Let’s see what the ol’ “God Machine” kicks up this week….
First up, yet another defeat for the nonsense known as intelligent-design creationism, this time at the hands of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Vatican newspaper has published an article saying “intelligent design” is not science and that teaching it alongside evolutionary theory in school classrooms only creates confusion. The article in Tuesday’s editions of L’Osservatore Romano was the latest in a series of interventions by Vatican officials — including the pope — on the issue that has dominated headlines in the United States. […]
[Fiorenzo Facchini, a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Bologna,] lamented that certain American “creationists” had brought the debate back to the “dogmatic” 1800s, and said their arguments weren’t science but ideology. […]
The article echoed similar arguments by the Vatican’s chief astronomer, the Rev. George Coyne, who said “intelligent design” wasn’t science and had no place in school classrooms.
Upon learning of the report, TV preacher Pat Robertson suggested that a hurricane would hit the Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI would have a massive stroke.
Which segues nicely into our second item…
The Christian Coalition goes to court today in Richmond, where the former powerhouse of the religious right faces a lawsuit filed by a Maryland moving company that says it was underpaid when it moved the group out of its Washington offices three years ago.
It’s the latest in a series of lawsuits over unpaid bills the Christian Coalition is facing. Over the last three years — and this is true — the one-time religious right powerhouse has been sued by its law firm and direct-mail firm, both times for failing to pay bills.
No word from Robertson on why God isn’t willing to just loan the group the money.
In the world of religion and movies, many in the Christian community have been encouraged by mainstream Christian-themed films such as Passion of the Christ and the Chronicles of Narnia, which have done well with a mainstream audience. A new movie about Christian missionaries was generating equal praise in the evangelical community — until they learned more about some of the cast.
“End of the Spear,” a film opening in theaters nationwide Jan. 20, recounts one of the most extraordinary chapters in the modern missionary movement. Yet it has become an unexpected example of the nation’s culture war, with an actor who is a homosexual activist playing its lead character.
The film’s release marks the 50th anniversary of the Jan. 8, 1956, killing of Nate Saint, Jim Elliot and three other American missionaries by spear-wielding tribesmen in the Ecuadorian jungle.
The story continued when one of the missionaries’ sisters, Rachel Saint, and one of their widows, Elisabeth Elliot, subsequently lived among the tribesmen, helping kindle faith among those who had cast the spears and others in the pervasively violent culture. Elliot chronicled her experiences in “Through Gates of Splendor,” which remains a classic among books on missions.
The story, the best known and most recounted in modern missionary history, was slated to be a movie evangelicals could rally behind. Now, not so much.
[Jason Janz, assistant pastor of South Sheridan Baptist Church in Denver, at SharperIron, who hosts an Internet weblog and forum focusing on “news and ideas from a Christian, biblical, fundamentalist worldview”] noted that Chad Allen, who plays Steve Saint in the film, was a proponent for “gay marriage” on “Larry King Live” the night President Bush announced his support for a constitutional amendment banning “same-sex marriage”; he has been on the cover of one of the leading homosexual magazines, The Advocate; and he has been featured in a production of “Corpus Christi,” a stridently Christ-mocking stage play.
Janz lamented that End of the Spear “will by far be one of [Allen’s] biggest splashes on the screen. No doubt, his fan base will explode, especially among Christian kids. Every email that is sent from evangelical teens will go through his hands. [Allen has said he personally receives all e-mails sent to his fan website.] You cannot go to Chad’s website and spend any time there without seeing his homosexuality on display. At several points, kids can learn about gay publications, online magazines, and support groups for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans-gendered teens.”
Janz suggested that the “Christian film-making community [should] come up with a code of ethics that will show the difference between a Christian film company and a secular film company. If you are going to ask for our loyalty and support, you need to be willing to hear our concerns and let us know that you will protect our beliefs, not muddy the waters.”
Janz also suggested that people who want to see End of the Spear “wait until it comes out on video and have lots of people over to see it in their home. That way, Every Tribe Entertainment doesn’t get as much income.”
Well, you know what they say, “Let he who is without sin throw the first spear.”