Movies for atheists - #2

If you have started watching the new HBO mini-series, Generation Kill, you might need this movie as your mid-week fix while awaiting the next episode. It fits in nicely with the theme of GK.

While Generation Kill is shot documentary-style, the movie I’m going to recommend is, in fact, a documentary. It’s called Operation Homecoming and was originally shown on PBS (now available on video). The Netflix synopsis says:

Veterans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan recount their war experiences in this Oscar-nominated documentary, which collects the writings of soldiers and their families to give a deeply personal view of American troops' involvement in these conflicts. Various visual strategies complement the interviews and readings by such noted actors as Robert Duvall, Beau Bridges, Blair Underwood, Aaron Eckhart and writers Anthony Swofford, James Salter and Tobias Wolff.

It is a series of vignettes based on essays written by the soldiers and marines involved in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. These men and women look unflinchingly at what they accomplished, where they fell short, and how war has changed their lives – forever. I could be wrong, but I don’t recall a single soldier invoking god in any way or as having any influence on their actions or feelings afterwards. It was a powerful and very human experience for me.