User:Feredir28/180 (movie)

180: Changing the Heart of a Nation is a 33-minute schlockumentary (originally meant to be titled "Hitler, Religion and the Holocaust") anti-abortionist film by Ray Comfort. The title represents the aim to "reverse" people who hold a pro-choice stance to become staunch anti-abortionists. It was released on September 26, 2011, and in less than a month the documentary passed 1 million views on YouTube. Typical ploys are used to get people to watch the film, the most obvious is the suggestion that this is a historical film about Jews and Hitler. The web page says nothing about abortion, just "A shocking award winning documentary" which will "Rock Your World".

The video appears to be dozens of instances of Ray Comfort randomly interviewing random strangers and convincing them that abortion is bad.

In the trailers, Comfort argues that this "reverse" of views can be done in an argument that takes about 33 seconds on average. The actual argument is not included in the trailers. The video case and disk do not give a hint that the video is about the Holocaust or abortion. Rather, it only says "Public advisory: Graphic content" and the quotes praising it only claim the film is very moving or inspiring.

Ray planned to release this video online for all to view for free, as well as distributing 200,000 DVD copies freely on 100 university campuses across the United States (so far, their website says just over 5,000 have been given out). However, as PZ Myers noted, this is more than just another Creation Intro to Origin of Species stunt, but this video is a "begging video." It appears that Ray Comfort is asking for mass donations to help spread this video first before trying to save the babies.

Who is Ray Comfort?
Who is Ray Comfort? He is a scientifically-illiterate Christian creationist, best known for his banana argument (winning him the nickname "The Banana Man"). He is also known for open street preaching and mass-distributing propaganda material to the public and students and for criticizing people who do not subscribe to his beliefs and views, particularly atheists and non-Christians. The DVD of 180, nor the official webpage 180movie.com do not provide any background info on Comfort.

The website only introduces Ray Comfort as "the author of more than seventy books and the co-host of the award-winning TV program (with actor Kirk Cameron) The Way of the Master." Nothing else is included, no other credentials of any sort. This is because Ray does not have any degree or training in the fields of science, history, or even theology. The website does not explain who Ray is or what faith he belongs to, it does not say if he is a born-again Christian or Jewish (for the record, he's Christian, not Jewish). Rather, it tries to make Ray look impressive by sharing that he has written over 70 books, however this is giving a rather false impression. Ray Comfort's books almost virtually repeat the same exact contents as previous books (same arguments, same style, etc.). Often, the books usually mirror what is already stated in his WOTM programs or on his blog. To see more, click here to see a List of Ray Comfort publications.

Award-Winning Documentary?
Ray Comfort labels 180 an "award-winning film" both on the DVD cover and on his website. Unfortunately, the award that it won, the "Telly Award," is not that impressive.

What are the Telly Awards? The Telly Awards is an online video collection that takes place on YouTube. How popular are the Telly Awards? They have about 500 subscribers on YouTube and about 750 people following them on Twitter. The Telly Awards have been around for 30 years, "Honoring commercials, film video productions, and online content."

There are numerous categories and subcategories with pages of videos who were all given an award (there are several pages' worth of winners just for the videos starting with "A" in the History category). For the 32nd Annual Telly Awards, Ray bought a Telly Award fee for someone to view it and sign it off.

The Telly Awards come into two degrees: Silver and Bronze. Ray's 180 video, submitted as "Hitler's Religion", won the bronze level.

Movie walkthrough
The film is just over half an hour. This article will provide a walk through of the events that take place in the film (all in order), but also provide a side criticism of the contents of the film.

Further RationalWiki commentary on the film
Ray Comfort's film is laced with poor historical work. Ray brings Godwin's Law into the debate, and trying to connect the imaginary dots that the Holocaust and abortions are the same thing. Indeed Hitler ordered forced abortions of fetuses he deemed "unfit" to live, however in 1936, Heinrich Himmler created a Reich Central Office “for the Combating of Homosexuality and Abortion.” By this sheer fact alone, Ray's entire argument that the philosophy shared by Hitler and Nazi Germany is the same philosophy held by defenders of abortion is thus simply incorrect.

People familiar with Ray and his methods know that he is cunning and very manipulative. Ray Comfort is well prepared in answering raised concerns like being raped and pregnant as a result of that (“why should the child be punished for the crime of the father?”) or the possibility of a child born with disabilities. The interviewees are not prepared and are not really thinking that fast on their feet. Combined with the key points Ray brought up about WWII and the Holocaust against pro-choice arguments and also combined with these people faced with someone who appears to be a higher intellectual (in this case, Ray gives off that appearance because he has many rehearsed responses and objections) gives a sense of intimidation - all this contributes to human psychology to bring these people interviewed around to agree with Ray Comfort. Ray claims that the people he interviewed for this video are "college students" and therefore "they are not stupid." While they may not be stupid, it rather shows a lack of intellectual awareness especially for someone who lives in the 21st century to have never heard of Adolf Hitler.

While these college students may not be "stupid," Ray is not looking for valid answers. If he was, he would have interviewed doctors, scientists or maybe even philosophers. The difficult question about not allowing life to form brings up another huge problem – and unfortunately Comfort doesn’t share his point of view on that subject – what about birth control? What about those billions, trillions, even quadrillions of lives that didn’t have a chance to dip into existence? As mentioned before, it is propaganda and not a documentary to deny the audience counter opinions and especially expert opinions.

The separate question is of how many people Ray interviewed before convincing eight people to agree with his message? On Ray's blog, he answered the question "Count them. They are on the video." However, this did not answer the question. About 2 weeks later, when the question was repeated, Ray answered, "Oh, boy, I couldn’t try to put it out. 50-60%?" So, from Ray, we have about eight people who agree with his message (one of which was already pro-life) while another eight or so did not agree. This video promised to "reverse" people's views of abortion, but it turns out it is not very effective.

Ray states that the film is effective, and there are two things a person can do to battle abortion: 1) Watch 180 and pass it on (either by buying DVDs or sharing it on the Internet) and 2) pass on the principles shared in this video. Unfortunately, there are big problems with these two steps. There are several legitimate objections to Ray's flimsy logic and arguments, none of which are addressed in this one-sided poor-historical video.

Ectopic pregnancies
Not once did anyone (not even the lay people) bring up the issue of ectopic pregnancies, which is a complication of pregnancy in which the embryo implants outside the uterine cavity. Usually, a fertilized egg travels down the fallopian tube, heading for the uterus. In about one in 50 pregnancies, the tube is damaged or blocked enough that the egg can't progress, leading it to implant elsewhere. Usually implantation happens in the tube itself. This leads to ectopic pregnancies. Ectopic pregnancies are critically dangerous to the mother, and just one of the many conditions that can lead to the danger of the death of the mother. Ectopic pregnancies cannot be saved. For the mother's safety, it must be ended. If not caught or treated, the ectopic pregnancy will progress with the embryo growing until the tube ruptures. Severe abdominal pain and bleeding will result and can cause permanent damage to the tube, which may be lost. If not treated, the mother will die. Is Ray Comfort seriously saying that in certain circumstances such as this, nothing should be done and we should let both the child and mother die?

Ray finally gave a response independent of the 180 film. On the Way of the Master radio, Ray Comfort agreed with co-host Mark Spence that the best option for ectopic pregnancies was to get three different professional opinions, and even when they all agree it is an ectopic pregnancy, they say to wait it out. Spence says this happened to his wife, and even after 3 doctors told him it was an ectopic pregnancy, he made the decision himself to wait (his wife obeyed him), and later the doctor came back and said that the x-rays misread the situation, and the pregnancy took place and they had their child. Basically, risk your wife's life to the very end when it may be too late to save her. If she dies, it was not the husband's fault, God willed it to be so. In a separate show, they asked the question "Why does God kill babies in the form of miscarriages?" They answered, God kills babies because he does whatever he wants. Seriously, that was their answer: God does whatever he wants. They basically use the old cop-out 'God is mysterious' and 'God's reason is infinitely greater than ours.'

Does the Bible agree? No
The Bible was completely left out of this movie. Ray Comfort only focused on making people feel like hypocrites, but excludes the Bible from the reasoning. Ray only brings up one Commandment, but how about the Bible as a whole? Ray does not explain why the 6th Commandment is objectively right, rather he argues from reasoning that excludes Scripture. While the Commandment says not to kill, the word kill implies when a life is taken, and for life to be taken there has to be life present. What has not been established in the movie is when the fetus is considered "alive" in the womb. Ray only shows a picture of a fetus as 6 weeks old, but nothing before that. Ray did not establish in this movie at what point life begins. If Ray thinks that just the first one or two developing cells of the fetus are "alive" then by that logic every time Ray scratches his nose he commits a Holocaust of killing cells. We know that for a person to be alive they need a brain, but a fetus does not start off with a brain at all. While it may live off its mother, so does a woman's kidneys. They are both brainless and thus not completely alive, and no one gets upset when a person chooses to donate a kidney.

Chapter 5 in the book of Numbers tries to tell how to test whether your wife has been unfaithful; you drag her to the priest, who mixes up a potion that is essentially filth and water enchanted by pyrotechnic display and a prayer for God's assistance. If her belly bloats and her womb discharges, meaning that she miscarries, then she is guilt of infidelity. If not, she was faithful all along, but still does not get an apology for her domineering, obsessive husband. The point is here that God's law in Numbers 5 endorses supernatural miscarriages/abortions onto unfaithful pregnancies - the reason for this was to keep the Jewish tribes pure. It is also important to note here that Hebrew tradition, according to the Talmud, claims the fetus is only water for the first 45 days; after that and until birth, it is regarded as one of its mother's thighs. According to Genesis 30, thigh also refers to the groin area.

Furthermore, numerous examples exist in the Bible when and where God specifically commands forced abortions (Numbers 31:15-17, Hosea 9:14, Hosea 9:16). According to the Book of Genesis, God killed countless women, children and unborn babies of every species. That aside, there are multitudes of examples specifically written in Scripture that shows that God commanded abortions to take place; commanding a pregnant woman to be burned alive (Genesis 38:24); causing abortions to punish unfaithful wives (Numbers 5:21, 27-28); forcing the Israelites to kill the unborn babies of their enemies: "Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up." -- Hosea 13:16

Not to mention, the Bible even says happiness can be achieved by killing children: "Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones" (Psalm 137:9). But what about Jesus? In Matthew 19:12, showing his pro-life sensibilities, Jesus encourages castration: “There be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.” Modern believers are eager to interpret this verse figuratively. The New International Version loosely (and hopefully) translates “Made eunuch” as “renounced marriage.” But the literal meaning is “castrate” and many devout Christian men in history have done it themselves, including the early church father Origen and entire monastic orders. Jesus gives no indication that he is speaking in a parable, or that his words mean anything other than what he said. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. This is no moral precept—this is sick. Castration keeps babies from being born just as effectively as abortion, so why aren’t pro-lifers picketing churches that follow Jesus? After all, Jesus never once mentioned abortion, pro or con. He never gave advice to women about how to deal with an unwanted pregnancy. So, modern Christians who do hive such advice are acting very un-Christlike.

Finally, one can argue that God is not pro-life. As already stated in the Ectopic Pregnancies section above: God does whatever he wants, which includes causing a child to die in the form of miscarriages. Miscarriages are otherwise known as "spontaneous abortions." According to many theologians, including Rick Warren, God has created each of us and has a plan for us. The Bible says "You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your Book!" (Psalm 139:16). This means that God already knew and planned exactly how long we would exist. If this is the case, God is therefore responsible for the development of all fetuses and pre-determines all miscarriages as well as abortions (all according to His plan). Since this is the case, it can be shown God is not pro-life at all. Every year, miscarriages outnumber abortions on a ratio of 3:1, and since Ray believes God has a perfect plan, then by such logic God allows and plans the premature deaths of children - making God the ultimate abortionist.

Appeal to Emotion, Not Reason
Ray focuses on making his argument based on the "feelings" of people, but when people speak their "feelings" about God and what he his, what he wants/thinks and who God forgives, Ray immediately says "Your feelings don't matter. God's word is his word. You are an idolater." When Ray asked if the person being interviewed if they would shoot Hitler's mother while she was pregnant with Adolf, and when they say yes he does not stop to say "HOLD ON! Are you saying you would kill an innocent woman? Hitler killed all those people, not his mother." Is Ray saying killing pregnant German women alright? This is why Ray's argument fails, he is using people situational ethic on Hitler and the Nazis, but not the same for abortion. This demonstrates a sever inconsistency on Ray's part. Plus, if a person walks away and has a different view of abortion based on their feelings, then their feelings can easily change 180 degrees back when they finally find themselves in a bad situation and they choose abortion.

American Holocaust? Apparently not
As already mentioned in the above review, it is an important point that bears repeating. Ray Comfort, using flimsy logic, links the Holocaust to the American legalization of abortion. The U.S. government is not mandating that women have abortions, as the Third Reich ordered the extermination of Jews and other classes of people. The systematic slaughter of an entire race of people connected by characteristics, community and culture is actually 180 degrees the opposite of randomly unconnected women choosing to exercise their legal right to terminate a pregnancy that they neither want nor can emotionally or financially support. Trying to compare the two insults both victims of the Holocaust AND women, because it assumes that the value of their already established lives and self determination is the same as that of a ball of cells.

A final problem is that comparing legalized abortion to the Holocaust implies that the U.S. government deserves the same fate as Nazi Germany - namely, to be overthrown by force. And that's a logical conclusion few if any anti-abortion activists are going to make.

Prompted and/or Paid Interviewees
A YouTube user paulchartley, otherwise known as "Phantom Video Productions", examined the movie closely to reveal that Alicia (the girl with the blonde braided hair who was featured quite often throughout the film) was prompted by pre-written cards, held by one of Ray's crew members. Enhanced footage of a segment of the movie clearly shows a white cue card in the reflection on Alicia's glasses. Additional evidence for this is the change in her behavior, voice tone and body language. Although paulchartley never said explicitly that Ray was using paid actors, it was a common inference among his viewers. If true, this is not a surprise, as Ray is well known for cherry-picking his interviewees and dishonest editing.

The videos from paulchartley eventually prompted Ray Comfort to respond: "It may look like a cue-card to some, but it's not. If these people are paid actors, each of them deserves an Oscar" (well that's not a very satisfying answer, especially for someone who is known to lie and present this film as some special "award winning" video.) Ray made a response on his blog in which he confused paulchartley with Thunderf00t, and posted the full interview with Alicia on YouTube. In this footage, shot from another angle, the camera in the key moment is zoomed on Alicia's mouth and her glasses are not visible.

Many Christians came to Ray's defense by claiming it did not matter if the people interviewed were paid and/or prompted or not, the point was the message of the film. Unfortunately, this message is flawed and lacks historical, factual and logical support.

180 Course
Along with the DVD, Ray Comfort included a set pack available for sell. The pack includes the following;
 * 100 "180" Gospel Tracts that repeats the bulldozer" scenario from the film and the old "are you a good person?" tactic.
 * A copy of the book Why Prolife? by Randy Alcorn. (Alcorn is the director of Eternal Perspective Ministries. In November 2009, Alcorn signed an ecumenical statement known as the "Manhattan Declaration" calling on Evangelicals, Catholics and Orthodox not to comply with rules and laws permitting abortion. On the issue of marriage, the declaration objects not only to same-sex marriage but also to the general erosion of the "marriage culture" with the spectre of divorce, greater acceptance of infidelity and the uncoupling of marriage from childbearing.)
 * And a 180 Course Study Guide

180 Course Study Guide
Along with the DVD, Ray constructed a 64-page Study Guide. Ray posted the first 18 pages of the Study Guide, mainly reveling the Questions section with the Answer Key left out.

In the second section "Propaganda: Paving the Way" the second question in the Study Guide says that Hitler held the evolutionary view that "some races were less advance and less worthy." The question asks "How does the evolutionary view contrast with God's view of human life?" But before providing an answer, lets get this straight: Hitler d not accept evolution as true at all, he was a Christian creationist (just like Ray Comfort).

Darwin was against every aspect of slavery and was the most egalitarian of his time. He praised those of different cultures and criticized the bigotry of his peers. He wrote against the favoritism of the Caucasian invaders and opposed the genocide of the Indigenous people, and despite Ray's accusations and delusions, not one aspect of Darwin's philosophy is parallel to Hitlers. Hitler based his views on "divine right" philosophy: "Thus, it [the folkish philosophy] by no means believes in an equality of races, but along with their difference it recognizes their higher or lesser value and feels itself obligated, through this knowledge, to promote the victory of the better and stronger, and demand the subordination of the inferior and weaker in accordance with the eternal will that dominates this universe." (Hitler 1943, 383) In fact, the only time that Hitler ever mentioned Darwin was to totally bash Darwin, and every time Hitler used the term "evolution" was sense of change, but he did not belief that evolution actually took place with the arrival of new species; "The fox remains always a fox, the goose remains a goose, and the tiger will retain the character of a tiger. The only difference that can exist within the species must be in the various degrees of structural strength and active power, in the intelligence, efficiency, endurance, etc., with which the individual specimens are endowed."

The Nazi Party in general rejected Darwin and his theory and supported Christianity. In 1935, Die Bücherei, the official Nazi journal for lending libraries, published a list of guidelines of works to reject, including: "Writings of a philosophical and social nature whose content deals with the false scientific enlightenment of primitive Darwinism and Monism (Häckel)."

Heart Changer website
Likewise with the main website 180, Ray's backup website Heart Changer does not include any background info on Ray Comfort. Rather, the website only provides two audio tracts, a recommendation for the reader to check out Ray's book the Evidence Bible (feel free to read the review here on RationalWiki), and finally six links to different YouTube videos.