I'm using up all my Sabbaths at once...

Okay, so I just saw this terribly blasphemous film (in the process, really) called 'Religulous.' I find it absolutely disgraceful that the Internet would host such filth (You can watch this abomination unto man here; ads may be NSFW).

(Please note, the above link was presented not for promotion of such terrible blasphemy, but so my congregation may easily avoid it. Piracy bad!!!)

Inspiration has moved me towards our latest Hymn. Presented for elder approval is Bob Dylan's classic "Highway 61 Revisited"



The Freakin' Deacon

Update: Just finished the movie and got to the thesis of the film: Religion weakens the hearts and minds of men, and leads us further into destruction (keep in mind this is a documentary and like any Michael Moore film, it follows the same template: discredit the other side, show them as weak and insignificant, and allow for airtime to answer questions that may have been posed by the opposition that quick thinking couldn't provide for). As a skeptic it's fun, but it's the wrong kind of fun. It's like watching World Wrestling Federation or eating at the China Buffet in Manitowoc -- it feels good to watch it, but only in the sense that it feels good to scratch a mosquito bite.

I think this just boils down to seeing religion in two different ways. Bill Maher (and Dawkins, and Hitchens) think that the fundamental problem with the world is that so many people buy into religion. I think that a fundamental problem with the world is that religion has a tendency to be intolerant of non-belief. But see, I can kind of see the premise behind that. If we don't believe, we don't get in. Our loved ones don't like that. I can't see the idea behind the premise of hating people because of their faith.

Here's the kicker though. The Freakin' Deacon, my mother-in-law, the average Jew, and the average Muslim have nothing but the greatest intentions for the world in our minds. But we get divided because we're drowned out by the Mahmoud Ahmadinejads, Pope Ratzingers (the Nazinger), and Ted Haggards of the world. I don't think skeptics need to assert that we don't believe (or in my case, are unsure), we need to assert that these guys don't speak for us, and not point the finger when some preacher speaks for the other side.

Just a thought,

The Freakin' Deacon