creation

it should be noted that it is natural for people to be afraid of change, to fear the death of long-held beliefs or traditions, to shun uncertainty. with this in mind one can pity those who represent the masses of americans who may keep most of us from seeing this new film from jon amiel, which recently opened the toronto film festival to rave reviews and is about the life, times and relationship of charles darwin. (you know the guy whose name can be seen on the backs of cars inside of a fish in mockery of the christian symbol.)

so the story is that christians are locked in a battle against wisdom and learning and are thereby anti-knowledge.

they represent such a vocal presence with media outlets it seems creation may not be distributed in the united states. an important film, (the art form of our age,) creation is reported to be about darwin's life, work, pain, times and love relationship. i understand the movie is engaging and entertaining and yet, we may not even have the opportunity to see it because it assails the sensibilities of the modern day followers of christ.

isn't that sad? isn't that pathetic? no longer can america be considered the leading country on the planet, the agora of the knowledgeable and enlightened. the number of things, items, areas, we once led the world in is dwindling daily.

it is one thing to practice a religion because one finds peace in it or because it gives focus to one's highest ideals. it is another thing entirely to pretend ancient folklore is literal fact and spend one's life studying it as if it is so to the detriment of one's (healthy,) world view and pragmatism.
perhaps this movie will find its way to us. i expect i will be able to see it one day or another by laemmle's or netflix. i hope you find a way to see it too.

frank schaeffer on rachel maddow

particularly about the 1:25 mark of this video clip, frank schaeffer, (author of "crazy for god,") makes a great deal of sense by simply calling a spade a spade, (or in this case, a village idiot a village idiot.) schaeffer is painting with a broad brush and generalizing, (or stereotyping,) on fundamentalist christians but the issue that is this fringe group hijacking american politics is beyond out of control.

in our time of political correctness, schaeffer is like a voice crying in the wilderness in telling us to move past these people since they are crazy. i can't agree with him more in a generalized way. after all, who votes for candidates based on one issue and one issue only, abortion? fundamentalist christians. it is their deal breaker and at the same time it is an issue that has been around for a long time and has swung countless elections, in spite of the fact that virtually no significant action has occurred around it in more than a generation.

which group hates the sin but loves the sinner but favors capital punishment? which group supports candidates who make war? which group opposes health care reform which would allow the least among us a basic modicum of care? which group is so frightened by gay people they constantly seek to marginalize members of that group at every turn? so, i have blogged about these things before but suffice it to say, the influence this fringe group has successfully exerted on our society and our political process is just bugging the hell out of me, (no pun intended.)

schaeffer is succinct. when he calls fundamentalist christians a fifth column of insanity, i cannot disagree with him. normally i wouldn't say it but i've just been hoppin' mad about the fact that christians, of all groups, have not come out in favor of helping the needy through health care reform.

(there it is. i said it.)

paltrow produces radiohead

at about the 7:36 moment of this video you can hear gwyneth paltrow's introduction of radiohead at the grammies. at the end of her intro, "utterly brilliant."

paltrow's intro:

the extraordinary band about to play for us begins the next song with these
beautiful words: "how come i end up where i started? how come i end up where i
went wrong?" yet in truth, they have never went wrong. together they've become
one of the most influential, adventurous and thoroughly artistic musical groups
of all-time. performing '15 step,' from 'in rainbows,' nominated tonight as
album of the year, and accompanied by the usc trojan marching band, the utterly
brilliant, radiohead.

this gwyneth paltrow impresses me. in addition to her refined speech, she finds just the right balance in introducing the artists of our day. how does one do that without sounding worshipful or snobbish or self-centered or something? well, paltrow figured it out. she lays the praise on thick but she keeps it brief. she allows herself to be seen as a sycophantic schoolgirl for radiohead for a moment when she dubs them one of the most thoroughly artistic musical groups of all-time. she sums with "utterly brilliant," which radiohead simply is, and only adds to her own legend, (through affiliation,) as a classy and accomplished artist in her own right.