Humanism Worldview Clips
PLEASE NOTE: These videos can only be used within the educational context of teaching an Anchorsaway class.
There is a “Click Here To Download” link at the bottom of each individual movie clip. Click on the link and you will be re-directed to our Vimeo site. Below the clip on Vimeo, you will see a Download button. Various formats for downloading will pop up once you click Download. Make sure to choose the one best suited for your computer and save to your movie clip folder.
Scene: Peeta, about to depart for the “Hunger Games”, tells the television moderator that the very girl he has a crush on is one of the contestants in the Games. Only one contestant from the game will survive.
Teaching Point: The portrayal of the dystopian (a place where everything is bad or unpleasant-the opposite of utopian) world in “The Hunger Games” is one in which skills and wits are all that is needed for survival. God plays no part in such a world.
Scene: A nefarious stock broker, in this famous speech, presents “greed” as being the highest ideal.
Teaching Point: In the secular humanist world, man is at the center of life. Greed has taken the place of God and wealth and worldly success are the only markers of a purposeful life. From an evolutionary perspective, which is at the core of humanism, this man’s sentiments fit his worldview perfectly.
Teaching Point: After wrestling with some of the major life issues in the world of achievement in mathematics, the conclusion is that the love between humans is the pinnacle of life, purpose and ultimately what defines us as people.
Scene: Jack Palance tells Billy Crystal the secret to life is “one thing”.
Teaching Point: Humanists believe that the only answers to life can be found by man through education, science or oneself. Man is the center of life and hope for progress by becoming self-actualized.
Scene: A skilled abortionist advises a young doctor that he is obligated to help women abort their children because it is another way that he can be of use.
Teaching Point: All life is sacred to God. However, according to humanists, there is no God and therefore, no moral absolutes. Also, one’s value system is based on one’s needs. In this instance, the elder doctor feels that it is his job to help women terminate pregnancies if they so choose and teaches other doctors how to do likewise.
Scene: Opening scene from the movie, “A Beautiful Mind”. The professor speaks of the importance of science and publishing as the most important factors in determining a hopeful future.
Teaching Point: The humanist believes that the material world, as studied through science, is man’s source for understanding, hope, restoration, success and salvation. At the end of life, these theories are proven to be wrong.
Scene: Astronaut Leo Davidson crashes on the Planet of the Apes and is captured. He then helps other human slaves get free and is assisted by Ari, a “human activist” ape. Their group climbs up a hill to find intimidating figures.
Teaching Point: Ari, the ape, says “Legend tells us that over the hill is where life began, the almighty breathed life into all things, including the first ape. I doubt it is really true. Most educated apes consider such religious notions as fairytales, metaphors to explain our origins…” This statement infers that any intellectual would not believe in God, that God’s story is one of fairytales and metaphors.
Scene: A reformed Gordon Bekko talks with his future son-in-law about the danger of falling in love with money.
Teaching Points: The Bible does not tell us that money is evil but rather the love of it. Gordon has just come back from serving 8 years in jail and is trying to warn Jacob to not let the love of money possess you.
Scene: Ben Stein, in his movie, Expelled, gives a very clear picture of the difficulty of asking honest questions in the area of science. There are Christian scientists and non-Christian scientists. Is there any evidence that God created? Is there any evidence for evolution?
Scene: A high school teacher tries to deal with cliques, gossip and cruelty among the girls at a local high school.
Teaching point: When we don’t have the view that everyone is created in the image of God and deserving of respect and honor, we can fall into elevating ourselves at the expense of other people.
Scene: When locals stumble upon a bundle of cash, only one person in the group of 3 friends raises an objection to keeping the mystery money.
Teaching Point: In humanism, money is one of the major motivators for making decisions. Ask students what they would honestly do if put in this same situation!
Humanism Worldview: Evolution from human to ape. The film clip points out that only a human has a soul that can understand mercy and grace.
The underlying worldview is that evolution is the source of creation and time is the ultimate reason and impetus for existence.
In The Circle, we see the humanist worldview portrayed in that man is the center of everything and self-actualization is the key to perfection in society. Personal privacy and freedom must be sacrificed for the greater good.
Mathematician John Nash explains that the only way for a person to matter in this life is to have an original idea that sets him apart from others. Purpose and identity come from the humanistic belief that intellectual achievement is the pinnacle of existence.