What's with this damn blasphemy site?
March 31st 2008 02:59
first heard about this site on the radio and thought it might just be a joke, but then I looked and they take themselves very seriously. Apparently they are concerned with the amount of so-called "blasphemy" in the movies, and want to bring about censorship by publishing the contact info for studios and producers and encouraging blasphemy haters to contact them to express outrage. The irony is they don't see the difference between them and those in the Muslim community who are outraged by Dutch cartoons. They will surely argue that they don't want to kill the producers (yet) as some radical Muslims do, but that is only semantical.
The site hollywoodandgod.com opens with the definition of blasphemy - A contemptuous or profane act, utterance, or writing concerning God or a sacred entity. They then go on to document their version of blasphemy found in recent Hollywood film releases. It is interesting how they document the blasphemy. For example, the film Shutter is listed as having "J-1; JC-1; C-2; OG/OMG-3; GD-1; G-2." I'm sure you can figure out what they are talking about without me going into any details, for Christ's sake! They then give all the contact info so like-minded zealots can raise "H." For the blasphemy list of Drillbit Taylor they just say "too many to count."
While my article is a tad tongue-in-cheek, my concern is serious. The call for censorship according to religious ideology is nothing to take lightly. It represents a battle that has been going on for centuries that society should have moved beyond by now. The use of superstition and dogma to dictate social mores to everyone else is patently wrong. Once you cross that line, it's hard to stop it. That's what I mean when I say the differences between one fundamentalist religion and another aren't that hard to cross either. It's all a matter of degree once we go there. The near holy war situation we have in Iraq now between different Islamic sects with our Christian soldiers thrown in the middle is an extension of what happens when religion interjects itself into politics. If you hold any illusions that religion isn't a big part of our presence in Iraq, think again.
If anyone has concerns about a movie, first and foremost they need to be reminded that there is no law requiring them to attend. And if they are so insecure in their faith that they need to make sure those who choose to attend don't hear any "blasphemy," they need to look themselves in the mirror and ask why they feel the need to force their religious views on everyone else. That applies equally to Muslims protesting a Danish film and Christians protesting Drillbit Taylor.
The site hollywoodandgod.com opens with the definition of blasphemy - A contemptuous or profane act, utterance, or writing concerning God or a sacred entity. They then go on to document their version of blasphemy found in recent Hollywood film releases. It is interesting how they document the blasphemy. For example, the film Shutter is listed as having "J-1; JC-1; C-2; OG/OMG-3; GD-1; G-2." I'm sure you can figure out what they are talking about without me going into any details, for Christ's sake! They then give all the contact info so like-minded zealots can raise "H." For the blasphemy list of Drillbit Taylor they just say "too many to count."
While my article is a tad tongue-in-cheek, my concern is serious. The call for censorship according to religious ideology is nothing to take lightly. It represents a battle that has been going on for centuries that society should have moved beyond by now. The use of superstition and dogma to dictate social mores to everyone else is patently wrong. Once you cross that line, it's hard to stop it. That's what I mean when I say the differences between one fundamentalist religion and another aren't that hard to cross either. It's all a matter of degree once we go there. The near holy war situation we have in Iraq now between different Islamic sects with our Christian soldiers thrown in the middle is an extension of what happens when religion interjects itself into politics. If you hold any illusions that religion isn't a big part of our presence in Iraq, think again.
If anyone has concerns about a movie, first and foremost they need to be reminded that there is no law requiring them to attend. And if they are so insecure in their faith that they need to make sure those who choose to attend don't hear any "blasphemy," they need to look themselves in the mirror and ask why they feel the need to force their religious views on everyone else. That applies equally to Muslims protesting a Danish film and Christians protesting Drillbit Taylor.
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