Santa vs. God

(Source)

What if?

Sorry, yet another video (but it's a good'n'!)

This is clearly going to get some people really stirred up...

religulous
(via Buck)

Religion Takes a Spin

For some reason, religion is very much in the news lately. Go figure.

Mike Huckabee thinks God wants him to be president. Or maybe he thinks he's Jesus, or something.

It seems that Huckabee, who is running as a Christian conservative, who makes constant references to his beliefs and his background as Baptist minister, and who once interrupted a speech to take a phone call from God, is upset that reporters ask him about his religion.

And with that, Huckabee went on to speak more about his religion. . . .

But Huckabee is not alone in wanting people to respect this religion, while failing to practice tolerance when it comes to the beliefs of others. Mitt Romney, in his effort to convince Christians that he loves Jesus, kinda trampled all over non-Christians in the process. And, of course, they're quick to point out the multitude of errors in Romney's claims.

If Romney is going to attack humanists and secularists as "wrong," then let him explain why they were so far ahead of his church on the greatest moral issues of the past half-century.

You'd think a guy who wants to be president would be a little more knowledgeable about history (oh, and let's not forget that pesky Constitution problem).

And if you haven't had your fill of religious antics on this fine morning, here are a few more links that should sate you: God talks about Richard Roberts, will the Germans ban scientology? And finally, here's your annual reminder that Christmas is not just a Christian holiday (don't click on these last two links if you're uncomfortable with the f-bomb) -- nor is it celebrated only in the United States. Sheesh!

Nebraska State Senator Sues God

I guess it's old news by now, but I just ran across the story. Apparently in the case of Chambers v. God, the defendant denies that the court has jurisdiction.

What would Jerry Falwell have made of this?

Lightning damages Jesus statue

Does this mean that God hates Jesus? God hates nuns? Pilgrims? People who climb stairs while praying?
(via Ricky, via Mike)

News Flash

God doesn't care who won the Superbowl.

Why do you think he/she/it would care?

What does the Bible tell me?

What does the Bible say about homosexuality? Filmmaker Daniel Karslake explores the question in For the Bible Tells Me So, which has been selected as a featured documentary film at Sundance.

With a keen sense of irony, Karslake focuses on the family. Through the unfolding of five very moving stories of Christian families with a gay or lesbian member and the reflections of major biblical scholars, the film examines what, if anything, the Bible actually says about homosexuality as we know it today.

Karslake is not alone in suggesting that religious leaders who use the Bible to encourage their followers to hate homosexuals might need to check their theology. Dianne tipped me off to the movie, and also recommends a book that examines this topic, What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality. Perhaps this could be the beginning of a dialogue on the topic -- especially if the film is well-received at Sundance...

LOL!

Here ya go.

The Nietzsche Family Circus pairs a randomized Family Circus cartoon with a randomized Friedrich Nietzsche quote. Refresh the page to see a new comic.

Here's an actual combination that came up for me after a couple of clicks (via BST)...

God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him.

Finally, an Evangelical Christian Sees the Light!

I don't know if any of my friends consider themselves to be evangelical, but I certainly have some friends who are hard-core Christians. And even though some of them agree that mixing politics and religion is not good for Christianity (in much the same way as it has been bad for Islam), none of them seem at all inclined to do anything about it.

I am alarmed by the activities of the Jerry Falwells and James Dobsons of the world, and people of their ilk not only make me less and less willing to identify myself as a Christian, but they also make me wonder how much damage they'll do to Christianity before they're done. However, since I no longer belong to a Christian community, all I can do is watch in horror.

But the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd is an evangelical who has seen past the next election, and he's preaching a message that is not what you'd necessarily expect to hear from the pulpit (the article is also available after the jump):

Sermons like Mr. Boyd's are hardly typical in today's evangelical churches. But the upheaval at Woodland Hills is an example of the internal debates now going on in some evangelical colleges, magazines and churches. A common concern is that the Christian message is being compromised by the tendency to tie evangelical Christianity to the Republican Party and American nationalism, especially through the war in Iraq.

Brian D. McLaren elaborates:

More and more people are saying this has gone too far — the dominance of the evangelical identity by the religious right. You cannot say the word 'Jesus' in 2006 without having an awful lot of baggage going along with it. You can't say the word 'Christian,' and you certainly can't say the word 'evangelical' without it now raising connotations and a certain cringe factor in people.

Or as John Aravosis puts it:

Christians are feeling oppressed because their own wacko evangelical fringe has so abused Christ as to make him a bad word. When I was a kid, it was a badge of honor to be a regular church-goer - it meant you came from a good family. Nowadays, if you say you're going to church on Sunday, my first thought is usually "is he going to hate me because I'm gay?"

If you're Christian, I suggest you really think about that, because it's not just gay people who feel increasingly alienated by the new politicized Christianity of Karl Rove, James Dobson and the Dittoheads. And as John points out, the result can be pretty much the opposite of what Evangelical Christians are supposed to try to accomplish:

America is less tolerant towards religion. And that's because the religious right has used religion as a sword against everyone it disagrees with. And that creates enemies. Not just for the religious right, but for the God on whose behalf they claim to speak.

Put another way, if God is the intolerant, bellicose bastard that George Bush says he is, why should I worship Him?

Movies

I ran across a couple of film trailers this weekend, both of which offer glimpses at very promising movies:

The first came to me via email (I don't know if the sender was conscious that I'd get it on Easter or not): The God Who Wasn't There. The movie premiered last May and has been available on DVD since last summer, but somehow I managed to miss it. The reviews are quite good, for the most part. [Note: the film is currently being used in the War on Easter (why does Bill O'Reilly egg these people on?, you ask?!?).]

The second trailer is for what looks like a visually stunning and beautiful film about a very serious topic, and comes via Sandy at hamdems.org. Al Gore says in An Inconvenient Truth that "our ability to live is what's at stake." The film is due in theatres on Wednesday, May 24th and I think it could end up being one of the big documentaries of the summer. It blew people away at Sundance, and the trailer has a lot of energy (more links at TGW).

"This is really not a political issue so much as a moral issue." -- Al Gore, former (and future?) Next President of the United States of America