Lordy, Lordy - how am I supposed to do a file dump when the file keeps getting bigger? The busting of Eliot Spitzer just opened up a whole can of worms that I'm gonna have to ignore if I'm to make any headway. (Is Hillary going to start a war room to defend Spitzer? Is she going to give Spitzer's wife her feminist declaration, "There are worse things than adultery", now that another of her guys has been busted? Is Spitzer indicating how much credibility he has left, or what, in the photo above?) All I'll say, definitively, is I liked Spitzer and this sad day is shared by many. Especially his wife. Asshole.
Another smart guy who seems to have taken a fall is Ben Stein. He's got this silly new documentary, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” which is about (stupid) alternatives to the theory of evolution. I can't believe he did it, since he's always struck me as brilliant, but there it is. My favorite two paragraphs in the article I found were these two that specify religion:" Paul Lauer, head of Motive Marketing, which is handling publicity for the film, said that critics were not invited mostly because the film was not polished enough for professional scrutiny. He said that his company, which also marketed the 2004 film, 'The Passion of the Christ,' is reaching out to conservative leaders.
For example, Mr. Lauer said, Mr. Stein personally showed 'Expelled' to James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, which has a big following among right-wing Christians. (Mr. Dobson gave the film a thumbs-up.)"
Why do I like that part so much? Because it shows that, when you're dealing with religious types, whatever you're selling doesn't have to be "polished enough for professional scrutiny." Any ol' bullshit will do, as long as you spell Jesus' (or Buddha's) name right. (People like me, on the other hand, demand more.) And, while this ain't Pick On Religion Day, (everyday is Pick On Religion Day) I do want to abandon these articles now that they can be appropriately linked by subject matter:
"A 'modern-day Moses' who fleeced churchgoers out of more than £3.2million faces jail today."And:
"At least 50 people in [India] have reportedly lost their vision after gazing at the sun looking for an image of Virgin Mary."And:
"NEW YORK (AP) -- In a major shift, a group of Southern Baptist leaders said their denomination has been 'too timid' on environmental issues and has a biblical duty to stop global warming."And - this one's the capper:
"Recycle or go to Hell, warns Vatican"To which I reply, "This is Hell, Ratzinger!" Sorry. You don't have to actually read those articles. Let's just collectively shake our heads and (as the NewAgers say) "move on" before their influence swallows us whole.
*Oh - and a special message to Erik In Seattle: Dude, if you don't speak to me when I play there, I'ma kill Bill Gates!
For those of you reading this blog who think that Ben Stein was in any way the motivating force behind this movie, please reconsider.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Texan interview with Logan Craft (executive producer of Expelled):
http://www.sbtexan.com/default.asp?action=article&aid=5533&issue=2/4/2008
TEXAN: How did Ben Stein come to be involved in the film?
CRAFT: Well, John (Sullivan, producer of Expelled) had a real insight, we believe, into the necessity to have a person, first of all, who wasn’t overtly Christian or overtly religious…
Ben Stein is a hack!
This film is a manufactured argument, cleverly crafted to advance a conservative christian agenda. ID at this point, after almost 20 years and millions of dollars tossed at it by the Discovery Institute, is still merely a vague idea. It has not yet even been fleshed out into a valid scientific hypothesis, and certainly hasn’t developed into a viable or testable theory.
So at this point, the ID/creationist movement is merely a well-funded public relations effort trying to rally public support promoting “science = evolution = atheists”, rather than offering any positive evidence of the “designer”, or “design”.
“Tens of millions of Americans, who neither know nor understand the actual arguments for or even against evolution, march in the army of the night with their Bibles held high. And they are a strong and frightening force, impervious to, and immunized against, the feeble lance of mere reason.”
—Isaac Asimov
Dude - just give me a heads up when you are in Seattle!
ReplyDelete-Eric
Will do:
ReplyDeleteI'm just putting together the battle plan for conquering my area - which won't be hard because there's no competition - and, then, we're outta here.
I can't wait.