Religions > Atheism > "TOUCHING THE VOID": New Movie About The Atheist Who Survived More Than Just A Foxhole
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Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Clayton of Sunnybrook Farm" |
| Date: |
08 Jun 2004 04:09:32 AM |
| Object: |
"TOUCHING THE VOID": New Movie About The Atheist Who Survived More Than Just A Foxhole |
Some of you may remember my post a few months ago about Joe Simpson, the
mountain climber who survived a tradgedy that most of us could never
imagine, but still came out of it, not just with his atheism intact, but
reinforced! (I have reposted it below) Well they have made a movie from his
book "Touching the Void". I'm not sure if it's been released elsewhere yet,
but it's opening soon in Australia. Apparently it won the BAFTA award for
Best British Film so keep an eye out for it. Here is my original post.
Adventurer Joe Simpson lived through something most of us could never
imagine and has told his story in the book "Touching the Void". After
falling down a huge crevice and shattering his leg, he had to crawl for days
through a frozen wasteland to survive. Recently on the Australian ABC TV
show "Enough Rope with Andrew Denton" he said that not only was he an
atheist before, during and after his ordeal, he has even credited it with
giving him the strength to survive.
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Andrew Denton: You said you didn't want to die alone. Did you have any sense
of God?
Joe Simpson: My mother was Southern Irish, and I was brought up as a devout
Catholic. In fact, at one point I thought I'd become a priest, but I'd have
made an appalling priest anyway. At 16, I asked all these monks some serious
questions and they didn't come up with the answers, and I just decided I
didn't believe in God. And I always thought, you know, if everything hit the
fan, then I might turn around and say, you know, a couple of Hail Marys,
"Can you get me out of here?" And in all those days, I never did once, not
even in the crevasse. I never thought of some God or some omniscient being
that'd lean down and give me help, and I feel, actually, if I had believed
that, I just would've stopped and waited for it, and I would've died. And so
in a way, that's why that loneliness, I think, came in. I was 25, I was fit,
strong, ambitious. I wanted to climb the world and I was dying. There was no
afterlife, there's no paradise, there's no heaven. It's just dead. And I
really didn't want to lose that. I've got immense respect for other people's
religions, be it Christian or Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim. I just.I don't
happen to have a belief, and I've tested that atheism, so, um, I respect my
own lack of belief now. Before, I was never quite sure.
---------------------------------------------------------
Here is the whole transcript of the interview. Read it...it's facinating!
http://www.abc.net.au/enoughrope/stories/s879148.htm
Here's a link for his book with some reviews.
http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/books_magazines/print_books/touching_the_void_joe_simpson/
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: "TOUCHING THE VOID": New Movie About The Atheist Who Survived More Than Just A Foxhole |
09 Jun 2004 12:56:33 AM |
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In article <40c581ee$0$3037$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au>,
"Clayton of Sunnybrook Farm" <cjfat@BLOCKINGOFTHESPAMphonyemail.com>
wrote:
Some of you may remember my post a few months ago about Joe Simpson, the
mountain climber who survived a tradgedy that most of us could never
imagine, but still came out of it, not just with his atheism intact, but
reinforced! (I have reposted it below) Well they have made a movie from his
book "Touching the Void". I'm not sure if it's been released elsewhere yet,
but it's opening soon in Australia. Apparently it won the BAFTA award for
Best British Film so keep an eye out for it. Here is my original post.
Apparently it was released in the US in January this year. It didn't get
all that much publicity and I missed. it. Damn!
According to Amazon, the DVD will be out June 15th. I'll have to look
for it.
--
John Hachmann aa #1782
"Men become civilized not in their willingness to believe, but in
proportion to their readiness to doubt." - H. L. Mencken
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| User: "Severian" |
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| Title: Re: "TOUCHING THE VOID": New Movie About The Atheist Who Survived More Than Just A Foxhole |
09 Jun 2004 01:18:24 AM |
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On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 22:56:33 -0700, johac <jhachm@ixpresremove.com>
wrote:
In article <40c581ee$0$3037$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au>,
"Clayton of Sunnybrook Farm" <cjfat@BLOCKINGOFTHESPAMphonyemail.com>
wrote:
Some of you may remember my post a few months ago about Joe Simpson, the
mountain climber who survived a tradgedy that most of us could never
imagine, but still came out of it, not just with his atheism intact, but
reinforced! (I have reposted it below) Well they have made a movie from his
book "Touching the Void". I'm not sure if it's been released elsewhere yet,
but it's opening soon in Australia. Apparently it won the BAFTA award for
Best British Film so keep an eye out for it. Here is my original post.
Apparently it was released in the US in January this year. It didn't get
all that much publicity and I missed. it. Damn!
According to Amazon, the DVD will be out June 15th. I'll have to look
for it.
It played here in Charlotte for a while -- and sounded really good --
but I missed it. I'll have to rent or buy it.
--
Sev
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: "TOUCHING THE VOID": New Movie About The Atheist Who Survived More Than Just A Foxhole |
10 Jun 2004 02:41:47 PM |
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In talk.atheism Severian <severian@chlamydia-is-not-a-flower.com> wrote:
On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 22:56:33 -0700, johac <jhachm@ixpresremove.com>
wrote:
In article <40c581ee$0$3037$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au>,
"Clayton of Sunnybrook Farm" <cjfat@BLOCKINGOFTHESPAMphonyemail.com>
wrote:
Some of you may remember my post a few months ago about Joe Simpson, the
mountain climber who survived a tradgedy that most of us could never
imagine, but still came out of it, not just with his atheism intact, but
reinforced! (I have reposted it below) Well they have made a movie from his
book "Touching the Void". I'm not sure if it's been released elsewhere yet,
but it's opening soon in Australia. Apparently it won the BAFTA award for
Best British Film so keep an eye out for it. Here is my original post.
Apparently it was released in the US in January this year. It didn't get
all that much publicity and I missed. it. Damn!
According to Amazon, the DVD will be out June 15th. I'll have to look
for it.
It played here in Charlotte for a while -- and sounded really good --
but I missed it. I'll have to rent or buy it.
Is that THE Charlotte, as in "the queen city" aka "the city that couldn't
keep the basketball team"<g>?
If so, we're practically neighbors (I live in Rock Hill, myself.)
--
Mike
W hat atheism: a non-prophet organization...
W ould
J enna
D rink?
-------------------------------
Creation Science: an oxymoron actually created by morons...
-------------------------------
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you
do criticize them, you're a mile away, and you have their shoes.
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| User: "Craig McDonald " |
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| Title: Re: "TOUCHING THE VOID": New Movie About The Atheist Who Survived More Than Just A Foxhole |
12 Jun 2004 02:13:30 PM |
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On Tue, 8 Jun 2004 19:09:32 +1000, "Clayton of Sunnybrook Farm"
<cjfat@BLOCKINGOFTHESPAMphonyemail.com> wrote:
Some of you may remember my post a few months ago about Joe Simpson, the
mountain climber who survived a tradgedy that most of us could never
imagine, but still came out of it, not just with his atheism intact, but
reinforced! (I have reposted it below) Well they have made a movie from his
book "Touching the Void". I'm not sure if it's been released elsewhere yet,
but it's opening soon in Australia. Apparently it won the BAFTA award for
Best British Film so keep an eye out for it. Here is my original post.
<snip>
Seen it. It's an incredible story of human determination. He doesn't
make a big issue of his atheism during his ordeal. You pretty much
quoted all he had to say on the matter.
Nevertheless it made a pleasant change from the usual gawd-saved-us
tripe.
So much for there being no atheists in fox-holes, eh?
Red Celt
a.a.#883
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| User: "JTEM" |
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| Title: Re: "TOUCHING THE VOID": New Movie About The Atheist Who Survived More Than Just A Foxhole |
12 Jun 2004 05:42:26 PM |
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<Craig McDonald> wrote
Nevertheless it made a pleasant change from the
usual gawd-saved-us tripe.
Like, "God save the queen"? You're swimming in it.
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| User: "Craig McDonald " |
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| Title: Re: "TOUCHING THE VOID": New Movie About The Atheist Who Survived More Than Just A Foxhole |
18 Jun 2004 08:24:20 AM |
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On Sat, 12 Jun 2004 18:42:26 -0400, "JTEM" <gymraven@hotmail.com>
wrote:
<Craig McDonald> wrote
Nevertheless it made a pleasant change from the
usual gawd-saved-us tripe.
Like, "God save the queen"? You're swimming in it.
Quoth the delusional fruit-cake.
Red Celt
a.a.#883
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| User: "Christopher A. Lee" |
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| Title: Re: "TOUCHING THE VOID": New Movie About The Atheist Who Survived More Than Just A Foxhole |
18 Jun 2004 08:53:18 AM |
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On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 14:24:20 +0100, Craig McDonald <> wrote:
On Sat, 12 Jun 2004 18:42:26 -0400, "JTEM" <gymraven@hotmail.com>
wrote:
<Craig McDonald> wrote
Nevertheless it made a pleasant change from the
usual gawd-saved-us tripe.
Like, "God save the queen"? You're swimming in it.
Quoth the delusional fruit-cake.
Does he think anybody takes that seriously?
This is of course the problem - the monarchy hasn't ruled for a long
time; it is largely symbolic. Just as religion is cultural not the
absolute driving force it is in the US. Binary thinkers don't seem to
realise this.
Red Celt
a.a.#883
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