I can’t believe it. Another actor I enjoy watching has stepped off the deep end of some nutjob crackpot religion. Will Smith joins Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson in this sad trend. I was going to go see Hancock, now I think I won’t.
The article says he hasn’t admitted to actually joining the church, so maybe I can rationalize it that way.
Feh.
Update: Maybe he’s okay after all, claiming not to be a Scientologist.
It’s simple. God is a made-up idea. Made up by men. A crutch used by humans to ease their fear of the unknown. A sword wielded over countless millions to subjugate. It is time to grow past the notion.
OpinionJournal has a surprising number of editorial pieces in support of a non-secular America. I can’t think of a more stupid idea.
Take your heads out of your asses; quite burying them in the sand. There is no such thing as God, no “invisible man in the sky.” Learn some tolerance, open mindedness and most of all, learn to think for yourselves.
I recently sent this email to KTVU, a local Fox affiliate:
From: Rick Mann
Date: September 18, 2004 20:46:17 PDT
To: Lori.darnell@ktvu.com
Subject: I didn’t know KTVU was an evangelist TV stationI was dismayed to come across your programming this evening, a movie
called “Last Plane Out.” I only saw the last portion, but the
commercial break I saw contained nothing but Billy Graham
advertisements. The movie itself was an undisguised Christian sermon.It seems somehow wrong for a public television station to broadcast
such a specific religious message, and worse, to promulgate the
deceptive and exploitative practices of something like the Graham
conglomerate. This was nothing but a two-hour advertisement for them,
helping them prey on the weak-minded viewer, no doubt raising millions
in the process.Despite Republican’s and the religious right’s wishes the contrary
(and subsequent practice), the United States is a secular society,
with a clearly mandated separation between church and state.
Programming and advertising such as tonight’s is unwarranted and
unethical, and certainly irresponsible.Given the general trend in Fox network programming (canceling
intelligent, well-written shows and promoting “reality” fodder), Fox’s
propagandistic, right-wing news, and now (what I assume to be locally
determined) religious programming, I think I will remove KTVU from my
channel lineup.
I came across this article about Fundamentalist Mormons. Well, really, it’s an article about a book written by one such Fundamentalist who murdered his wife and daughter in the name of his religion.
Afer hearing that Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapper was an excommunicated Mormon, Dan Lafferty correctly deduced something about the crime that even seasoned lawmen failed to suspect: “I immediately guessed that he was probably a fundamentalist, and that Elizabeth was somehow involved in a polygamy situation.” Lafferty ought to know…
Now, I’m not so naive to think that this sort of extremism never happens in America; on the contrary, I’m very concerned that the religious right (usually the Christian right) has far too much influence in American politics and society. Although extremists can be found anywhere (look at various Islamic countries), there’s something especially sinister about finding non-Islamic zealots in America.
This entry will hopefully be the start of a series of comments reflecting my feelings about religion and social aspects often affected by it.