Several days back, somebody named Melinda Barton had a piece at The Raw Story spreading pathetic lies about atheists. After some outcry, it was taken down, but now it’s back up. But the editors also asked the always-good P.Z. Myers of Pharyngula for a rebuttal, and he gave them a good one, sqaushing her lies with truth, justice, and the, um, freethinking way. See his positive response here (”We should all be secularists”), and the point-by-point rebuttal here (”Look Ma, I’m a Secular Whackjob”).

Read ‘em. (Did I mention that I want to be P.Z. Myers when I grow up?)

(This is not to steal Sean’s thunder from his article below, but in addition to the subject he has brought up.)

What do you think? Is this just media hype promoted by Sony and movie makers or do Xians really have their panties in a knot about this?

SYDNEY, Australia - An Australian church group has launched a Web site and a series of cinema advertisements challenging theories in the blockbuster book “The Da Vinci Code” to coincide with the release of the movie version.

Among other disputed claims, “The Da Vinci Code” contends that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had descendants.
The film version of “The Da Vinci Code,” starring Tom Hanks, is due to open worldwide May 17-19.

Vatican Tries to Break “Da Vinci Code”

The Vatican has stepped up its denouncement of the hotly anticipated movie, upgrading its disapproval of the book’s supposedly anti-Christian theories from pulpit-spewing rants to full-blown boycott.

Why do these religious types always call for a boycott of that which they disagree with? Shouldn’t people be encouraged to see things for themselves and make their own decisions?

Oh, yeah. That’s not what religion is all about, is it? Your decisions are made for you. My bad.

As it is, Monsignor Angelo Amato, the number two official in the Vatican’s powerful doctrinal office, has urged Catholics everywhere to boycott the upcoming Tom Hanks film on the basis that it patently “offended” the Christian faith.

“I hope that you all will boycott the film,” he said, according to the ANSA news agency.

You know someone was raised Catholic when they go around using words like “calumny.” What’s the matter, is the word “vituperation” not obscure or Latin enough for ya??

Hey, MoeHammered. This one’s for you, dude.

From ChristianAnswers.Net: Movies for Therapy.

Movies can be more than entertainment; they can be therapeutic–helping people see themselves, others or issues in a new light. They can open up productive dialogue. This list on 53 topics has been compiled from suggestions received from various Christians.

Oh, joy. Break out the popcorn, let’s see what we’ve got for movie night! (Disclaimer: there are a number of fine movies on this page. These are just the ones I found amusing. Oh, and watch out for my spoilers.)

Under “Self-Worth” we have Mr. Holland’s Opus. My. That’s strange. After I sat all the way through that treacly piece of shit, I felt like a sucker.

Under “Couples Commitment”: Fatal Attraction. That’s right. Stick with your wife or your kid’s rabbit will get boiled and your wife will have to blow somebody away in your bathtub. And God will be laughing.

Under “Adultery”: The End of the Affair. Holy fuck. That’s kinda sick. I saw this movie as a case for atheism, if anything! I don’t know what J.G. Ballard’s intentions were, but if this is religious allegory, I want no part of this religion any more than the Xianity portrayed in the movie The Rapture. Cruel and arbitrary, the god in this movie, if he indeed exists outside of the protagonists’ heads, does horrible things to these people for their indiscretion (and who can blame Julianne Moore for wanting to fuck Ralph Fiennes instead of Stephen Rea?? I mean, I like Rea, but he has a face like an old rabbit). Shit, the final line (SPOILER) in the whole fuckin’ movie is from Fiennes, bitterly accepting this horrible gawd’s existence, but stating firmly that he hates him. Nice.

“Men’s Issues”: Mrs. Doubtfire AND Tootsie in a list only four items long. Hey, Christian kids! Gays are bad, but cross-dressing is okay. After all, Father Hank and Dad do it together all the time!

“Men’s Sexual Addictions”: Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life. Yup. Father Hank says porn is evil, so rather than just enjoying it together and maybe getting a little stimulation back into your embalmed sex life, your hubbie is up wanking off at 4AM at the computer while you’re slipping “Mr. Jolty” out from under the mattress.

“Spiritual Warfare.” Okay. Enough said. It’s just sick that it’s a category.

“Aging”: Cocoon, Driving Miss Daisy, On Golden Pond, To Dance With the White Dog. I can’t believe they left out Requiem for a Dream!

From the often-amusing WhiteHouse.org, The Complete List of…

Boys and Girls! One reason folks love President Bush so much is the folksy charm he shows in giving sarcastic nicknames to everyone he meets! Have a look at his complete list, then invent some of your own! You’ll find nothing spices up playground time like the spirited hurling of personalized derision!

I particularly like the nicknames for Saddam and Osama.

After a long week of contention and silliness (mostly caused by me?)… We need some good old-fashioned atheist punk rock (or at least I do).

‘Nuff said.

Sorrow
[Bad Religion]

Father, can you hear me?
How have I let you down?
I curse the day that I was born,
And all the sorrow in the world…

Let me take you to the herding ground,
Where all good men are trampled down,
Just to settle a bet that could not be won,
Between a prideful father and his son.

Well you guard me now for I can’t see,
A reason for this suffering and this long misery.
What if every living soul could be upright and strong?
Well, then I do imagine there will be
Sorrow.
Yeah there will be
Sorrow .
And there will be
Sorrow, no more.

When all soldiers lay their weapons down,
Or when all kings and all queens relinquish their crown,
Or when the only true messiah rescues us from ourselves…
It’s easy to imagine there will be
Sorrow.
Yeah there will be
Sorrow .
And there will be
Sorrow, no more.

There will be
Sorrow.
Yeah there will be
Sorrow .
And there will be
Sorrow, no more.

This little diddy comes from David Hume’s Treatise. (Hume was one cool, fat dude.) I’ve boiled-down the argument for clarity:

(1) If there is justice in this life, then no afterlife is necessary.

(2) But if there is no justice in this life, then one has no reason to believe that God is just.

(3) However, if one has no reason to believe that God is just, then we have no reason to believe He will provide us with an afterlife.

(4) So, either no afterlife is needed, or else we have no reason to think God will provide one.

Yep, the dude died of colon cancer, in (of course) a very slow and painful way.

Glory!

Fewer Than 1 in 5 Catholics Attend Mass in Boston

Fewer than one in five Catholics who live in the Boston Archdiocese regularly attend Mass at a parish, according to church statistics. The archdiocese estimated its Catholic population at about 1.85 million in 2005, but Mass attendance was just 319,559 (17.3 percent), according to numbers from the archdiocese.

… The percentages are well below telephone poll numbers that put weekly Mass attendance at 33 percent. But that number is probably inflated because people tend to exaggerate things such as church attendance when questioned for polls.

Ha! You mean, they lie.

The Rev. Bernard McLaughlin, pastor at St. Gerard Majella Church in Canton, said his church, has a band that plays contemporary worship songs to attract younger people, and he avoids the heavy-handed pronouncements from the pulpit that he says turn off today’s Catholics.

“I obviously believe very strongly Jesus is God and what he says is the truth,” he said. “I think a lot of people still believe that. It’s the institution they don’t like.”

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