Uploaded November 2010 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago

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The nineteenth installment of my original series, "Discovering Religion". In this episode I discuss what would happen if American were to TRULY subscribe to the Biblical laws passed down by Moses, from the Ten Commandments found in Exodus to the other moral and social laws found in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Interestingly, we can get a very good idea of how an American theocracy might appear, by comparing the Old Testament to Sharia law -- practiced by Islamic theocracies, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Part 1 explores the loss of our First Amendment rights, specifically the Freedoms of Religion, Speech, and Press, in addition to relating these loss of rights to the political and social climate in countries that follow Sharia Law, such as Iran and Pakistan. The episode finishes with a brief look at the Thirteenth Amendment and the scriptural justification for the practice of slavery.

Note: Episode 19 completes the miniseries on "Religion in America" (episodes 17-19). In the next set of videos I will turn my focus to exploring the issues of "Morality" and then "Faith". Each of these topics will have 4-5 episodes.

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***All videos have been included in this production with the intent of FAIR USE, do not file a DMCA claim against this production, thank you!

VIDEOS CITED:

Sarah Palin says America is a Christian Nation on Bill O'Reilly
youtube.com/watch?v=luWealTuQDI

Richard Dawkins - Apostasy In Islam Carries The Death Penalty
youtube.com/watch?v=r018ohLUuL4

BBC - Protest against Iran election results
youtube.com/watch?v=KcHT8-ps64w

Rachel Maddow - Anti-Abortion Extremists
youtube.com/watch?v=DWR1DngybTI

God and Politics in Lynchburg Tennessee
youtube.com/watch?v=SpJfWOWkB2Q

Note, scenes were used from the following movies:
"Glory" (1989)
"Amistad" (1997)
"Roots" miniseries (1977)
"Ten Commandments" (1956)

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LINKS CITED:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_Iran
civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties

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MUSIC CITED:

Phillip Glass - Paul Is Dying
The Last Samurai (soundtrack) - A Hard Teacher
Requiem for a Dream (soundtrack) - Hope Overture
Requiem for a Dream (soundtrack) - Lux Aeterna
Dexter (soundtrack) - Deb cries
American Beauty (soundtrack) - American Beauty - Thomas Newman
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works - Cliffs
Aphex Twin - DrukQs - Kesson Daslef
Aphex Twin - DrukQs - Kladfvgbung Micshk

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PLAYLIST:
youtube.com/view_play_list?p=70E757541E8576D7

Part 2
youtube.com/watch?v=ImmfkdyKMKY

Part 3
youtube.com/watch?v=e7jIU0GpUFU

TRANSCRIPT:
discoveringreligion.net/?p=1414

WEBSITE:
discoveringreligion.net

FACEBOOK:
facebook.com/pages/Discovering-Religion/143122652390020?ref=ts

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