For One Low Payment of $oul

I found this floating around the interwebs a few days ago. I don’t remember where I found it. If/when I remember, I’ll post a link. Enjoy.

Focus on the Family Cuts Jobs

Businesses have surely felt the impact of the US economic crisis. This pain has also spread to the non-profit sector as well. While on the whole that is a bad thing, I cannot express dismay at news that Focus on the Family is cutting jobs and their entire operating budget.

While not a significant portion of their budget by any means, Focus spent half a million dollars campaigning against California’s Proposition 8, which, in case you have been without electricity for the last year, was the ballot initiative that passed defining marriage as strictly between one man and one woman. Perhaps that $500,000 could have been spent on better things? Hell, certificates of deposit are earning upwards of 3.5% depending on where you get them.

The majority of the Focus budget is used to spread “marriage and family advice” on the internet, in print magazines, and over the radio airwaves. How much is their 2009 budget? $138 million. That’s after the cuts. I know this is chump change for many organizations out there, but it still frightens me that there is a non-church organization whose sole purpose is to indoctrinate others and they have $138 million with which to do it.

Let’s hope the next job to be cut is Dobson’s.

Religulous Open in Limited Release

Well Religulous has finally opened in select theaters. Larry Charles did a phoner to the Opie & Anthony show on Sirius-XM the other day, promoting the movie, and I got excited, having forgotten that it was close to release.

As soon as I got home, I checked Fandango to see what theaters near me would be carrying the film. I knew better than to expect it in my town. My local cinema doesn’t carry edgy or controversial films (except for The Passion of the Christ, of course.) Expecting a nice drive to see the film, I searched several surrounding metropolitan areas (from 50 to 90 miles away), but found no theaters with the film at all. I know it’s a limited release, but the closest theater was 127 miles away. The truly shitty part of this story is the fear that even after the film opens in wider release that it still won’t be any closer to me than that. I hope at least one nearby city has it. I’m figuring since it was the closest theater to show Fahreheit 9/11 and Sicko, that there is a good chance that it will have this one.

Check Fandango, and see if Religulous is playing anywhere in your vicinity. Leave a comment to spread hope or confirm despair.

Also, check out The God Who Wasn’t There on DVD.

Intelligent Debate on Intelligent Design

I was searching for something in my email archives, and I came across this fictional, though hilariously illustrative, dialogue between a scientist and an advocate for Intelligent Design^©. The email was dated October 2005, so I figured it merited being dredged up from the internet meme catacombs and (re)introduced to you all.

********************************************************************

Moderator: We’re here today to debate the hot new topic, evolution versus Intelligent Des—

(Scientist pulls out baseball bat.)

Moderator: Hey, what are you doing?

(Scientist breaks Intelligent Design advocate’s kneecap.)

Intelligent Design advocate: YEAAARRRRGGGHHHH! YOU BROKE MY KNEECAP!

Scientist: Perhaps it only appears that I broke your kneecap. Certainly, all the evidence points to the  hypothesis I broke your kneecap. For example, your kneecap is broken; it appears to be a fresh wound; and I am holding a baseball bat, which is spattered with your blood. However, a mere preponderance of evidence doesn’t mean anything. Perhaps your kneecap was designed that way. Certainly, there are some features of the current situation that are inexplicable according to the “naturalistic” explanation you have just advanced, such as the exact contours of the excruciating pain that you are experiencing right now.

Intelligent Design advocate: AAAAH! THE PAIN!

Scientist: Frankly, I personally find it completely implausible that the random actions of a scientist such as myself could cause pain of this particular kind. I have no precise explanation for why I find this hypothesis implausible — it just is. Your knee must have been designed that way!

Intelligent Design advocate: YOU BASTARD! YOU KNOW YOU DID IT!

Scientist: I surely do not. How can we know anything for certain? Frankly, I think we should expose people to all points of view. Furthermore, you should really re-examine whether your hypothesis is scientific at all: the breaking of your kneecap happened in the past, so we can’t rewind and run it over again, like a laboratory experiment. Even if we could, it wouldn’t prove that I broke your kneecap the previous time. Plus, let’s not even get into the fact that the entire universe might have just popped into existence right before I said this sentence, with all the evidence of my alleged kneecap-breaking already pre-formed.

Intelligent Design advocate: That’s a load of bullshit sophistry! Get me a doctor and a lawyer, not necessarily in that order, and we’ll see how that plays in court!

Scientist (turning to audience): And so we see, ladies and gentlemen, when push comes to shove, advocates of Intelligent Design do not actually believe any of the arguments that they profess to believe. When it comes to matters that hit home, they prefer evidence, the scientific method, testable hypotheses, and naturalistic explanations. In fact, they strongly privilege naturalistic explanations over supernatural hocus-pocus or metaphysical wankery. It is only within the reality-distortion field of their ideological crusade that they give credence to the flimsy, ridiculous arguments which we so commonly see on display. I must confess, it kind of felt good, for once, to be the one spouting free-form bullshit; it’s so terribly easy and relaxing, compared to marshaling rigorous arguments backed up by empirical evidence. But I fear that if I were to continue, then it would be habit-forming, and bad for my soul. Therefore, I bid you adieu.

Naturally Selected: A Music Video

From the Atheist Media Blog:

I absolutely LOVE irreverant humor.

‘Warren Jeffs’ Gets Funky Fresh

The folks over at National Banana put together a hilarious video about the Warren Jeffs/FLDS saga. They’ve got lots of their videos on YouTube, but you can also see their other videos at their website. Enjoy!

My favorite line: “Damn, you must be retarded to believe this shit.” My thoughts exactly.

Religulous Clips

I recently posted the trailer for Bill Maher’s new documentary, Religulous. I found two clips that I wanted to share. The first one was particularly unsettling for me. Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) professes belief in the creationist account of the formation of the world less than 6,000 years ago. The staggering lack of judgment and higher-order thinking skills represented with that statement make me shudder. This man creates law! All three branches of our government are infested with godbot automatons that swallow these fairy tales hook, line and sinker.

EDIT: The YouTube clips are no longer available (Thanks, Lionsgate!), but there are still a variety of other clips and interviews available on YouTube.

Religulous: Truth for the masses at last

I don’t know whether to be happy that such an amazing film is being released, or to be sad knowing that I will likely have to drive more than 100 miles to see it for myself.

I doubt this movie will really sway anyone. After all, The Bashin’ of the Christ didn’t really convert many folks; it served mostly to reinforce and solidify the beliefs of those already in line with the film’s theme. Likely the same will hold true for Religulous.

IF (and that’s a big IF where I’m from) any god-believers actually see this movie, they will likely leave the movie just as wrapped in their mythology as they were when they entered, but feeling a bit more persecuted. After all, it’s okay for them to remind me that I’m condemning myself to hell by not praying to Sky Daddy, but it’s not okay for me to remind them that they are practicing only a slightly more complex belief system than children do in believing in Santa Claus.

Please spread this video on your own blogs, talk about it, write about it, and when the time comes, go and see it. This stands to be a great opportunity to have a few folks scratch their heads and reconsider their life’s direction. Live out of hope of heaven and fear of hell?… or do good to others because it creates a great environment in which to live?

The choice: she’s a clear one.

The Fucking Over of Job

I think this is a rather accurate and humorous adaptation of the Book of Job.

Old Testament God was a dick.