Derren Brown – The so called Messiah 3 of 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTgHkuE9Q_8&feature=related

Derren Brown: … or they can be viewed as an opportunity for evangelism.

Curt Nordheim: My understanding of evangelism is that it’s done in relationships. So in other words, I’m not going to leave the building here tonight and when I go to the hotel start talking immediately to the person behind the desk and say; “do you know Jesus Christ?” or something like that, I’m not going to do that. I try to form relationships of… through whatever means that I can – joining a racquetball club, playing tennis, inviting them home for dinner, that type of thing.

DB: Will Curt believe in my gift and will he endorse me? My name’s James Lawrence, um… none of you know me. You wouldn’t know me if you were British either… um, lets uh…

The people you see here responded to an advertisement to come to a discussion on spirituality. They’re almost all atheists or non-believers. I shall convert them with just a touch.

You don’t believe in anything? I mean, do you, kind of… like when I was…

Woman01: I don’t believe in God, I don’t believe in angels… I don’t believe in, you know, guardian angels and fairy godmother, you know, ghosts, you know all of this coming back from, you know, the dead to give you some, you know, special messages to make you feel better.

DB: Yeah. I actually don’t believe in those things either. Yeah…

Woman02: Everyone in my family was a different sort of religion. My grandmother was a devout catholic, you know, my grandfather was protestant, you know, my mother was Mormon, you know and all those things tried to get forced on me and I just never… I don’t know.

DB: Well then just be honest, okay?

Woman02: Uh-huh.

DB: As skeptical, you honest?

Woman02: I… I guess I can kind of understand the feeling that they were talking about.

DB: Yeah, in what way?

Woman02: That… my grandma always used to tell me that um, when she was praying before she went to bed, when she got up in the morning she always felt like she got um, she called it her inner hug. And uh, she said it just kind of felt like [IB] was wrapping itself around your heart, around your lungs just like an inner hug and uh, I guess I kind of understand a little of what she was talking about.

DB: Some of the people have left because they were uncomfortable with the instant conversion and I’m just going to go back in a minute to see if anyone’s left because I want to carry on, I want to see if I can do this. But for the moment, it’s a bit of drama.

Um, we had a bit of an interruption there; I think some people got a little bit uncomfortable with that and they’ve left so, if it’s all right we’ll just carry on with you guys, thank you for staying, that’s fair enough. So just want to carry on what I’m talking about what we were… what we were talking about. You feeling all right? You still…

Woman02: Yeah it’s like I said it’s just kind of a weird feeling.

DB: Um, do you believe in God? Do you think this… be a good thing to do or do you think it’s just self deception?

Man01: I think if it works for them then I’ll… I’m not going to discourage people from their beliefs but how could you believe or worship any higher being, you know, that takes using to call God that’s supposed to be loving, that’s supposed to be merciful and kind but yet, you know… and then they talk about free will and this and that, well… it wasn’t a three year olds free will to die of, you know, leukemia and things of that nature. That’s what makes me just don’t buy it.

DB: Okay, all right. Um, [IB] to try this with you too.

Man01: Yeah I am.

DB: Yeah? Can you just come around here for me? Now if you just stand there for me but face uh… let me just put you there like that. Just put your feet together for me. Now I want you to know, you’re not going to hurt yourself or anything like that all right? I will catch you when this happens. I just want you to face that way and uh… you know just let whatever happens, happens. I’m not going to tell you what I’m going to do. You okay? Stay there for a minute. Sit up for a second. Thought you were very skeptical for a moment ago about any kind of belief in God… you said as though, you couldn’t believe in that at all. How do you feel now about that? Be honest. Are you honest?

Man01: I think that um, I would be… I don’t want to call myself ignorant but I would be um… I wouldn’t be doing the right thing due to what just happened it occurred to me if I didn’t, you know think that there was a possibility that maybe my belief and maybe my opinions um… aren’t correct.

DB: Okay. So, you’re saying you are now ready to accept the idea that there is a God but you wouldn’t be prepared to accept beforehand? I’m not putting words in your mouth but I just want you to…