Religion is controversial in its raw form, but when people tinker with the beliefs of religious groups for the purposes of entertainment, things definitely heat up. Some of the films on this list have caused riots, and some have even resulted in deaths. Hardly a great example of religious tolerance. Here are the 10 most controversial religious films ever made. This list contains a competition – further details at the bottom of the list.
The exorcist is really one of the best horror films ever made – it continues to scare and enthrall new viewers to this day. But at the time of release, while many saw great merit in the movie, others were not so happy. Some critical responses were: “a chunk of elegant occultist claptrap” “[A] practically impossible film to sit through” “it establishes a new low for grotesque special effects…”, “The Exorcist succeeds on one level as an effectively excruciating entertainment, but on another, deeper level it is a thoroughly evil film, and [N]othing more than a religious porn film”. Some preachers – like Billy Graham, felt the movie itself was satanic.
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While the majority of the assaults on this dreadful film were due to bad acting, bad scripting, and a lame story, it can not be excluded from this list because it ties in to the Scientology mythology about the origin of humans on earth. This is a piece of scientology propaganda and it is not surprising that it was such a failure as a film. The biggest criticism of the film was the fact that people were not willing to open their wallets for it. John Travolta, for the record, says he’d love to make a “Battlefield” sequel. We can only hope that never happens!
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This film was highly controversial due to the manner in which it dealt with issues close to Catholic’s hearts. While Catholics consider stigmata to be a sign of holiness, this film has an atheist hairdresser experience stigmata in a manner in which she appears to be demonically possessed. In addition, the other main character, a Jesuit Priest, discovers a connection between the stigmata and one of the Gnostic Gospels (4th century religious writings condemned by the Catholic Church). The priest uncovers a plot within the vatican to keep the gospels “truth” concealed.
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This film is a satire of the Catholic Church and Catholic belief, which caused organized protests and much controversy in many countries. Although there was no opposition to the film while the actual filming and pre-production was taking place, the following months of post-production and publicity were plagued with controversy over a perceived anti-Christian message in the film. Over time, the director (Kevin Smith) received over 30 thousand pieces of hate mail. Catholic groups around the world staged protests, and Smith received several death threats. Perhaps to head off controversy, the film’s title sequence contained a disclaimer, which included the line “Even God has a sense of humor–just look at the platypus.”
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This film caused controversy by showing aspects of Hinduism in a negative light. The day before filming of Water was due to begin, the crew was informed that there were complications with their location permits for filming. The following day, they learned that 2,000 protesters had stormed the ghats, destroying and burning the main film set and throwing the remnants into the Ganges in protest of what ultimately were revealed to be false accusations regarding the subject matter of the film. The resulting tensions and economic setbacks led to several years of struggle as Mehta was eventually forced to film Water in Sri Lanka, rather than in India. Finally Mehta was able to make the film, but with a new cast and under a false title (River Moon) in 2003. “Water” was nominated for a 2007 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
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The Life of Brian, is a 1979 comedy film written, directed and largely performed by the Monty Python comedy team. It tells the story of Brian Cohen (played by Graham Chapman), a young Jewish man born in the same era and location as Jesus Christ, who is mistaken for the Messiah. Protests against the film were organized based on its perceived blasphemy. On its initial release in the UK, the film was banned by several town councils, some of which had no cinemas within their boundaries, or had not even seen the film for themselves. In New York, screenings were picketed by both rabbis and nuns while the film was banned outright in some American states. It was also banned for eight years in the Republic of Ireland and for a year in Norway (it was marketed in Sweden as “The film so funny that it was banned in Norway”). One of the most controversial scenes was the film’s ending: Brian’s crucifixion. Many Christian protestors said that it was mocking Jesus’s suffering by turning it into a “Jolly Boys Outing”.
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This film based on the final days of the life of Jesus cause controversy on two counts: many Jews were angered by it claiming it was anti-semitic (due to the depiction of the treatment of Jesus at the hands of Jews in the film) and from anti-Catholic protesters who were angered that the film did not rely solely on the Bible for its plot. Asked by Bill O’Reilly if his movie would “upset Jews,” Gibson responded, “It’s not meant to. I think it’s meant to just tell the truth. I want to be as truthful as possible.” Accusations of anti-Semitism were fueled by news reports that Mel Gibson’s father, Hutton Gibson, denied the Holocaust. After Frank Rich of the New York Times wrote against the unreleased film and called Gibson’s publicist a “Holocaust denier defender” Gibson was overheard by The New Yorker telling his publicist, “I want to kill him. I want his intestines on a stick. I want to kill his dog.”
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Ron Howard’s “The Da Vinci Code,” based on the best-seller by Dan Brown, places the Catholic Church at the center of a (fictional) conspiracy to cover up the truth about Jesus–that he was married to Mary Magdalene and the father of a child whose descendants have been protected from the murderous Church ever since. What’s more, this denigration of Mary Magdalene’s “rightful” place as Jesus’ wife is portrayed as part of a larger Church conspiracy to stamp out devotion to the divine feminine, which was at the heart of early Christian worship. In the months leading up to the film’s 2006 release, most Christian organizations refrained from calling for an outright boycott, instead using the film to spark discussion about Jesus and to challenge the story’s claims. Despite poor reviews, the film took in a reported $758 million worldwide, making it one of the highest grossing of 2006.
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Submission is a 10-minute film in English directed by Theo van Gogh and written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (a former Tweede Kamer member for the Dutch People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy); it was shown on the Dutch public broadcasting network (VPRO) on August 29, 2004. The film’s title is a direct translation of the word “Islam”. The film tells the story of four fictional characters played by a single actress wearing a veil, but clad in a see-through chador, her naked body painted with verses from the Koran. The characters are Muslim women who have been abused in various ways. On November 2, 2004, Theo van Gogh was assassinated in public by Mohammed Bouyeri, a Dutch Muslim of Moroccan descent. A letter, stabbed through and affixed to the body by a dagger, linked the murder to Van Gogh’s film and his views regarding Islam. It was addressed to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and called for jihad against unbelievers. Following the murder of Van Gogh, tens of thousands gathered in the center of Amsterdam to mourn Van Gogh’s death. There were fire-bombings of mosques and Muslim schools, and counterattacks against Christian churches. I am pleased to be able to present the entire movie here on the site – it is embedded from youtube above. It is interesting to note that Amazon does not stock this movie.
The Last Temptation of Christ is a film adaptation of the controversial 1951 novel of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis. Like the novel, the film depicts the life of Jesus Christ, and its central thesis is that Jesus, while free from sin, was still subject to every form of temptation that humans face, including fear, doubt, depression, reluctance and lust. This results in the book and film depicting Christ being tempted by imagining himself engaged in sexual activities, a notion that has caused outrage from some Christians. Protests against the movie from religious communities began before the film had even finished production. The studio was expecting a backlash due to the controversies revolving around any media treatment of Christ (see dramatic portrayals of Jesus Christ), but the protests accompanying Last Temptation were unprecedented. Major religious leaders in the United States blasted the film in fiery sermons, and condemned its subject matter as pornographic. On October 22, 1988, a French christian fundamentalist group launched molotov cocktails inside the Parisian Saint Michel movie theater to protest against the film. This attack injured thirteen people, four of whom were severely burned. The film is still not available from Blockbuster Video and some libraries. In some countries, including Mexico and Chile, the film was banned for several years. It continues to be prohibited in the Philippines, Singapore, and South Africa.
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Notable omissions: The Pope Must Die(t), The Crime of Father Amaro, The Birth of a Nation, Priest, The Message, Agnes of God, Hail Mary
This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from Wikipedia.
Randall – I tried to tie in my disgust with Olberman to the thrusting feeling of puke I had while watching the Passion.
Ok that was over the top, but in no other instance do I find myself yelling at the TV screen than when he’s on the air. It’s not that he’s liberal, it’s Keith’s firm belief that if you don’t agree with his horse*****, then you are a cousin marrying, tobacco chewing, NASCAR redneck – Larry the Cable Guy style.
It isn’t news – it’s pandering and *****ing of the highest order. No surprise to me, liberals never get off their ass and actually do anything besides *****ing.
Oh and I liked Dogma. (film tie in)
Randall: Er, sure… your relentless hatred for all things Webber is noted.
But regardless of how many stars you may rate the movie or the play it’s based on with, it did have controversial portrayals of Biblical characters, especially Jesus and Judas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ_Superstar_(film)#Controversy
rushfan; Yeah I liked him too, when he did the week-end update on SNL. Then he tried to be a football announcer. Ruined him for me forever.
rushfan – Dennis Miller is my personal hero. His HBO show as just the best. I didn’t care for his stuff on the cable news shows, but I really enjoy his sense of humor and intelligence.
Oh, and Life of Brian was good too (2nd film tie in)
GGRRRRRRRRRRR
Correct link to Wikipedia article on Jesus Christ Superstar
mom ~ he was the best football guy evar! The look on those guys’ faces when he made his obscure refrences was priceless!
Rushfan: Point taken, causing the other commentators to squirm was in fact a noble act.
Kreachure, Randall: I have to side with Kreachure on this one. At the time of both the broadway showing and the film release there was plenty of criticism and controversy. Independent of the worth of the film or Webber. And I am sorry Randall but the movie has value, even if only for the following.
Yvonne Elliman is wonderful.
yeah Mom, how can you not love these pearls…
“Big deal, so he scored. The last time I saw someone dance like that I had to pay her $20 and have my pants dry cleaned the next day.”
“That receiver was as wide open as Annabel Chong.”
“With Browns’ ticket prices what they are, you just know that all those dads who brought the entire family to sit in the ‘dog pound’ are secretly calculating how much blood they are going to have to sell next week to put
“Ray Lewis knifed through those offensive linemen like a sucker-punch switchblade slicing between the ribs of some inebriated trash-talking punk outside a sports bar.”
“I’ve seen better coverage at an Alan Keyes press conference.”
“The Cowboy’s defense has more holes in it than Ronny Milsapp and Jose Feliciano after a game of lawn darts.”
“The punt returner got smacked like Nancy Kerrigan’s knee on souvenir pipe night.”
“That secondary provides worse coverage than a Guatemalan HMO.”
“Concussion? How the hell can they tell? They’re *football* players, for chrissakes!”
“Is it just me, or are the 49ers doing an awful lot of ass-patting today?”
“Their offense is shakier than Katherine Hepburn after an all-night espresso bender at Starbucks.”
He was refreshing for a while. Anyway, I think all sports should be on HBO so the announcers can say what they really feel instead of feeding us this “hey, I’m a family guy first who loves all the players” crap.
bucslim: Life of Brian is priceless.
Randall: How old were you when you first saw Jesus Christ Superstar? I was in my early teens and thought it wonderful. I am sure that watching it again, in its entirety, may spoil it for me. Some things should not be revisited. Billy Jack also comes to mind.
MOM:
I saw JCS when I was, I dunno… maybe 9 years old, maybe even younger. On TV. Early 1970s. I thought it was godawful then, still do. Kids I knew used to make fun of it on the bus.
Billy Jack also was total crap. Along with the Walking Tall movies. Crap, crap crap.
God, the 70s. I miss them. Such wonderful cheesy garbage.
i watched the exorcist when i was still young and i am really really disturbed by that film and never watched it again, until now.
I only saw parts of The Exorcist… and I’ll never watch it. Not a horror buff, actually.
Honestly, I’d like to see more non-Christian films that people get all up-in-arms about. Something that’s irreverent about another religion… I know this list has a few, I just noticed that most of them are Christian. Why is that? There are so many different types of Christianity, why is there even controversy. I suppose Harry Potter should acknowledged, though not a religious film – there was a serious up-roar about Potter calling it demonic and all.
On that same note (to get this off my chest) – My niece, who is supposed to be uber-religious (and doesn’t talk about HP) was talking about Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. She was saying how Batman Begins was demonically worse than The Dark Knight. Okay, I understand there’s some involuntary drug-use by nearly everyone in Batman Begins and the Scarecrow was creepy when drugged up… But the nearly unending murders in The Dark Knight? That’s not as bad? Anyone want to help with this one? She was saying that he favorite part was when the Joker made the pencil “disappear” – yeah… That’s uber-religious, alright.
Okay, I was just venting a bit there. Off-topic, but on… a bit.
PS. I *LOVED* The Dark Knight and I think the unending murders made the Joker that much darker and more fun to watch – and Batman Begins was wonderful, also.
I put off seeing The Passion of the Christ because I wasn’t sure I could take it. I’ve read and reread the story in the bible over and over again, but until you see it acted out it’s just not the same. I cried. Of course I understand that it’s just a movie and it’s just an actor, but this movie was simply amazing. Being a christian and believing in God, it hit home and made me appreciate even more what Jesus did for us.
Yes Randall, I would guess about 9 years old. Had I been a 9 year old boy I would have made fun of half naked Jesus/Hippy melodrama. But as a 13 year old girl full of teenage angst, idealism and compassion it was just the ticket. Don’t be telling me that at 9 years old you were a cynical seasoned movie critic. If I’m mistaken, I apologize, and have you recovered from the beatings on the bus yet?
I’m glad Dogma was included in this list. That’s my favorite kevin Smith “View Askewniverse” movie.
Unfortunately, most major denominations–”Christians” and “Muslims” among them–are indeed oppressive to the human spirit. They are forms of behavior control. And it does not extend only to banning artistic or entertainment forms, but thought as well. For example, just questioning yourself (without verbalizing it to another soul) about some dogmatic beliefs of a particular faith (which shall remain unnamed) is considered “apostasy”. So the moment you start to question anything in your own head, you freak out about becoming an apostate and an infidel.
Most intolerant religious people will not get the joke of anything and will not entertain a smidge of inquisitiveness unless you swallow their dogmas whole, so we are indeed blessed to live in a society where “smarmy” comments are freely expressed and laws are in place to restrain unreasonable people from lashing out at “liberal” or “alternative” individuals.
Most skeptics, agnostics, deists, humanists, and atheists are not commonly violent, irrational beings who will strike out at someone criticizing their beliefs or practicing a different moral values system. It is usually religious intolerant fanatics who ban what they do not agree with, restrict women’s roles because they believe women are “impure” or demean man’s position of authority if they challenge the long-held religious concept of female submission, bomb women’s clinics, massacre people attending unitarian services, or assasinate liberal thinkers.
Granted, many religious people are intrinsically good and perform charity work and live by benign religious tenets. However, living a life of good deeds by considering what is more beneficial to humankind, without referring to guidance from religious texts, is more worthy of praise than doing these because some ancient word of a supreme being told you so. The majority of religious texts are full of unfair and uncompassionate behavior sanctioned by their deity. (Wasn’t Abraham asked to kill his only son? Would you have followed those instructions?)
Do not forget that religious laws advocated stoning to death disrespectful and lazy sons, executing engaged women who did not scream for help while being raped, slicing open the wombs of the pregnant women and bashing the heads of the children of enemies (while “God’s people” were allowed to keep alive and take–read marital rape–the virgins), “blood atonement” (killing dissidents), and religious conquest. So it should not surprise us now when the fanatics and “conservatives” start whining about some “blasphemy” that needs to be stopped, usually by their preferred methods of destruction of property or life.
I find most religious practices, rituals, and beliefs offensive and illogical, but I do not support banning them unless physical or emotional harm occurs. I have the right to live my life without any religious influence as much as they have the right not to do anything unless their religious guides tell them so. The exception to this laissez-faire attitude is when either stance is conducive to violence, hate, or suppression of either group or its adherents as a result of their own practices.
This list really helped to open my eyes. I realize it’s comprised of fictional tellings loosely based on religious principles, but women keep being downtrodden so severely. The world doesn’t work very well for those who don’t have dangly bits.
I don´t give a rats ass about religion, but I think The Passion of Christ is a great fun movie and Mel Gibson, (although a lame historian) is a quite underrated ACTION MOVIE director, possibly one of the greatest today.
Mom:
“Don’t be telling me that at 9 years old you were a cynical seasoned movie critic.”
I was a precocious kid, what can I say? An intelligent wise-ass. First kiss at 9 years old, too… on her family’s private beach. Her name was “Heather.* Nice girl, even though her mother forced me to eat steak for dinner. I hated steak. Still not a big fan of it.
But anyway, yes, I knew a thing or two, instinctively, perhaps, about culture when I was wee. I knew Jesus Christ Superstar was utter crap. (sorry).
“If I’m mistaken, I apologize,”
No need, and you’re still the hottest mom here, in my book.
“…and have you recovered from the beatings on the bus yet?”
Now whyever should I have had beatings? We ALL made fun of Jesus Christ Superstar on the bus. And I was always looked up to as the smart kid, (and also the artistic kid) and kids thought I was funny, so I got away with a lot. Also I wasn’t exactly puny, so I never got bullied or anything.
Of course not all this was due to my adept way of handling myself (far from it, I was awkward and obnoxious at times) but I had two much older, legendary brothers—they’d long since graduated by the time I was 9, but they were remembered… (small school). Big football and basketball stars, and smart guys and all that. So everyone kinda respected the ____ boys, although I paled in comparison to them. But that’s the way it’s always been. Today I’m the black sheep of the family because I don’t have a six figure income and so on. A constant struggle to come out from under their (and dad’s) shadow. Heavy sigh.
the Exorcist still makes my hair stand on end…
Dogma is a great and funny film, how could anyone be offended by it?
I personaly love these movies not because of the shock factor but because who realy knows if all of this happened, will happen, or what we are destin for. It’s all about the what if, what if there were zombies or vampires. It’s the unknown that keeps us wanting more and more. What if everything in the Bible is true? What if its not? and if so when will we find out so until then it’s nice to see what those with vision have to say.
Great list.
Did anyone else think that De Vince Code was basically a mix of Stigmata and National Treasure?
HandyMandy #77
I think Scientology is a religion based on aliens in order to make money!!
I think Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson make terrible authors when it comes to writing books about the historical rankings of world religions. But then, that’s just me.
I was glad to see ‘Life of Brian’ up there – all three Monty Python movies could probably have made it up there to some degree for their irreverance to certain religious tenets and practices. Monty Python rules all… IMNSHO
I’ve only seen about half of these movies, but thought Dogma was a real hoot! Intriguing list all in all.
Hey Ralph… One word: “Crusades”
I thought this list was already up, seemed like ive read it before and it was still good.
the comments on the youtube video of Submission are a bit unsettling- the poster is an exmuslim youtuber named ‘*****mohammed’ i think… nevertheless it’s a great film, thank you for posting it
Randall: The Message is on the notable omissions – in fact while there was rioting at the outset, it turned out that the film did not show Mohammed’s face so there was no controversy at its release. As for L’Âge d’or – excellent mention – I hadn’t heard of it to be honest – I am glad I have now though. I own a few movies by Bunuel and have featured the andalusion dog on another list – by Bunuel and Dali.
great list, w00t for Dogma and Life of Brian, 2 of my fav films.
I hate The Passion of The Christ with every fiber of my being. It was not only disgusting, it was so self-righteous that it was tacky. I truly hate that movie.
My husband, who was raised Catholic, cried at the end. It’s amazing how our own eyes affect how we react to a film.
We were in a movie theater, my husband, my mother and I. Some random woman saw that my husband was crying, then came and knelt to pray for him.
I was appalled. I know she meant well, but I wanted to slap her in the face. I can’t really say why I had such a negative reaction.
Marcy: I think I would feel the same way about the woman in the theater. Hell, my husband said the other day “We just believe in God, etc” and I snapped at him for that (wasn’t the first time he said it). He meant well, just like the woman in the theater. For me, it felt like I was supposed to share in my husband’s beliefs or that he was forcing them on me. But he wasn’t, and neither was the theater lady.
I seen the Excorist on an aircraft carrier when i was in the Navy and it still scared the s@#t out of me.I didn,t see why people were upset about Life of Brian and Dogma.It,s called satire look it up.
(hehe – the sh*t comes up as an email address)
I think “Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter” ought to be an honorable mention. Where else do you see Jesus pierce his ears and save lesbians from having their blood harvested?
i dont have a religion.
but good list!
Shouldn’t The Birth of a Nation be more of a controversial racist movie? It documented the KKK during the Reconstruction years and depicted them as heroic.
helping to do what i can to get us to 300!!!
I didnt’ like the exorcist, the whole crucifix ***** scene…just HORRID!!
I liked Temptation though. I watched it at home, and went through about a whole box of kleenex.
Let me guess, you guys are atheist? Now, I hate the fact that Dane Cook steals most of his jokes but he does have one about atheists I really like. You guys should go on youtube and watch it.
B_Rad: I am not an atheist and I wrote this list
Randall; Hahaha, My youngest is an obnoxious SOB; the reason he’s never had the great beat-down is solely because of his cool/smart/athletic older brothers. Also he has been taught to temper his most egregious tendencies, of course by well timed beatings from those same brothers.
The Exorcist scares me more NOW when I watch it then it did when I was a kid. Then you hear about all of the bad things that happened to some of the people who were involoved with the film…….that gives me goosebumps..
I remember when I went to see The Passion of the Christ. I went alone and I’m sitting there and notice how many couples are around me.
“of coarse, why didn’t i think of it! This IS the perfect date movie!”
anyway, i also noticed an awful lot of popcorn and sodas. Now this was the first and only time iv’e seen this film, but I was pretty sure i knew what was going to happen to the movie Jesus…so i kept glancing over at these two women voraciously munching down on a shared tub of popcorn and as the whipping of flesh commenced, the munching slowed down from 5thgear to all but stalling.
Mom:
My brothers never did much for me in a practical sense. I guess has to do with a family being torn apart by the death of the father at age 42, when the kids are 15, 13, 10 and then 8 months old, respectively (the 8 month old being me). My oldest brother, for a short time, played surrogate dad to me but that quickly ended when he got on with college and his own life, etc. Then all he ever did after that was criticize.
My other brother–I have no memory of him ever even speaking to me, when I was a kid. My sister I’m closest to, though she’s 10 years older than me, but she’s no less critical because I’m not awash in money and/or don’t have lackeys doing my bidding, as she has. 
We’re just different generations… my older siblings are all baby boomers and reformed hippies; I am Generation X (I guess?) and was a punker and always despised hippies. 
manda:
You know, the Exorcist never scared me that much (and I saw it not long after it first came out–I wasn’t from some jaded generation that had already seen dozens of slasher flicks) and still doesn’t today–rather, it *repulses* me. It’s a great film but…. there’s something black and dead in the center of it. It has no humanity.
159. joebecca – August 14th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I didnt’ like the exorcist, the whole crucifix ***** scene…just HORRID!!
Don’t knock it till you try it. :O
woa, I can’t believe “battlefield earth” has appeared on the last 2 lists. Wouldn’t it be funny if Listverse was in fact a scientology brain washing site. You know the power of suggestion thing, they just keep mentionning it here and there just like planting scientology seeds in the deep parts of our brains?
Of course I’m just kidding! Great list, I haven’t seen all of the movies and I don’t think I will. But very interesting to read about them anyways.
( pick me!
)
Sorry, I was referring to the wives that said they get all crazy when their husbands do or say anything religious or pertaining to religion.
“Submission”–Wow, that was powerful. Abuse against women occurs everywhere, but because of the male dominance in the Islamic culture, women can’t escape. Very sad.
Doesn’t all religion teach us to be nice to other people? So any religious people rioting or sending hate mail, isn’t that not being nice? Would Jesus do that? No he wouldn’t He has a sense of humor!
Every one of those movies gained fame and better box office ratings cause of those controversies. if you want a movie to fail then leave it alone.
Avi: indeed – the same is true of this site – controversial lists garner a much greater number of comments than regular “brain” lists.
glittershrooms: I think you need an auditing session – you are clearly delusional!
Jayme: yes – it is quite ironic I guess.
I don’t know if it qualifies as being “most controversial” (since nobody went to see it), but “Golden Compass” really rubbed some people the wrong way.
Randall, I totally understand where you are coming from….I did first see the movie as a child and I don’t think that I really understood what was going on. But when I saw it as an adult, I realized what was happening, and it scared me as well as repulsed me.
Golden Compass rubbed me the way movies that suck rub me. Which would be a way I don’t particularly enjoy.
#2 Submission was a very interesting piece. Some of it was hard to listen to not due to quality but because of content.
On the other hand, Dogma is a great movie and I remember the high contraversy behind it.
All three monty python movies are heavily influenced by religon, the first festures such goodies as the “Holy hand grenade of antioch” – however their main focus is political commentary of what was going on at the time in the world – in the life of brian they likend the jews in modern day isreal to the romans, but in a funny reversal the aincent jews were likend to the modern day palistinians http://www.epicure.demon.co.uk/whattheromans.html – and in the Holy Grail one of the reoccuring theme was man being in awe of god – and god not being to happy with it, oh that and immigration into the UK. The meaning of life also was rather focused on religion – however it was a sell out so i shall not speak of it!