The stupidity behind the new "War on Easter"

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Last Christmas, a great deal of talk was generated about whether American society had declared war on Christmas. While conservative pundits were pointing to the way in which Christmas was slowly being removed from our school systems (e.g., most school systems used to have "Christmas vacations", now they have "winter breaks") and were able to point to really absurd examples of political correctness gone amok, many of our skeptic-Americans didn't see any war. I recall reading commentators claiming that the entire war on Christmas thing was trumped up by Fox News.

Well, now some of these skeptics have decided to fire off what I hope is a tongue-in-cheek "War on Easter", but I think they are serious because the people sponsoring this tomfoolery are the same crowd that believe the nonsense of the hopelessly deluded film which is laughingly-labelled a "documentary" entitled The God who Wasn't There. Yes, Brian Flemming's ridiculous group Beyond Belief Productions has opened up a new website called The War on Easter.org. Check out the following from the press release:

Declaring War on Easter, Beyond Belief Media has launched a preemptive attack on the Christian holiday, the company announced today. "Operation Easter Sanity" has already begun.

Using its documentary THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE as the chief weapon, Beyond Belief Media is covertly planting DVDs of the film in churches throughout the United States. The popular movie, currently ranked #1 on Amazon.com's independent documentaries list, is critical of the irrational beliefs of Christians and asserts that Jesus Christ did not exist.

A total of 666 DVDs will be hidden like "Easter eggs" in sanctuaries, church yards and other holy areas by Beyond Belief Media's national team of volunteers. The DVDs will be slipped into hymnals and other locations where they are likely to be discovered by unsuspecting worshippers.

Some DVDs of THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE will be planted by undercover operatives among actual Easter eggs at churches holding egg hunts on Easter Sunday.

"People go to churches to hide from the truth," explained Beyond Belief Media president Brian Flemming, a former Christian fundamentalist. "At no time is this more apparent than Easter, when Christians get together to convince each other that a man died, stayed dead three days, rose from the dead and then flew into the air above the clouds.

"Our nonviolent campaign sends the message that nowhere in the country is safe from the truth. Wherever Christian leaders are indoctrinating children with 2000-year-old fairy tales, the truth may just find its way there.

"Our 'War on Easter' is of course completely without violence of any kind. Christians believe that beating a man to a pulp and nailing him to a cross somehow solves all the world's problems. Beyond Belief Media does not."

Okay, so let me get this straight -- they are going to go to churches and hide this horrendous video in the bushes so that little children can find them and be convinced that Christianity is a fraud? Well, if they are targeting preschoolers, at least they may have found an audience with a sufficiently low IQ to actually believe their nonsense. Seriously, I actually tried to show parts of this film to one of my kids to see what reaction I received (being a prepared Christian, I felt comfortable that there was nothing in the film that she would question for which I would not have a ready response), and she just laughed at it (I'm not making that up). If The God Who Wasn't There is their chief weapon, then they are entering the fray armed with a pea-shooter.

What makes me laugh all the more is that they are saying that they will give out 666 of these DVDs as if the use of that number is going to scare Christians. It just demonstrates how absolutely unrealistic this group's view of Christians is. They view Christians as ignorant morons who practice superstitious nonsense. But, in fact, their plan shows that they are really the ignorant ones because while this stupid plot may have the chance to effect the minds of a few borderline Christians who are uncertain of their own faith and easily influenced by drivel, the vast majority of these DVDs will certainly fall into the hands of people who will happily use them as coasters -- their highest and best use. Christians are not afraid of the truth, they embrace the truth! And they are not afraid of the number 666. Let me show you: 666, 666, 666, 666. See? No problem.

But what I absolutely cannot wait to see is their "undercover operatives". Will they be sneaking around with cell-phones and dark glasses, hiding in bushes until the coast is clear? If they give out a trenchcoat and glasses as part of the job, I want to volunteer.

Hey Beyond Belief people: I want to encourage you to put out 6,666,666 of these DVDs in the same fashion. It will help to generate jobs in the plants that produce these discs, and I am sure that many a church can use them as substitute air-hockey pucks.

Am I being too harsh on these people? Well, I am just taking their advice. On their FAQ page, the question is asked, "Are you worried that the tone of your campaign will cost you your credibility?" They say they aren't worried because "ridicule is a potent weapon." Certainly, their film and their plan are deserving of ridicule. But personally, I agree that the people behind Beyond Belief Media don't have to worry about losing credibility because they have no credibility.

Comments

Layman said…
Does anyone else see the irony?

Atheists who claim they are dedicated to rationality and science ascribe to historical theories that are contradicted by all of the available evidence.

Atheists who are so convinced of their own intelligence that they think it is a wise PR move to call themselve "Brights" so as to improve their image among the public.

Atheists who complain about a lack of respect decide to defile the places of worship of those whose respect they believe they are entitled to.

Atheists who claim they are dedicated to rigorous intellectual debate and discussion are so confident of their position that they target 5 year olds with their propaganda.
4/10/2006 05:37:00 PM
Jennifer said…
Agggghhhh!!!! 666!!!!!!! Run for your lives!!!!!!!

:D

"Professing themselves to be wise they became fools."

btw, I wrote a post today about the inerrancy of the Bible and invite anyone here to share their input.
4/11/2006 10:01:00 AM
Janell Price said…
Why don't you develop your scenario of the undercover operataives and their tactics and write a script? That would be a funny farcical movie.

They sure sell us short don't they? Whose afaid of a number? Not me 66666666666666666666666666666666666666666
4/12/2006 07:09:00 PM
John R. said…
I watched the trailer for the their movie. It is well-done and catchy--and somewhat funny.

The arguments that I saw/heard are old and worn-out. I was hoping for something that might rock my world. Maybe there's something a little more challenging in the rest of the film. But usually the "hooks" or the provocative stuff is put in the trailer. It appears that the style will have to make up for content. Will the rest of the film's content be as bland? I'll go look in the bushes or the flower beds in front of our church to find a copy.

The films goes to the far reaches of the galaxy to get some quotes from some extreme people... Blah, blah, blah.

JRush
4/13/2006 07:10:00 AM
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