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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Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
like you said if you dont like certain elements of a film then just dont watch it, i dont watch bible study documentaries and complain theres too much preaching in them, and i dont watch porn complaining theres too much sex . . .
take an educated guess that contemporary dramas and action flicks will contain a certain level of "cursing", a reflection of modern language in real life . . . nobody has you strapped to a chair with your eyelids forced open with matchsticks
thanks for the post, very interesting and important topic
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
So because of this Muslims riot in the streets over some cartoons that most of us would have otherwise ignored and Christians can demand that "blasphemy" be removed from films even though it does not offend the vast majority of the people who would see it. Not only do they not want to see such things- they want to prevent the rest of us from seeing them to.
I guess that's what results when you are so sure that your religion is the right one- not only are you being offended, but God himself is being offended. It amazes me how thin- skinned this God fellow is. I mean, if I created heaven and earth, all the planets, light, water, fire, animals, minerals and everything else , I sure as well would not be bothered if some insignificant human screamed out my name when stubbing his toe on the doorstop.
I'd be too busy admiring my own reflection in the mirror and patting myself on the back. I'd also leave more proof of my existence lying around so that upon witnessing a glorious sunset, no-one would be in any doubt as to who was responsible.
So-called blasphemy- more proof that man created God, not the other way around.