Klavan on the Culture: God in 60 Days
by Andrew Klavan
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Posts Tagged ‘God’
‘V’ Teaches Us to Combat False Saviors
by Ted BaehrThe first episode of the new science fiction television series “V” is a wake up call to those looking for salvation in the wrong places. We cannot predict where the series will go, but the opening episode features a young pastor, who plays a lead role in opposing the rush to consider some benevolent looking aliens to be the saviors of mankind.
The aliens are called “visitors,” shortened to “Vs,” thus the title of the program. They appear over major cities in large hovering spaceships that project messages in the local language. More than just the classic we-come-in-peace message, the messages say, “We’re here to help you.”
The opening episode makes it very clear, however, that they are not here to help. It turns out the Vs have planted many of their kind, who look human, prior to their dramatic arrival in spaceships. The alien plants have done their best to foul up life on earth in order to encourage a hunger for “change” (salvation). The Chicago Tribune draws a parallel to the Obama administration but, while many believe President Obama was not born in the United States, it’s unlikely he was born on another planet. Even so, it’s interesting that the evil aliens offer “universal health care” to all people. Thus, the first episode clearly seems to be saying that President Obama’s health care proposals, now making their way through the U.S. Congress, are a false hope that will lead to tyranny and slavery. (more…)
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I Wish Russell Simmons Were an Atheist
by Michael WilsonRussell Simmons confuses me. He’s one of the finest examples we have of an American kid from the most difficult circumstances imaginable hustling and struggling and pulling himself up by his own bootstraps to create a life for himself that is, in a word, extraordinary. Yet instead of inspiring other poor African American kids who are in the position he once was with his story of hard work and perseverance, Simmons spreads religious silliness and tells those kids to put their hope in government. And last week, he did both at the same time. I wish Simmons were an atheist.
As many of you who frequent this blog know (and often condemn me for), I believe there is no god. That’s quite different from saying “I don’t believe in God.” When I say I believe there is no god, I mean that in this vast universe (or maybe multiverse) I don’t choose to not believe in a god, but that there is no god to not believe in. There’s a distinction, and I’m very certain where I stand. It’s deeply personal to me, and I don’t really begrudge those who choose to believe that an invisible man lives in the sky. Sometimes people need to believe in something more, I suppose, even if it’s not real. And while I recognize I’m in the minority, and I’m happy to argue religion and god with you, I won’t push my thoughts on you unless you ask. But I wish that Russell Simmons could put aside the idea of God or Allah for a while. It would be more honest and it would certainly help a lot more people. (more…)
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Russell Simmons: God Will Destroy Us If We Don’t Follow Barack
by John NolteOver at HuffPo, Russell Simmons has let go of the wheel and bounced off a guard rail. His apocalyptic melodrama sounds like the typical Hollywood cliche of a Christian right-winger. But these lefties are all about projection, so that’s to be expected.
A normal celebucrat post has a pull quote or two you can highlight and make sport of, but Simmons is all pull quote — a bonanza of crazy — so where to begin? Hey, I know, let’s play a game. Here are ten quotes, nine are from Simmons, one is not. Can you pick out the lunacy that doesn’t belong?
1. The president’s honest attempt to promote world peace through the same methods taught by Jesus Christ are met with contempt by a country whose collective consciousness is extraordinarily fearful and at times, sacrilegious. (more…)
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Michael Moore On ‘Hannity’
by Big HollywoodParts II , III, and discussion points after the jump:
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When the Universe Replaces God
by Yervand KocharI caught a live tribute to Ted Kennedy on TV the other day. Family, friends, and colleagues were praising him as a champion for universal social justice.
I started thinking about how much I’ve been hearing the word “universal” lately.
“Universal” is the “it” word, as in universal health care or “The Universe will guide me,” or “Leave it to the Universe.”
There was a different word for it back in the day, more imposing but less confusing: God. But God is not a trendy word anymore. God is not popular, just like the Republicans. You are guilty by association with both. Even C.G. Jung was annoyed by it (the not calling God a ‘God’ part, not the Republicans).
There was also that video tribute by Ken Burns to Ted Kennedy’s legacy. (more…)
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A Christian Nation
by Jeremy D. BoreingIn the comment section of a recent post, I drew some fire for making the following, apparently shocking claim:
We [Americans] see America, from the Pilgrims who signed the Mayflower Compact to the Biblical scholars… who birthed the nation, to the spirit of sacrifice and charity that thrives to this very day, not as a nation of Christians (for that freedom is at the deepest core of our common philosophy) but as a Christian nation.
It seems that there is a growing belief that because our Founders were stalwart advocates for religious liberty, and because some of them had very nuanced and sometimes cynical views about organized religion, the United States was somehow conceived to be a secular nation. This belief is not only untrue, but detrimental to an adequate understanding of the underlying political philosophy of the founding, not least of all because it envisions the government as the nation instead of merely the organization through which the nation conducts its civil affairs, and more importantly because it betrays the singular belief that undergirds the entire American experiment: That the rights of man come not from government but from God. (more…)
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‘Whatever’ Doesn’t Work: An Email from God to Woody Allen
by Noel AnenbergFrom: God<god@heaven.org>
Date: Sat, 4 Jul 2009 07:03:37 -0700 (PDT)
To: Woody<woody.allen@mischugana.com>
Subject: Your latest verkaktah film.
Dear Woody,
Would it kill you to pick up the phone and call your father once in a while? That’s what happens with kids they get to smart for their own good and think they don’t need me.
And now, you come out with this “Whatever Works” film. What, you think that shemdrick Larry David who plays that louse Yellnikoff can out match me with a formula? Never happen! I created formulas. In one of his rants he tried to pull a fast one on the audience about Job. Yellnikoff whined that all that Job got for his piousness was suffering. So, why suffer? Right? Wrong. I was teaching Job how to be patient! Something you, Yellnikoff, and apparently that David character have never learned. (more…)
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Is America Waking Up?
by John Romano
Why has America done so well in world affairs since 1776? Selfishness? Divinity? Ruthlessness? Sheer luck?
If you believe the current batch of Democrats who are turning Washington into a permanent liberal fiefdom, divinity has had no hand in world affairs. And if it did, we’d surely be the receiver of its wrath. America is mean. America’s selfishness is all that is wrong with the world, says the left. We are not the shining city on a hill, as a wise old man once told us we were.
The mainstream press got a real rude awakening this week as the Washington Post attempted to do publicly what they have always done privately: sell influence. Further to that, Helen Thomas and Chip Reid of CBS gave Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs an earful for the administration’s canned YouTube town hall. Hand-picked attendees and staff-picked YouTube videos does not a town hall make. Gibbs flubbed over that one like a teenager getting caught sneaking in to an R-rated film. (more…)
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Hero-Worship and God-Kings
by Jeremy D. BoreingGod-kings are not new on the stage of human history, nor do they exclusively occupy the dusty corners of the distant past. One need only look to the Japanese worship of Emperor Hirohito during World War II to see that an industrialized, modern country can still vest in its leaders supernatural authority. And there are far more subtle ways of making divinity out of men as well.
The Apostle Paul was warned two-thousand years ago that, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Certainly his intention was to illuminate to the self-righteous that they do not live up to an actual standard of perfection, but perhaps there is more. For as surely as a man might be blind to his own failings, there seems to be some propensity in man to be selectively blind to the failings of others as well. This selective blindness may have many causes and find many expressions. Some in our society carry cultural guilt and fear of accusations of bigotry that cause them to hold entire social, racial, and religious groups to different standards of judgment than others. Still, it is the elevation of individuals above common scrutiny that creates idols of men. Whether it is a rock-star or actor, sportsman or elected leader, holding any man above reproach is folly, for in ceding to anyone our power to critique them, we grant them power man was not meant to have. (more…)
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My Weekly Date with a Liberal – ‘American Heart’
by Jon DavidIn my mind, I have received thousands upon thousands of emails from folks wondering why “My Weekly Date with a Liberal” is anything but weekly. This is certainly a legitimate question which deserves a legitimate answer. But who has the time to answer thousands of emails that were never actually written? So for this chapter, I’ve decided that I will address this issue right here, right now, by explaining the process which occurs between these dates, and more importantly, to relay a recent encounter I had with a liberal woman, girl, child, who unnerved me enough such that my response could very well put my anonymity in jeopardy. This will all make sense by the end of this installment which I am entitling “American Heart.”
I understood when I took on this project that I could easily suffer severe trauma, mentally, emotionally, spiritually…and sexually, although depending on your proclivities, the latter could be considered a bonus. Be that as it may, I am writing to let you all know, that the trauma I anticipated did in fact materialize in a way that has profoundly affected me: I have developed a strong affinity for night blooming jasmine, I cry all the time, and I apologize incessantly for things for which I am not responsible. Now I can tell you with no uncertainty, extensive knowledge of Cestrum Nocturnum accompanied by inexplicable outbursts of tears is no way to procure a date. My mojo has deteriorated, as if I didn’t pinch its foliage and cut back after flowering to maintain compact growth. What’s happening to me? (more…)
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Lonewolf Diaries: Why Atheism is a “Mental Handicap”
by Steven CrowderNotice how I avoided using the word “Retarded?” I’ve seen that many conservatives have developed a sudden hyper-sensitivity for the disabled this week, so I’ve opted to tread lightly.
The truth is that atheism is literally a “retarded” philosophy in the sense that it is very “late to the table” in its thinking. Atheists will tell you that religion impedes the progress of man. To that I say “Poppycock!”, and that atheism has no place in a civilized society. Think I’m wrong? Let me know, amigos.
…Yes, I used the word “poppycock,” and no I don’t wear a monocle.
The biggest problem with atheism is that it’s a philosophy which, at its very core, diminishes the value of life. If we were simply spawned from a puddle of gook, human life has no intrinsic value. Human worth is ultimately left up to societal circumstances, and that’s never a good thing… Especially if said society is Hollywood. (more…)
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The Faithful Go To Church, The Rest Go To Therapy
by Michael McGrutherAt the very heart of the Christian way of life is the belief that we individual Christians, no matter what our faith, can best effect society with gentle nudges towards God by living a Christ-like life the best we possibly can, while recognizing at the same time that there has in fact only ever been one real Christian to walk the Earth – Jesus. We’re not capable of that kind of perfection. We know this. We are merely asked to try.
Secularists don’t know that simple fact about faith and feel threatened by their own ignorance, which quickly spirals into enmity as a defense against what they deeply fear is the truth. After all, Pride is what made the Devil. And the Devil’s main goal is your total separation from any kind of relationship with God, which can easily be described as anxiety, loneliness, fear, panic attacks, suicide…anything to get you away from sincerely trying to follow God. In other words, people of faith go to church while secularists go to therapy. (more…)
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Is It Me, Or Is It Hot In Here?
by Jeffrey Jena
Why all the hats and jackets?
I’m not a man of strong faith, so I’m constantly looking for signs of God working around me. As a comic I have to believe that God has a sense of humor. Yesterday those two things ran smack into each other in Washington D.C.
In the middle of the worst spring blizzard of the past thirty years, and with temperatures in the twenties, some of those sharp minds who have “settled” the global warming debate held a protest. I kept thinking of that line from the old folk song “Oh, Susanna”: the sun so hot I froze to death.” Both Steven Biel of Greenpeace and the website for Capitol Climate Action said it was the “largest act of civil disobedience for climate change” in the history of the United States.” (more…)
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