Cletus Take the Reel

I'd like to share another video with you. It's a spoof of "Jesus Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood. Her song is a moving, soulful story about a woman who is driving in harsh winter weather and hits a patch of black ice on the highway. It's really inspirational, because instead of maintaining control over her vehicle and staying calm, for the sake of her child's life, she "threw her hands up in the air" and asked Jesus to "take the wheel." Miraculously, she survives. When she realizes that she was saved, she gives thanks to her holy co-pilot, and that he had the presence of mind to, you know, not take his hands off the fucking steering wheel while flying down the highway and skidding on ice! Stupid women drivers.

Honey, I broke the car again. 

This video is so fitting, with my southern roots and all. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with a big ol' ten pound bass with Ol' Blue, my huntin' dawg, and then some mud ridin' on my four wheeler with my buddies. We're also goin' to a demolition derby at the fairgrounds and, hell yeah, we're gonna drink until we piss our camo pants. Where's my Skoal? Dammit, woman, did you pack the pork rinds and Natty Lights? Shit! I'm runnin' late, Cletus just rode up in his pickup, and here I am wearing only a beer-stained wife-beater shirt. Oh well, who cares? I live in Alabama! We all wear this 'round here. Smell ya later!

Cletus Take the Reel, by Tim Hawkins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfs3BJZxKkc

Kissing Hank's Ass

Do you live in a tree in the woods so you can spy on your ex-lover through her bedroom window? Do you spend all your time in your mother's basement making model trains? Are you under ten years old? Then you may not have heard of "Kissing Hank's Ass" yet! It's a nice allegory, or metaphor, simile, or whatever...

Golden quote: "I thought you said Hank is a philanthropist. What kind of philanthropist runs around kicking the shit out of people just because they are different?" Here is a video someone made from the original text.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDp7pkEcJVQ

"Wieners, in buns, no condiments. It's Hank's way. Anything else is wrong."

Top 10 Things I Hear about Atheism

Here are the top ten things in my life, so far, that I have heard over, and over, and over, when I say what I believe about the existence of a god and my lack of adherence to a religion. These are just my personal thoughts.

1. Gee, you must be a pretty bad person. I mean, you have nothing upon which to base your sense of right and wrong. Why don't you just go out and steal and murder?

I don't base my sense of morality on a book or ancient teachings, such as the Bible. Many ancient holy texts are not exactly completely moral themselves, anyway, as I'm sure you know, and are chock full of cruelty, abuse, murder, incest, slavery, and misogyny. I base my moral decisions on how I want to be treated. The golden rule, so to speak, which existed in many forms and cultures thousands of years before the Bible or Jesus. It is a basic consideration for humanity. I don't respect people, animals, and my earth because of a supernatural reward of an afterlife or a great punisher who sees my every move. I do the right thing because it is right. Compassion and ethics exist regardless of the popular religions of the day. 

2. If you don't believe in an afterlife, what's the point in living?

Um, the point of living, is live it! To change the world for the better. To leave your mark on it and help others. Love others, share your ideas, inspire! Create and enjoy! Laugh, celebrate, learn, and become the best person you can be! Not believing in an afterlife makes life that much more precious and urgent. It makes me want to be damn sure the ones I love know it. Right now.

3. How can you not believe in something beyond the natural world?

The natural world and intricacies of the universe are astounding and still so unknown. There remains so much to be discovered. Are there multiple universes? What is dark matter, and oh man, why is there so much more of it than we thought before? I don't need supernatural beings and old stories to feel inspired. I am in such awe of what I have learned about this universe, though I will never know all there is to know. Why cheapen this amazing existence with anything other than the reverence for what we have learned about the natural world before us? And even when this scientific knowledge comes forth, why can't we collectively exclaim, "'This is better than we thought! The universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way!'" (Carl Sagan)

4. You can't prove there is no god.

The burden of proof is not on the nonbeliever any more than the burden of proof is on us to prove the nonexistence of bigfoot. The nonexistence of something requires no proof. "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence," again, as Dr. Sagan proposed. Ball's in your court to support your lofty claims. I claim nothing incredible. 

5. You worship the devil, then?

Why would atheists worship the devil? That would make us Satanists. No, sorry, we do not believe in anything supernatural. Many atheists believe "evil" is simply a human label, and there are no demons or devils, because to believe you are being led astray is to transfer blame and not take responsibility for your behavior. Own your misdeeds. 

Own your cuteness.

6. Wow, I feel sorry for you. You must feel pretty empty inside with nothing higher than yourself to believe in.

I do believe in something higher than myself. But these things are all honorable human traits that I aspire to. Love, altruism, sacrifice, parental protective instinct, childhood wonder, grace and humility, our ability to heal and learn, our place in the order of life, and our connection with all life forms. I am star-stuff! I am inspired by little things in daily life, like when I encounter a lizard on my porch, and it looks me right in the eye...not at my feet or my stomach. This tiny life form knows to make eye contact. That is amazing. This life is amazing. I believe in multitudes of beautiful things, they just happen to be rooted in reality.  They are "higher" than me, because I continuously attempt to reach a higher level and grow over my life and achieve noble traits. 

7. Why are you so aggressive? Stop posting things about atheism, you're being hostile about your beliefs. Stop pushing your ideas on me.

How many times do you see a Facebook post, for example, that is a prayer request, a Bible quote, or a "thanks be to God!" that the baby is recovering from the stomach flu? Is that being aggressive and hostile? No? Then what's with the double standard when I post a quote about my beliefs? I have just as much right to express my views as you do. I am not pushing my ideas on you, just speaking about them freely and proudly. Why should I hide my beliefs when you can invoke opening prayers and cite scripture anytime you like? May I post a Dawkins quote? I respect your outlook with all my heart, though it is not what I believe. Why can I not have the same acceptance? 

8. Science requires just as much faith as my religion does.

Every time I hear this, it reveals that the person saying it does not understand the scientific method. Science responds according to current evidence. When new evidence comes forth, after hypothesis, testing, and validation, the knowledge base is changed for the future. Religious dogma persists despite evidence or challenge.

9. I know in my heart that my god is the one true god. What do you base your faith in atheism on?

I do not base my worldview on an internal, subjective feeling a.k.a. faith. Atheists simply require knowledge outside of a text or what our parents taught us or what the majority insists is true. Just because an idea is popular does not mean that it is valid. Atheism has nothing whatsoever to do with faith. It is based in fact, not feeling.  

10. I'll pray for you to find the truth and for you to be more open-minded about the miracles we see every day.

This seems, by far, to be most condescending, yet common response I hear. It implies that you, the subscriber to one specific religion in one specific time in human history, not the thousands of other religions, past or present, have the one, true answer to the mysteries of existence, and the rest of us who have any other religious adherence or viewpoints are deluded. Atheists do not say there is no god. They just don't believe in one as a personal choice. They wait humbly for the evidence. If I discover tomorrow that they found the force behind life and the universe, and it happens to be an intelligent being, "I'll spin on a fucking dime, I'll be embarrassed as hell," again, in the illustrious words of Tim Minchin. Until then, I will continue to derive my joy and inspiration from what is real and measurable, knowable...and continue to be completely in awe of life, thankful for every moment that I have on this planet. 

 And here's a bonus. "This one goes to eleven."

11. Why do you always target your criticism toward Christians and the Bible? Lots of other holy books are flawed, too. Why not pick apart the Koran or some other religious text?

This one should be obvious. It is simply geography. I grew up in the South. In the United States. How much exposure do you suppose I've had to the Upanishads? How many Muslims do you think have tried to save my soul? I studied the old and new testaments in college. I was raised Episcopalian. It's just what I know, nothing more than that. We all draw from our experiences. 

None of you can know how much I love my fellow humans. You'll just have to "have faith" in that. :-) I wish we could all just get along.

May peace be with you. Good night, friends.

My Tim Minchin Encounter

So, I met Tim Minchin. When I bragged about this to a friend, he asked, "How do you always do this?"

It was the best live performance I've ever seen. He was spot-on, and he didn't skip a beat. His fingers flew across the piano keys in a musical blur. He is truly talented. Here's a joke he told between sets, as I remember it.

Australian accent: "So I was at the barber, you know, getting a trim, and I was sitting next to a bloke doing the same. The person cutting his hair was a young, attractive female, nice body, very easy to look at. As time passed, we all became aware of some uh, movement under his, uh...his um..."
Audience member yells, "Cape!"
Tim laughs. "No, not cape. If it was behind him and was waving in the wind, that'd be a cape. What is that word?"
Another yells, "Smock!"
"Yeah, smock."
Tim takes off his jacket and puts it on backwards over his shoulders and across his chest to simulate a barber smock.
"So, as I was saying, we all started to be aware of a certain movement under this guy's smock."
Tim reaches under his jacket and begins rapidly moving a hand up and down. Hilarity ensues.
"So, the young girl becomes infuriated and yells at him, 'How revolting! How dare you do that!'
and she rips off the smock and throws it onto the floor."
He dramatically throws down his jacket. Underneath "the smock," Tim was pantomiming cleaning something with a cloth.
"The man was shocked, and innocently says, 'What!? I was just cleaning my glasses!'"
Laughter roars.
"'Yeah, they are absolutely covered in semen.'" 

As I was crying like a sap after listening to the "White Wine in the Sun" finale, Tim graciously thanked the audience and then mentioned that the comedy venue makes money off drinks, so we should get one, and if we did, he would have a drink with us.

Even though the boyfriend and I had to leave the next morning on a fifteen hour return trip at the ass-crack of dawn, we stayed, of course. I bought a glass of cabernet sauvignon and fought off butterflies. I then realized with horror that because the ticket-taker had said I could not bring my overly large DSLR camera into the venue without a "press pass," even though every single person there had a camera vis-a-vis their phones, and I had not brought a camera. I was shit out of luck, if I did get to meet him, to provide visual proof to my soon-to-be-jealous friends. Well, crap.

As I shuffled my painful feet and assured the boyfriend we would leave if we could not meet Tim so we could get plenty of sleep before our trip home, I spied a woman who appeared to be standing in a strange place in the corner of the bar. I asked her, as she seemed to have a knowing smile, if she had been to a Tim Minchin show before. She answered smugly, "Yeah, last night." The woman winked at me and instructed, "Stand right here, and you'll meet him first. He's going to come out right through that door."

At that point, I broke into a sweat and realized I needed to find a camera, or I'd die of painful misery. I began canvasing the room for nice people, and since they were all atheists, most of them were very open and friendly. A couple from Minnesota offered to take several pictures and email them to me.

Five minutes passed, and Tim emerged "right through that door" wearing a striped pullover and cool, rectangular glasses. In a few more minutes, he was giving me a hug. He had remarkably white, straight teeth, and was, as you'd expect, very kind. He seemed like just another person in the bar as he schmoozed and chatted. He gawked when I told him how we had traveled fifteen hours to see his show, and actually looked a little bashful. After a photo op, an autograph, a toast of red wine glasses, and a lengthy discussion between Tim and the musician boyfriend about music, inspiration, and "finding your voice," we returned to our overpriced hotel to rave about Tim Minchin and bask in admiration.

Swoon!

Ode to Mom

On this, my mom's birthday, I'd like to say thanks.

Thanks for immediately taking me home on my first day of Sunday School because it was, unbeknownst to us, "Clown Ministry Day" and I burst into tears. And for not making fun of me when I subsequently developed a clown phobia.

Give me strength.

Thanks for not flipping out when, as an eight year old, I asked you why the preacher gave all the children in the Bible group little presents every time we simply listened to his stories and if he was trying to "bribe" us.

Thanks for allowing me to make shadow puppets and do Mad Libs in the back row of church with my friends when I was a teenager.

Thanks for not laughing at me when I dropped the torch during church as an acolyte.

And when it started a fire. 

Thanks for not freaking out when I came home from church camp and told you about the hand job I saw being performed during a movie and the rampant drug use among the counselors and campers.

Thanks for laughing when I came home from a church getaway and I shared with you that our team, "The Galatians," had made our group slogan, "Get You Sum." At my suggestion.

Thanks for tolerating my teenage questions about the hypocrisy and un-Christlike, cliquey behavior I saw from the church leaders.

Thanks for letting me stay home and swim in the pool with dad on Sundays. Sometimes.

Thanks for supporting me through the lengthy search for an all-white dress for confirmation when I thought they all looked like "old lady dresses."

This would be my choice today. 

Thanks for your help changing the wedding vows from the Book of Common Prayer to more secular ones without offending my ex-husband's religious family. I think.

Thank you for listening to me rave about Carl Sagan and cosmology when I first learned about the scope and age of the universe.

Thank you for not taking me to Picadilly restaurant after church anymore when the Pentecostals there repeatedly tried to convert me.

Thank you for talking to me about sex using up front, adult language when I asked you at age ten, and for not attaching any feelings of guilt or shame to it.

Thanks for not yelling at me every time I complained when I had to wear church clothes because they "are too scratchy."

Thanks for sending me to a church summer Bible retreat where I saw my first example of scary, hysterical religious group-think behavior.

This movie, Jesus Camp, is mysteriously not filed under the Horror genre on Netflix.

Thanks for not busting me when you noticed I had stopped bowing my head and closing my eyes during prayers as a preteen.

Thanks for comforting me when I cried because I couldn't understand why that Baptist friend in high school was so mean and judgmental to me about my beliefs, and for teaching me how to forgive those who hurt me.

Thanks for never making me say grace at family dinners because you knew it would make me uncomfortable.

Thanks for the advice that sending a Christmas card that said, "Heathen's Greetings" to my Christian Scientist grandmother "might not be the wisest choice."

Note to self. Take granddaughter out of will.

Thanks for helping me through my first death of a loved one without saying that he was in a better place now.

Thanks for letting us sneak out of church after communion when our stomachs started growling.

Thanks for "planting the seed" of independent thinking and for never, not once, trying to influence me in any direction or scold me about my search for my beliefs about religion.

Thanks for our wonderful discussions as adults about all these things and for admitting to me that you are a fellow nonbeliever now.

Yes. Thanks for taking me to church, even though you didn't really believe it all, either, because you felt I should at least have a choice and an experience with religion to fully understand whether I needed it in my life or not.

Lastly, thanks for raising me to question authority. Always. Even yours.

Comment policy? Necessary or Motherly?

You know I love you all. I need your opinion. Tonight, I published a comment submitted by a young person who wrote in his blurb the words "redneck clown," "ignorant," "bullshit," "fool," and "wannabe douche." I'd like your input. If you see my comment policy, it says I want to keep things in my fantasy world and blog fun, light-hearted, respectful, and kind, but I also didn't think that the comment was that bad. Circular reasoning aside.

Should I keep that kind of high school mentality out of my blog, or publish it because you guys love a good debate?

Boyfriend says start a debate. I said, okay, I think you are so sexy, I agree with you, boyfriend. But I want to hear from you, too. Thanks, friends.

Virility

Going from twenty-eight page views on one day to thirty-thousand four hundred and eighty-three the next is rly intimidating. Viralness is scary. I feel like crawling under a newspaper.

I'z ascairt.

I Kicked the Pew Religion Quiz's Ass

I have never said I am well-read or highly intelligent, so that's not why I'm posting this. I don't mean to brag. But, I totally slaughtered the Pew U.S. Religious Knowledge Quiz. You know the one, right? The one atheists like to refer to because it makes them feel exceptional and smart? The overall results showed that those who identified themselves as atheist or agnostic scored highest on knowledge of world religions. There are obviously many factors that account for this, but I'll leave that to those of you who got higher than a C in statistics, as I did not.

I was curious about this quiz because even though I'm feverishly mildly obsessed with religion, I don't think I know a lot about it compared to you guys. However, either the quiz was really easy, or...the quiz was really easy. Here are my results.

This makes me feel all smug and superior now, just like people say all atheists are.

Facebook. A Tool of the Devil

Do you like me? I like you. I kind of have a crush on you, actually. You're cute.

Here's a flower and a kitten for you. 

I was asked to join the evil that is Facebook. Now I'm embarrassed because I have only five friends. Do you want to be my friend? I'll totally friend you all over the place.

If you are interested, slide down the side bar and find my Facebook badge. Thank you for your time.

A Road Trip turns Scary

I've often spouted that atheists mostly just want religious folks to leave them alone. Live and let live. Stop trying to change me, and I won't try to change you. Believe what you want. I will too. Is this too much to ask for my peaceful car ride through America's heartland? Apparently.

Imagine my delight when, lo and behold, my fifteen hour Chicago road trip up highway 65 through rural Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana became an in-your-face, fire and brimstone, repent or you are going to hell, Satan wants to own your immoral, disgusting soul billboard extravaganza!

Ah, that's kind of a nice message. Nothing judgmental about that. 

That's not so bad. It's just a symbol representing a torture device. 

Well, now, this is a just nice billboard aimed at helping young mothers with unwanted pregnancies. I'm sure the counselors at this organization will discuss all options with these impressionable young women, right? Right?

Oh, that's kind of sad. This church only had enough money to buy half a billboard. Jesus is like, "Oh, I see how it is. How about I send only half of your soul to heaven, huh? Choose now, asshole.You want the top half or the bottom half to go to hell?" On another note, you can rent almost everything at the Grand Rental Station. Let's go check that out!

The Bible tells how to make a U-turn? Can they also tell me how to parallel park, because I suck at that, ha ha ha haaa-oh, what is that?! 

Eek. That's kind of an ominous sign. 

Oh my gosh. It is?!

Yikes, scary devil face!!

But I don't want to die today!!!

I'm young, I like wine, I enjoy watching men's olympic swimming, I'm lustful, I'm wearing a short skirt, I own tarot cards, I once stole a marble from my best friend when I was five, and I'm an atheist. Check, check, and check!

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home!!!

A 6/20/2011 afterthought. I think I blocked this part out. I just remembered...

The last scary sign I saw was in a small town in Alabama on the way home. By that point, my camera batteries had died. Even if I had gotten a picture of this sign, I would probably not post it to save you from the image that has now inexorably been burned into my poor brain. I'll just describe it.

It said, "Syphilis. Know the signs." It showed a picture of two male hands, palms up, covered in red, oozing, pus-filled sores.

Can you imagine how fucking fast I got out of that town?

Chicago and the Friendly Atheist

How's this for a coincidence?

I just returned from a most triumphant trip to Chicago to pay respect to my dad's home town and see Tim Minchin in concert at the Just for Laughs Festival. Chicago, in addition to being the most bad-ass, amazing, beautiful, clean city I've ever seen, is also the home of Hemant Mehta, or as you may know him, the Friendly Atheist. I've met him twice, once in DC at the Rally to Restore Sanity when he held a dinner for all of the poor, lost, godless souls in town, and again down here when he spoke as part of a Secular Student Alliance presentation. I can tell you, he genuinely is very friendly. On my visit to Chicago overall, though you might stereotype big-city folk as rude and always in a frantic hurry, I found that the people of Chi-Town were, in fact, incredibly kind and accommodating to a small-town southern girl who asked vacuous questions like, "Where does this train go?" Maybe they thought I was just simple and took pity on me. I was wearing flip-flops in fifty-five degree, rainy weather.

I've done this too.

So imagine my surprise upon returning home to see that my page views on my week-long dormant blog went from twenty-eight hits one day to thousands and I see that the Friendly Atheist linked to one of my posts! Before I found out exactly what he had said, I began chanting out loud, "Please let it be a good link, please let it be a good link, please please pleeeeease let it be a good link." In my panicky brain, the catastrophic scenario was the following:

"Hi, all you multitudes of Friendly Atheist followers, this is Hemant. I know that you visit my site about 25,000 times each day, so I wanted to share something that made me roll my eyes. Look at this complete idiot here. This is how not to write a blog. Just read this post by the Blonde Nonbeliever and laugh uncontrollably at her stupid and completely pointless rambling."

Turns out, it was a good link. Whew! Thanks, most friendly of the atheists. I appreciate the support! I will eat a Chicago-style hot dog, with the hot pepper, in your name!

Gloriousness. 

Oh, and here's a teaser. I have many things to share with you in upcoming posts from my fifteen-hour road trip and visit to Chicago.

1. My evening with Tim Minchin. It involves a hug and a toasting of red wine!

2. Interesting big-city street preachers. This involves large crucifixes, flashing body lights, and microphones.

3. Scary billboards in rural Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana. These involve hell, the devil, Jesus, and syphilis.

Stay tuned!

As an afterthought, as much as I'm glad to be home at my balmy beach, I miss the sound of the L. It was a nice metaphor. As I would lie awake during the night in my dark hotel room on Harrison while the boyfriend snoozed peacefully by my side, the L would pass by my window every twenty minutes. You can say what you want about life, and look back on your regrets, or worry about your future or your purpose in life, but the train always comes. It signified constancy to me. The L will always run.

Amen.

Agnostics and Atheists. Stop Fighting!

I was lucky enough to be one person in the huge, swarming, dirty mass of people who attended the Rally to Restore Sanity with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert last October.

There's me right there! Behind the big screen. 

It was there that I learned two things. One, I am claustrophobic and get light-headed in crowds of 300,000 people, and two, that the words Agnostic and Atheist are not stand alone terms. 

If you consider yourself an agnostic, I'm sure you know about the "fence sitter" label atheists toss your way. I didn't understand this for a while, until I attended a dinner in Washington DC organized by Hemant Mehta, the Friendly Atheist, for all the heathens in town that day. 

There I met two nice men from Houston, Texas. Over my enchilada, I asked, "Isn't it the most humble outlook to be Agnostic? No one has the answers about God and the supernatural." Then I made a mistake, as many of us do, by saying that atheism isn't open-minded, because atheists claim to know there is no creator of the universe. That's just as rigid as the religionist, is it not? 

Oops.

Then one of the men explained that the terms are not opposites and do not stand alone. They are complimentary. They are two terms that are different aspects of a belief system. 

Gnosticism=Knowledge. Certainty. You either know something, or you do not. 

Theism=Belief. Faith. You either believe, or you do not. 

Knowing and belief are very different. Belief is what you put your faith in and is more of a "feeling," but knowledge is how sure you are about it and the evidence behind it. 

I made this graph for you. And yes, after I made it, I discovered this exists all over the internet and I could have just copied and pasted it and saved some time. Dammit. 

That said, it is my theory that the majority of self-titled Atheists and Agnostics are actually Agnostic Atheists. They don't know, and they don't believe. They have no need for belief in God, but they would never be so pompous to say there absolutely isn't a force behind life and the universe. (Though it is really, really doubtful.) That would be as illogical as saying there is definitely an intelligent generic creator, or even more, with all certainty, that your God is, in fact, a 2,000 year old carpenter. I also bet that the vast majority of religious folks are Gnostic Theists. They know, based on their upbringing and/or simply a subjective feeling, that God exists, no questions please. The "militant atheist" stereotype is probably based on the rare creature that without-a-doubt "knows" there is no God. Some moderate religious people subscribe to the Agnostic Theist outlook, and are generally more open-minded, or "spiritual," than their Gnostic Theist cousins. These people also probably collect crystals and believe in ghosts. 

It's not about being "weak" or "strong," in my opinion. It's about being open versus closed. Dogmatic and rigid versus humble and willing to look at evidence. I found this outlook really helpful in understanding my views. You are free to disagree, but it makes a lot of sense to me. 

New Mobile Version?

Hello? Is anyone viewing this blog on their mobile device under their desk when they should be looking at porn on their office computer working?

I have changed the blog to offer a mobile version, instead of the web version, on mobile devices. Does anyone have any feedback? It seems a little more readable but it is visually boring.

Is the trade-off worth it? I lose some functions, like social site sharing and no one sees my blogroll, but it's much easier to read.

Any input would be appreciated, if you are reading this on your phone.

Homophobic Jesus Email FWD:

I received this email forward from a family member yesterday. Have you seen this yet? Please note the negative and inflammatory words about homosexuality I have highlighted in bold.

Abraham asked the Lord to spare 50 righteous people. God responded to Abraham's plea "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all" ....Genesis 18:16-33

The movie "Corpus Christi" is due to be released this June to August. A disgusting film set to appear in America later this year depicts Jesus and his disciples as homosexuals! As a play, this has already been in theatres for a while. It's called "Corpus Christi" which means "The Body of Christ". It's revolting mockery of our Lord. But we can make a difference.
That's why I am sending this e-mail to you. If you do send this around, we just might be able to prevent this film from showing in America . Let's stand for what we believe in and stop the mockery of Jesus Christ our Savior. Where do we stand as Christians? At the risk of a bit of inconvenience, I'm forwarding this to all I think would appreciate it, too. Please help us prevent such offenses against our Lord. There is no petition to sign, no time limit, or minimum number of people to send this to.. It will take you less than 2 minutes!              

If you are not interested and do not have the 2 minutes it will take to do this, please don't complain when God does not have time for you because He is far busier than we are. Hey it's worth a shot! 

Apparently, some regions in Europe have already banned the film. All we need is a lot of prayer and a lot of e-mails.

JUST GET THE WORD OUT
               ....will God be able to find at least 50 righteous people who are willing to express their concern and voice their opinion against this act of blasphemy!!!"

This email, and its various past versions, has been in circulation since 2000, and a Hollywood movie never came to pass about a gay Jesus. It is widely known as a hoax.

However, now this old email, which was an angry Christian chain-mail reaction to one stage play back in 1998 named Corpus Christi, has enjoyed a "resurrection," no pun intended, as a documentary about the play has recently been made.

History: There was a stage play made in 1998 which did portray a Jesus character, named Joshua, as gay. It continues to be performed by small theater groups at times. It has a message of acceptance and equality, and urges us all to question hate, stereotypes, and judgment against others. "Just not lest ye be judged," remember? It is not mocking, comical, or insulting. 

There is now a 2011 independent social documentary, called Corpus Christi: Playing with Redemption, which outlines that play from 1998 and the insane reaction to it, mainly in America, over the years. It is about the playwright, his beliefs (he is highly religious), and the challenges faced by the acting troupe and production company. It describes the critical, social, and political reaction to it and the hateful protests against it. It is not a mockumentary. It is also not a mainstream, Hollywood movie, nor do I expect it ever will be, but again, even if it was, I’d rather watch this in a theater than the gratuitous violence that is accepted as normal in the film industry nowadays. 

Here is the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw1d-ABRjXE

I don't know. Does this look like a "disgusting, revolting mockery" to you?

Did you notice that the writer of this email threatens that if you can't take just a few minutes to spread this vitriolic message and "stop" this independent film, (Hello, is free speech there?) maybe God also doesn't have the time to care about you? Wow, really? Is God that petty? Forward this email, or God will forsake you!! Yeah. Okay.

Do you suppose people who forward this are actually afraid, just like when an email says, "If you don't send this to ten people, you will have bad luck for a year," that God might frown upon them if they can't find at least fifty of their unsuspecting friends and click, "Forward?"

Steven only forwarded the Corpus Christi email to thirty-six people?  Piano on the head.  Heh heh heh. 

Just say no to email forwards.

References: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/corpus-christi-gay-jesus-movie-hoax.shtml

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/g/gayjesusmovie.htm

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/gayjesus.asp

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/moviesandtheater/a/gay_jesus_movie.htm

A Nice Message

As an atheist, I have found that once you gingerly step outside religion, you suddenly realize how much all religions look alike. I have used the word myopic before when it comes to organized religion. It seems like when it's all you know, all of the other dogmas look strange and inferior and foreign. Atheists, if they truly are atheists, and are not just apathetic, sometimes see the grander scope of things. Yes, I am aware that there are many narrow-minded nonbelievers, but, what's that joke?

If you have a bible on your bookshelf, you may be a Christian. If you have a Koran on your bookshelf, you may be a Muslim. If you have a Torah on your bookshelf, you may be Jewish. If you have all three, you are probably an atheist. 

I have to suggest that atheists are more tolerant and understanding when it comes to religious diversity and the commonality that many humans have to find a purpose and a power outside of themselves to lend order to their lives, even with the Angry Atheist stereotype we have to endure.

Great. Way to be subtle, dumbass.

Atheists don't worry about infidels, sin, or converting anyone. Most of us believe in the Live and Let Live orientation, and simply wish that the religious would also just let us live and find our own way in life without condemnation. We all do the best we can. It's a very peaceful stance, in my humble heathen opinion.

I think the only time atheists get upset is when entitlement, for example, the "America is a Christian Nation" fallacy, enters, and threatens rational thought and especially encroaches upon government, freedom of and from religion, and groups such as women and children. Then religion literally becomes harmful.

Saddy face. 

Even though this article I am about to share with you still adheres to the idea of the supernatural and the notion of a creator, I found this message incredibly refreshing. I wonder what you think. Want to read it? It's an excerpt from Desmond Tutu's book, God Is Not a Christian: And Other Provocations.

That title at first seemed silly to me, but the more I think about it, lots of people need to know that. Here is the excerpt.