get confusing at the best of times and hence I didn’t mind, I was just so happy that Richard
cared enough to share and even donate. I’m a happy bunny.
 R E P LY

S Y LV I A • A U G U S T 2 , 2 0 1 2 , 1 1 : 1 8 A M

Can’t thank you enough for your support Richard. It means so much to me

R E P LY

F U L LY L A D E N S W A L L O W • A U G U S T 3 , 2 0 1 2 , 7 : 0 1 A M

Thanks for posting this Richard.

This is great! Contributed and looking forward to the documentary.

No disrespect Richard, but you don’t seem old enough to be using the word “groovy”. What personality from
the 70’s would you be channeling? Or are words/phrases like “groovy”, “far out” and “bitchen” making a come-
back?

R E P LY

R IC H AR D C AR R IER • AUGUS T 3, 2012, 1:49 P M

I am a man of many generations. Even those in which I didn’t live. I assimilate them all.I am
a freak.

R E P LY

R OO BOOK A R OO • AUGUS T 3, 2012, 2:38 P M

“Groovy” and “far-out” have never been out of circulation. But “bitchen” I have never heard.
Perhaps used outside of New York.

R E P LY

N U MEN A STER • AUGUS T 8, 2012, 10:53 AM

@Roo, “bitchin'” is common usage here on the west coast. Note the change in spelling–pronunciation is the
same, however.

R E P LY
 TH E N ER D • AUGUS T 1 1 , 201 2, 1 1 :1 2 AM

That baby photo!

*throws money at project*

R E P LY

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Richard Carrier is the author of many books and numerous articles online and in print. His avid readers span the world from Hong Kong to
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