The Case Against the Case Against Religulous

I have previously published my criticism of Religulous for its inappropriate use of Founders' quotes to support their secular, even anti-religious (and anti-Clerical) views. Beliefnet seems to think the misuse of those quotes is an adequate case against Religulous:

In the beginning of the movie, he offers this quote from our second president, John Adams: "This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it." Wow. That certainly provides stunning support for Maher's thesis. Did Adams really mean that?

He goes on to show it in its true context, which does not support the view of Adams being anti-religious. This is the only point in Steven Waldman's "The Case Against Religulous."

While I share in the criticism of using these quotes (I think it is the result of laziness rather than dishonesty), I question it as the basis of a case against the film.

He notes that the out-of-context quotes provides "stunning support for Maher's thesis." What exactly is Maher's thesis? I watched the film and it most certainly was not that the Founders were anti-religious. If Maher's thesis were that the Founders were anti-religious, and that that is the point of the film, then the criticism of this quote is indeed a strong basis for a case against Religulous.

The anti-Christian views of the Founders were a minor point later in the film where he quotes Frankling, Adams, and Jefferson. My criticism stems from the misleading nature of the quotes, not the message itself. But even if the Founders were devout Christians (which they weren't), how does this incorrect argument for a minor point amount to a discrediting of the film?

It doesn't.

Supporting Kay Hagan

The story is making the rounds on Daylight Atheism and The Friendly Atheist of the anti-atheist smear campaign Elizabeth Dole is running against Kay Hagan, a Democratic candidate running for the US Senate.

I don't know anything of Hagan's politics, but I made a donation to her campaign as I don't want Ms. Dole to win by filthily promoting anti-atheist bigotry.

You can donate to Hagan's campaign to show your support, even if it is only $5-$10.

Paul S. L. Johnson's Creation

While my mother knows that I am an atheist, my father does not, for reasons previously discussed. While I was visiting earlier this year, he handed me the second volume in Epiphany Studies in the Scriptures written by Paul S. L. Johnson. The topic of the book is "Creation" where he attempts to give a scientific look at the process and result of creation. My father knows I have a keen interest in science and have become increasingly knowledgeable in various subjects. As such, he gave it to me to read, not only to interest me but also so that I will let him know how the science standards up to the times.

I think I will use this opportunity to disclose my support of evolutionary theory to him. The beginning of the last chapter, "Evolution: Not the Creative Method," goes:

We will devote the last chapter of our book to a consideration of evolution, which is falsely, we believe, held by an ever decreasing number of scientists to be the method of creation.

My father has told me on a number of occasions that scientists have "flocked away" from evolution and the big bang. I now know where he learned that.

The discussion begins by breaking evolution down in the five "various schools of evolution": (paraphrased)

1. "atheistic materialistic evolutionists": the universe, plants, and animals produced themselves by a series of transmutations.
2. "spontaneous-generation evolutionsts": God created matter and its forces, and then the animals and plants developed themselves from the matter.
3. "Darwinian evolutionists": God creater matter, its forces, and the first few lifeforms. They "developed themselves" from there.
4. The same as above, except they believe man isn't a result of evolution. Rather, evolution created everything and then God created man.
5. God created everything, beginning with a "kind" of every plant and animal, and then those kinds deteriorated into the many species.

I decided to begin my discussion on this chapter. The first five pages attempt to show that evolution is impossible because, had man existed for even 100,000 years, assuming a constant population growth of .5% would result in 4.66 billion billion people alive today. This is my first exposure with creationist math. Where did the .5% come from? Apparently out of his ass, as the population growth between 1000 and 1800 is under 1.5%. He apparently calculated it by the difference of the population now and that immediately after the Flood.

Therefore, I think his argument more disproves the Bible than it does evolution. The argument was genuinely baffling.

Stargate SG-1 & Atheism, Pt 2

In my first post on Stargate SG-1 and atheism, I explored the connections between the over all show and religious topics. I have been watching the series again from Season One and have two episodes left of the last season. I thought I would make a second part delving further into the last arc of the show: the Ori. The Ori, if you recall, were a race of humans who evolved to the point where they could shed their bodies, exist as pure energy, and live on a "higher plane of existence" (called "ascension").

The Ori were once part of a race of humans called the Alterans. The Alterans lived in a distant galaxy and were very advanced; the most advanced race to have ever existed. A philosophical divide grew within the Alterans: one whom we now call the Ancients and one whom we now call the Ori. These two groups became more and more opposed. The Ancients pursued science and rational thought while the Ori became more and more fervent in their religion. At one point, they broke altogether and became enemies.

The Ancients, being committed to freethought, were absolutely opposed to violating anyone's free will. This was not the case with the Ori, who were fierce in their religious convictions and not above killing the Ancients. They began to amass an army against the Ancients. The Ancients were philosophically and morally opposed to killing or even interefering with others' choices. As such, they chose to conceal their level of scientific progress so as not to exacerbate the situation with the Ori.

One of the Ancients devised a weapon, The Ark of Truth, which makes anyone who looks into it brainwashed. The purpose of devising it was to counter the lies the Ori spread to get people to submit to their religion. Use of this weapon, though, would violate their followers' free will and, as such, they agreed not to use it. Instead, they built an advanced spaceship and set sail.


The Ancients and Ori both eventually ascend. The philosophical differences they had as humans continue even into their ascension. The Ancients, being dedicated to scientific thought and philosophical principles, have a strict non-interventionist policy with the lower realm. They feel they have no right to play God with the lower realms. As the pacifists they are, they will not even intervene in self-defense; preservation of free will is the highest moral law for them.

The Ori do not share this. Their religious convictions have led them to a sense of entitlement as it were over the lower realms. They feel as higher beings they have a greater truth than those on the lower realm. As such, they command all humans to submit to their religion, Origin. By believing in the Ori, the Ori harness the power of their followers.

The Ori cannot stand the Ancients who are dedicated to science and do not submit to their religious convictions. As such, the Ori are still bent on destroying the Ancients. Once they learn of the humans in the Milky Way Galaxy -- the Ancients having been shielding our existence from the Ori -- they begin to amass an army of followers to conquer the Milky Way by spreading Origin.

Even though the Ancients know that the Ori's ultimate purpose is to destroy them by harnessing the power of the believers in the Milky Way, the Ancients refuse to intervene. Even though Origin is a lie, they refuse to violate the free will of those who wish to follow.


The religious criticism in the last two seasons of Stargate SG-1 does not go unappreciated. The ultimate moral of the arc is that of rational thought versus dogma. There is a strong emphasis on not forcing someone else to believe and promoting critical thinking over blind submission.

There is a second aspect which is explored in all this: killing people for what they believe. The Ancients represent one extreme of the spectrum in that they will never kill anyone for what they believe nor influence what anyone else believes, not even when that belief is damaging to the individual or will inform aggressive actions against others.

The humans from Earth represent somewhat of what Sam Harris advocates. They attempt to always reason logically with Origin followers about what they believe. They won't forcibly prevent someone from believing in Origin. There comes a point, though, where they recognize it may be ethical to kill someone for what they believe -- the sentiment from The End of Faith which is so frequently quoted out of context. Origin teaches that the unbelievers are wicked and must be given the opportunity to convert. If they refuse, it is your duty to put the infidel to death.

With Origin holders having this belief, it is a fine line the humans from Earth consider: when is it ethical to kill someone merely for what he believes?

The Expelled Nutters at Blockbuster.com

While I was adding a few choice blasphemous entries to my Blockbuster Queue, such as Blasphemy the Movie and Saved!, I decided to stop by the page for Expelled and see what kind of reviews it had from members. I have yet to see the film as I'm waiting for it to come out on DVD. It seems the conspiracy theorist fans of Expelled are conspiracy theorists through and through.

Note that Expelled will not be released until October 21 of this month. Blockbuster allows you to "Save" (as opposed to "Add") movies to your Queue which have yet to be released. That way, as soon as the movie is released, it will "Add" it to your Queue.

The loony Expelled fans, though, blithely skip over this merry little fact as they advance their conspiracy theory of how Blockbuster is being run by a secret atheist group which is trying to silence Expelled by preventing them from being able to add it to their queues:

but blockbuster doesn't carry it. Is Blockbuster being politically correct?

Why is Blockbuster boycotting this film?

If you look at the reviews, they are all pretty much 5 stars, yet on the description it is rated as 2 stars. And it is not available even in the future? Do we have an Atheist running Blockbuster? Just asking.

I would highly recommend this to my family and friends. Great insight to whats going on behind the scenes and an eye opener of how our freedom as Americans is quietly being squelched and others views and non-beliefs are being forced upon us. See it! It will make a difference on how you view alot of things! Question I'm asking now is "WHY ISN"T BLOCKBUSTER MAKING THIS AVAILABLE FOR ONLINE RENTAL? Has someone already squelched your freedom?

There are so many obscure movies available, and I also have about 20 movies in my queue that are not yet available. But, for some reason I can't get this one. [...] I'd really like to see it to see why the entertainment industry hates it so much

isn't it also funny how you can easily find movies that support a lie, such as inconvenient truth or Fahrenheit 9/11. but a movie that challenges a lie, like Expelled is censored and not available. i will now be seriously examining whether or not i continue with Blockbuster. if it is true that this movie is available on Netfix i will probably cancel and move. PAY ATTENTION BLOCKBUSTER IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN A GOD STOP TRYING TO BE ONE.

Why can't I save it in my queue!?!?!? WE DEMAND this MOVIE!!!

Ben Stein is just asking questions and everyone is up in arms. Even Blockbuster is afraid to rent it!

Too bad places like Blockbuster are far too liberal to allow any factual views to be heard. They should offer this movie and it's wrong that they don't.

Why can I not get this one? It is a recent movies that was like by alot of people. Ben Stein been on TV alot. Is Blockbuster afraid?

Is Blockbuster controlled by liberal media activists against common sense, or Americans? come on Blockbuster, don't make me use Netflix!!

What do you (Blockbuster) have against this movie? Are you afraid you will be expelled or just exposed?

I am disappointed and disheartened that Blockbuster is not carrying Expelled. My family and I did not get an opportunity to see this movie in the theaters; we heard it was great and we were looking forward to using our Blockbuster membership to watch it. It's hard to believe that Blockbuster eagerly advertises and rents the trash that most R rated movies are, but censors a thought provoking and brilliantly scripted movie like Expelled. My family and I will be cancelling our Blockbuster membership.

Netflix has this movie listed, with picture and a 4-1/2 star rating. Maybe Blockbuster doesn't want those of us who are actually interested and want to see this movie to patronize their stores or service. It's evident they do not wish to support this film.

Im disappointted in blockbuster :\ ithought they were above this.

Gay and lesbian movies are just fine, but Expelled is a threat and must be boycotted. Does it ever seem as though those that claim to be 'open minded' are the same ones that seek to control the media and everyone's thoughts? I think so.

Write to Blockbuster and demand this movie!! Pathetic that they would rent Michael Moore garbage but ban this movie from us. Political agenda nonsense!

Seems very odd to me that all the members rated this film four or five stars, and the site rates it a 2 1/2. Watch this movie with your lib friends and get some conversation going. It is absolutely amazing and will make you take a different look at our liberal arts colleges.

My favorite is the one telling Blockbuster that they need to stop trying to be a god just because they don't believe in one.

Oh, and there were several which were accusing Blockbuster of rigging the rating. The only reviews left are 5-star ones with nutter comments about Blockbuster censoring creationism and conspiring to expel Expelled. Again, the fact that you can easily rate movies without leaving a review is entirely lost on them -- which is rather surprising seeing as how you can rate movies on just about every page of the site.

They weren't all nutters, though. Well, at least not Blockbuster-conspiring-with-atheists nutters:

As scientists we need to be unbiased. Hence actually be willing to listen to various options. This movie brings forth many questions, and makes you think. It is sad that so many stern scientists keep their heads in the sand like ostriches when it cmes to alternate explanations. They speak of open mindedness, but that means others must be open to their closed minded views. Anyway, great movie check it out, and keep your mind open.

Just saw it. I loved it. The clips of humor were clever. I am glad to see someone question the THEORY that so many take as fact. Theory means n rules and techniques: the body of rules, ideas, principles, and techniques that applies to a particular subject, especially when seen as distinct from actual practice economic theories speculation: abstract thought or contemplation idea formed by speculation: an idea of or belief about something arrived at through speculation or conjecture She believed in the theory that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

So many of you claim to be open-minded -- -- prove it by watching this provocative & entertaining account of the controversy surrounding Darwinism (evolutionary theory). I think Ben did a great job of unearthing some of the gross hypocrisy of the scientific-nazis of our current era. I learned a great deal -- I look forward to sharing the video with my children.

Okay, that last one was rather scary.