Scientology Movie Battlefield Earth gets Suckiest Movie Ever Award

How do you make the suckiest movie in the world? Why, by mixing committees and religion, of course! Take the screenwriter's masterpiece, let a bunch of religious executives chop out key scenes, add irrelevant subplots, change characters and design stupid sets.

That makes a bad movie. But to really make it the worst movie of the decade, use Scientologists, who are gullible and irrational to begin with, then throw in John Travolta, their famous mouthpiece (and a good actor), and let him suck in the big Hollywood money so that you can REALLY screw up.

This year the Razzi for the "Worst Movie of the Decade" went to J.D. Shapiro, author of Battlefield Earth, the mega-blockbuster based on the novel by Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard. Not one to duck, Shapiro accepted the award in person, and his speech is a real hoot.

Is the Collective Republican IQ Really This Low?

Here's a rather frightening poll. If these statistics are true, the Republican party should be ashamed of itself. Either that, or else the collective IQ of the Republican Party is so abysmal it's not smart enough to be ashamed. According to a new poll:

• 57% of Republicans still believe Obama is a Muslim. (Ironic, given that he actually may be a closet atheist.)
• 45% of Republicans still believe Obama wasn't born in the United States, even though the State of Hawaii produced his official birth certificate, and a notice of his birth was published in the newspaper.

You think those numbers are scary? There's one more:

• 24% of Republicans think Obama is the antichrist. (Do they even know what an antichrist is?)

I think I'm in the wrong line of work. Spreading truth and wisdom is such an uphill battle, maybe I should give up and instead just spread drivel that people want to believe. It's so much easier.

How can people believe this utter nonsense in the face of clear and compelling facts?

I'd be willing to bet that the the fraction of Republicans who believe this drivel are the same ones who were raised in fundamentalist, evangelical churches.

Pope Benedict XVI: The Heat is Turned Up

The Vatican is starting to feel more heat for Ratzinger (aka Pope Benedict XVI). In just a couple days, it's gone from a NY Times story to a worldwide scandal that is engulfing the Pope himself. Here are the headlines:

Pope Benedict faces child abuse cover-up queries - BBC
Abuse Scandal's Ripples Spread Across Europe – New York Times
Vatican defends decision not to defrock U.S. priest – Reuters
Vatican says it was unaware of alleged American priest abuse – CNN
Vatican halted trial for man accused by deaf boys – Associated Press
Pope 'failed to discipline US priest' who abused deaf children – The Guardian
Pope “failed to act” over abuse – Aljazeera.net
Father Murphy, molester of deaf children – beliefnet.com

These and dozens more headlines are what happens to a religion that utterly denies our human sexuality.

Luck Versus Religion: I'll Take Luck Any Day

One of the truly damaging aspects of religion is that takes away our pride and belittles our accomplishments. God gets all the credit, we get all the blame.

I was contemplating in bed this morning, enjoying a lazy morning, thinking about how I should be in here blogging, but instead watching the sunrise, talking lazily, listening to the birds singing their springtime songs, and enjoying the beautiful lagoon out my window with the beach and ocean in the distance.

A religious person might wake up on a beautiful day like this and say, "God has been good to me," with an undercurrent of, "... even though I'm an undeserving sinner." That's sick. It takes away our pride in our accomplishments. Even on the very best days of our lives, religion (especially Christianity) tries to knock us down, tell us we're flawed sinners, and convince us that in spite of our awfulness, God has begrudged us a nice day.

Bishop Darth Vader

Life is keeping me busy today so I'll just leave you with a little bit of humor ...



Thanks to lol god!

Pope Benedict XVI: "The Stench of Evil"

The Irish are rightfully angry at the Pope's newest apology for his priests raping their children – his holiness seems good at abject grovelling, but the Irish have noticed that the Pope forgot to kick any of his priests and bishops in the ass. The Irish might understandably want a few priests kicked forcibly out the door, but the Pope apparently forgot.

But if the latest allegations against the Pope himself prove true, things are going to get mighty interesting. It looks like the vicar of Christ on Earth himself was responsible for protecting the very priests who went on to commit some of these terrible crimes.

Did you know that a priest or bishop can be excommunicated for revealing a sex crime to law-enforcement authorities, but not for raping a child? Think about that: two men show up at the Pearly Gates. "Next! What's your sin?" "I raped a child, but I'm really sorry." "No prob, come on in. Next! What's your sin?" "I turned that last guy in to the police." "You jerk! Sinner! You traitor against Christ's own Church! Get out of here!! GOD WON'T FORGIVE YOU!"

And who do you suppose was responsible for this? Why, Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, the man who is now the Pope.

Catholic Exorcist is as Crazy as Bat Guano

I'm sometimes incredulous at people's superstitions, but who would have thought that an exorcist would have an official position at the Vatican? It's really quite stunning, that in this day and age, when the Vatican officially supports the Theory of Evolution, hosts important scientific conferences, and has apologized to Galileo, that there is still a Catholic official who chases ghosts out of people's bodies and has a personal relationship with Satan.

Father Gabriele Amorth is the Vatican's Chief Exorcist. Seriously!

This guy not only believes in Satan, he believes in a personal Satan, a guy sort of like Father Gabriel himself, just really, really bad. And this Satan fellow is so bad that all evil is his work. Pedophile priests and bishops? Satan. War, poverty and terrorism? Satan. That dude is so bad he has even "infiltrated the Vatican corridors" and is the reason for all of the trouble the Roman Catholic Church is having!

But Satan can't corrupt Father Gabriel! Oh no, he has one over on Satan! Satan is actually afraid of Father Gabriel, because Father Gabriel is on God's side.

Elton John: Gay Lover's Suicide was from Christian Guilt

When it comes to homosexuality, Christians (and other conservative religious groups) like to claim that they aren't bigoted, and that their "Hate the sin, love the sinner" teachings are loving and kind. The latest tragic news out of London shows the real truth: this Christian philosophy is cruel and heartless.

Yesterday singer Elton John revealed that a former lover's suicide was caused by guilt over his homosexuality. His lover couldn't reconcile his gay lifestyle with the teachings of the Christian Church, and threw himself under a lorry. This is a story that is tragically repeated, over and over, around the world. And for every suicide, there are probably a thousand tortured men who live depressed lives, and a million angry men who feel needless guilt but manage to reject the Christian's unnatural and unhealthy attitude.

Christians need to face the reality. They hurt people.

Pat Robertson, Why Have You Forsaken Us?

Pat, Pat, where are you in our time of need? There's been a huge earthquake in Chile, and we can't figure out why! What is God's plan in this? What did those Chileans do to deserve God's wrath? How are we to know who to blame without your words of wisdom, Pat? You're letting us down! Your sage and godly explanation of the Haitian earthquake was so satisfying. It made us feel better!

We're so worried out here in California – are we due for another Big Earthquake? When we heard about Haiti, it was scary. But then you explained about their pact with the devil, and we knew we were safe because we didn't do anything dumb like that.

But what about Chile? Maybe they tried to let gays get married or something, just like we did! Please, Pat, can you talk to God again and find out what the story is down there in Chile? And let us know, as soon as you can. We're worried sick!

NOT!

But there IS a fascinating story here: Another blogger published a satirical news release claiming that Pat Robertson did exactly that (blamed the Chilean earthquake on their worship of an ancient demon) and thousands of people believed it. Robertson has been so outrageous in the past that the readers read the false news and just said, "Oh, there he goes again!" He's made a fool of himself so many times that we don't even blink when he does it again.

Scientology: A Business, not a Religion

What do Bart Simpson, Tom Cruise, Lisa Marie Presley, and John Travolta have in common? All of them belong to a religion that seems designed to steal people's money and break up families. Ok, in the case of Bart Simpson, it's actually Nancy Cartwright, the actress who is Bart's voice.

A new controversial documentary from Germany, Bis Nichts Mehr Bleibt (Until Nothing Remains) illustrates that Scientology is nothing more than a business, whose product is a bunch of pseudo-scientific hocus pocus, and the price is misfortune, unhappiness, and sometime the loss of your entire family.

It's a typical Scientology story:

Mississippi Once Again Embarrasses Itself

Leave it to America's rural South to be both the home of leading liberal Democrats, as well as the last bastion of embarrassing religious bigotry. Are these bigots living in the dark ages? Don't they know about the Internet, TV, and that it's not 1955 any more?

Itawamba County in northern Mississippi is one of those places nobody has heard of. It has just over 20,000 residents total, and only three towns (the largest has 3,000 residents). Itawamba had only two claims to fame: Tammy Wynette, the wonderful country singer/songwriter, was born there, as was Delphia Spencer Hankin. What, you never heard of Mrs. Hankin? Why, she lived to be over 110 years old!

But this week Itawamba County got a new claim to fame when religious anti-gay intolerance and bigotry catapulted high-school student Constance McMillen into the national news. She wanted nothing more than to attend the high-school prom with her sweetheart like the rest of the students. The trouble is, her sweetheart is her girlfriend, and Constance wanted to wear a tuxedo.

Catholic Church Murders Thousands in the Philippines

The Catholic Church is determined to kill more people. I guess it isn't enough that their priests are raping little kids, and that a gay prostitution ring was discovered operating in the Vatican servicing bishops.

No, that's not enough for The Church, so now they've decided to give AIDS to a bunch of young people in the Philippines by blocking the distribution of condoms.

This is beyond immoral. It borders on genocide.

It's a simple fact that if the Church succeeds in this endeavor, literally thousands, possibly tens of thousands of people will die of AIDS. It's black and white. We know that healthy, happy people have sex. We know that young people can be irresponsible and impulsive and that some of them will get AIDS. And we also know that if condoms are not readily available, more people will die.

Catholics and Scientologists: Two of a Kind

There is a feature article about Scientology in the New York Times, which on the face of it says a lot about the decline of Scientology. The terror they once inspired in reporters has waned, they're hardly more than a paper tiger now.

But the article reminded me of something cool: Catholics and Scientologists have a lot in common. This statement will horrify most good Catholics, who look on Scientology as nothing more that quackery and fraud dressed up dressed up in voodoo pseudo-science religion. (I suppose Scientologists would be horrified to learn that they're really just the new Roman Catholic Church, too.)

What is it that binds these two? They believe that they can tell God what to do, and he'll actually do it. They teach that a priest here on Earth can excommunicate someone, and God will honor it. They actually believe that some guy down here on Earth has control of your fate, that if some church guy declares you a persona non grata, you're banned from Heaven forever, denied eternal life, to either die or go to Hell.

The sheer arrogance of it is stunning. It's an insult to the concept of God.

Mormons and Animals: Denying our Deepest Instincts

A Mormon reader name Seth yesterday reminded me of one of the things I hate the most about religion: That it denies our animal nature. WE ARE ANIMALS, with very strong instincts, and our instincts dictate most of our behavior. Yet religious people, who believe God created us separately from animals, deny this, and this denial is the root of the monstrous guilt meme that is still infecting most of humanity.

Seth, who responded to this blog, was writing about homosexuality. He's apparently a Mormon, and claimed that even though homosexuality has a genetic origin, gays still have the choice of whether to act on their desires or not. In other words, if a man isn't attracted to women, he can choose to be celibate (to live without love and companionship). Seth wrote, "The very idea that mere genetics takes away a person's freedom of choice in life is one of the sickest and most dehumanizing ideas I've ever heard."

Seth is wrong, dead wrong, cruelly wrong.

Roseanne Barr: Mormon Church Caused Marie Osmond's Son's Death

Update (March 8): Reports have surfaced claiming that Michael was not gay, and Roseanne has retracted her statement. Nevertheless, the underlying sentiment remains: The Mormon Church is viciously anti-gay, in spite of their professed love for everyone. They are still damaging families across America, and while we may never know the truth about the Osmond family, I'm leaving this blog intact because the message is still important.

Leave it to Roseanne to tell it like it is.

"Marie Osmond's poor gay son killed himself because he had been told how wrong and how sick he was every day of his life by his church and the people in it. Calling that "depression" is a lie!

"Yet the Osmonds still talk lovingly about their church, saying nothing about its extremely anti-gay Crusade. Marie also has a gay daughter! ...

"G-d is trying to use you for something good and this is your opportunity! Your church is wrong and on the wrong wrong wrong side of things! Get as vocal about that as you are about your diet. G-d bless you too, Marie.

"Take a hard look at the facts now as you use this very sad time for introspection, healing growth and prayer, and become a strong symbol for loving mothers who make no apologies for hatred against their own kids!"

Right on, Roseanne!

It makes me sick too. What a brainwashing job.

Chelsea King Murder: Lock up sex offenders forever

Our criminal justice system, much of which is based on Judeo-Christian morality, has a fundamental flaw that's directly related to its religious roots. Christians believe in revenge, redemption and forgiveness, and those are the foundations of our penal code. And the result is that sex offenders serve their time, are released, and then rape and kill another girl.

The tragic news of Chelsea King's murder hit particularly close to home for me. I used to live at Lake Hodges where her body was found, and the trail where she was jogging is a favorite of a beautiful young woman who is my stepdaughter. She walked that trail every day. There but for fortune... I shudder to think that, had it been a different time of day, she might have been the victim.

The fundamental problem with our penal code is that it has, at the very core, the belief that once a man serves his time, he is forgiven and given another chance. For most criminals, this is the right choice. We've all made mistakes, and without forgiveness, there would be nobody left to be the jailers!

America a Christian Country? Oh no it is not...

This essay by Tim Collard of the London Telegraph is absolutely excellent. He points out that America can't possibly be a "Christian Nation," just look at our health-care system and how we let the poor slip through the cracks. Check it out.

Ten Commandments in Oklahoma: A Disappointing Victory

(Update: The original headline said "Texas" but it's Oklahoma.)

Yesterday the Supreme Court declined to hear the case from Stigler, Oklahoma, in which the Federal Court ordered a monument with the Ten Commandments removed from the courthouse lawn. While it is a victory that maintains our constitutional rights to a religion-free government, it's too bad that the Supreme Court didn't answer this case once and for all.

A number of other states actually urged the Court to take the case on – not because they had a specific pro/con agenda, but rather because they wanted a clear answer. These cases keep popping up, over and over. Some local Christian minister or ladies group or men's fraternal order will get the notion that everything that's wrong in the world is due to the fact that we don't have God and Jesus in our courtrooms, and they stick a Ten-Commandments monument on some government lawn, and then the state is faced with a big, expensive legal battle.

James The Mysterioso Predicts... Pat Roberson will...

I have great psychic powers ... something is coming to me ... yes, I can see it now, my crystal ball is clearing ... What's this? Why, it looks like an evangelical Christian, talking on TV. Why, it's Pat Robertson, and ... the words aren't clear ... Wait, the great Mysterioso James hears his words! He's saying that the Magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile is God's punishment! For sin!

No, it's even worse, God has spoken, personally, to Pat Roberson! It seems God wanted Pat to know this is the Apocalypse! Two earthquakes, what could be clearer than that? The End of Times has started!

Will the prediction of the Great Mysterioso James come true?