There is a video that has been produced by Europa and called “HOME.” The film itself has some very nice imagery and runs anywhere from an hour and a half (edited) to two hours in length. From the very beginning it gave me reason to cringe and laugh. The video starts with an explanation of how earth evolved in an attempt to call people to the wonder of antiquity. They are right that our world is a wonderful place. The other parts of their underlying ideologies have some issues and I am not sure where to start. If I could stomach the evolution theory, I would encourage divorce, abortions and homosexual behavior. My reasoning, along the same lines as what the movie promotes, would be that humanity is corrupt and we need to eliminate most of the genes from the gene pool. These are successful ways to accomplish this task. Now you know at least something of the world view that I am watching this movie from. That said, the movie itself makes some major bloopers that show a lack of critical thought. The video starts with the modern and current evolution spiel. Almost four and a half minutes in, this was narrated:

[On early volcanoes:] These wreaths of smoke, curling from the bowels of the Earth, bear witness to the Earth's original atmosphere -- an atmosphere devoid of oxygen. A dense atmosphere, thick with water vapor. Full of carbon dioxide. A furnace...

Now, did she really say what I thought she said? Let’s check the dictionary to be sure.

de·void (dĭ-void')nadj.  Completely lacking; destitute or empty: a novel devoid of wit and inventiveness.

[The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.]

Devoid of oxygen means no oxygen, right? Well, that is what we are told must have been in order for early evolution to take place. But what is water made of?

water (wô'tər)
A colorless, odorless compound of hydrogen and oxygen. Water covers...

[The American Heritage® Science Dictionary. Retrieved June 23, 2009]

Around seven and a half minutes, an attempt is made to explain the discrepancy. The plants used the suns rays to power them as they broke the water molecules apart and filled the atmosphere with oxygen. How are chemical combinations formed before individual elements? Simple moves to complex. Right? In the producer’s favor, they do have a balanced view of the needs in poorer countries. It laments the massive erosion that is caused by a lack of vegetation. They attempt to tie it into global warming.

Scary Voice We only have 10 years to reverse this trend or else we will face life on earth as we have never known it… Back to Normal Voice Uh… aren’t we already facing things we haven’t “known”? There isn’t really as much of a consensus among scientists as the news media and politicians would have you believe about where we are at with global warming. The predominant proven effect of the release of more carbon dioxide is… ready for it?… bigger plants and longer growing seasons. Some are blaming the loss of some areas for growing crops on global warming, but you can read old records for yourself. Famines are not something new. No, I still don’t like pollution. My research on the actual papers being released by scientists is about 15 years old so I’ll avoid commenting on those here. There wasn’t a consensus then and there still isn’t one. There is another problem with how the producers of HOME try to push people to action. Resource-rich countries are not improving the lives of most of their citizens… but somehow spending “12 times more on military expenditures than on aid to developing countries” is a problem. Do they really expect that aid to get to the people and not line the pockets of the politicians? Don’t get me wrong, I do think our military is not set up right, but the argument that its funding should be spent on foreign aid instead is faulty as well. Deal with the people in need, not through their politicians. I think they are right to say that too much grain is wasted as fodder for our overconsumption of meat and for biofuels. The movie tries to close on a positive note. They cite those who are working to help the poorest of the poor. One reference is to a bank in Bangladesh which sounds a lot like what was promoted in the book Kingdom Business. It is a for-profit business with the goal of helping people. Then the commentator asks for more enforced legislation, which impairs the people. The film ends by saying that we should stop drilling into the earth. This is presumably for oil because the Sun’s energy is enough to supply our needs, but they are not completely clear on this. The Sun does not supply us with ore. There have been advances lately such as battery paper but I think that metals will still be very important in our future. There is good information. As with anything, don’t let it dictate everything you believe. Funny, isn’t it? They try to show how wondrous the world is around us so that we will want to take care of it. They also say that it is too messed up to have been planned by a designer. Would they make up their minds? Antiquity is a Christian’s playground.