The Most Controversial Religious Movies

via Glooce

This weekend, Paul Thomas Anderson's much-anticipated film "The Master" opens in theaters. The movie stars Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Lancaster Dodd, an intellectual faith-based leader who has a manipulative relationship with his followers, especially his manic, violent right-hand man (played by Joaquin Phoenix).

Anderson has stated that Hoffman's character was inspired by L. Ron Hubbard, the science-fiction writer-turned-founder of the controversial Church of Scientology. Despite the production's insistence that the film is not an expose about Scientology, it has still been the movie's biggest talking point -- and this week, angry members of the church have allegedly begun harassing the movie's distributor the Weinstein Company (and intend to mount more initiatives that will attack the film).

"The Master" is not the first movie to explore the origins of a faith-based organization. Moviefone looks at a variety of films -- from historical dramas to science-fiction adventures -- that have raised heated conversations simply for willing to question religious beliefs.



The Devils (1971)

What It Said: The violent erotic horror film showed that Urban Grandier, a real-life 17th-century priest who was burned at the stake for acts of witchcraft, was not only framed by the political machinations of Cardinal Richelieu, but also by an insane sexually-repressed nun.

Reaction: Its criticisms of the Catholic Church's conspiratorial bid for power, combined with explicit sexual imagery, led to the film having many key moments cut for release in the U.S. and U.K. Footage was believed lost until recent restorations have attempted to complete the original version.

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

What It Said: Jesus Christ struggled with his divine mission and his humanity; he was at times self-loathing, sinful, doubtful of his destiny, conspired with Judas to hand himself over to the Romans and contemplated a life with many wives and children.

Reaction: Several Christian fundamentalist groups protested the film before release, theater chains boycotted the movie and it has been banned in multiple countries. On October 22, 1988 the Saint Michael Theater in Paris was firebombed by fundamentalists for playing the movie; several people were severely burned.

The Wicker Man (1973)

What It Said: A devout and celibate Christian police officer learns how far an island of Celtic pagan practitioners will go to ensure a bountiful harvest when agricultural science fails them.

Reaction: The film has been dubbed "the 'Citizen Kane' of horror movies," adapted for the stage and even been the subject of a three-day academic conference at the University of Scotland.

The Da-Vinci Code (2006)

What It Said: Mary Magdalene is the real Holy Grail, and she produced a lineage with Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the Opus Dei of the Catholic Church will murder anyone in their path to ensure this secret never sees the light of day.

Reaction: The Vatican called for a boycott; it was deemed morally offensive by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; was removed from public screenings in mainland China for unexplained reasons; and was outright banned in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Lebanon.

The Invention of Lying (2009)

What It Said: What appears to be a fantasy-based romantic comedy set in a world where everyone always tells the truth actually became an in-depth look at atheism. When Ricky Gervais' character invents the concept of lying to get money and beautiful women, he also stumbles upon the concepts of God and Heaven to comfort the dying. He quickly becomes a worldwide messenger for "The Man in the Sky."

Reaction: The film received mixed reviews. Roger Ebert called it "remarkably radical" while the NY Times said it felt "heavy, cruel."

The Matrix (1999)

What It Said: Reality is an oppressive digital construct where humans are distracted with repetitive artificial computer lives, while their bodies are drained by a complex industrial machine starting from birth. Um... is this still considered science fiction?

Reaction: It became one of the biggest science-fiction blockbusters of all time, and has gone on to become a widely-discussed subject for philosophical lecturers and publications at institutions like Harvard University.

The Passion of Christ (2006)

What It Said: The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ was stomach-churning.

Reaction: Amid criticisms of excessive violence and outdated Anti-Semitic depictions of Jewish priests, "The Passion" earned over $600 million at the global box office.

Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)

What It Said: Jesus' next-door neighbor Brian inadvertently lived a very similar path as a messianic figure, even though it all happened because he was trying to get a girl's attention. Also, crucifixion is not as bad as it seems.

Reaction: The film was banned from several theaters and television outlets throughout the U.K and picketed in NYC before becoming regarded as a comedy classic. To this day, it still receives protests when religious leaders screen the film for discussion.

Prometheus (2012)

What It Said? A religious space explorer is confronted with the idea that humanity was an experiment created by an alien being, but fellow Engineers wanted to exterminate us with a weaponized black liquid.

Reaction: "Prometheus" has become one of 2012's biggest hits, inspiring much commentary on the complex mythology of the 'Alien' universe.

The Profit (2001)

What It Said: L. Conrad Powers forms his Church of Scientific Spiritualism after learning how to form a profit-generating cult from a Satanic worshiper, before he descends into paranoia.

Reaction: The film has never been released, thanks to a court order stemming from a lawsuit the Church of Scientology brought against the movie. The Church claimed that the film was trying to sway jurors involved in the wrongful death lawsuit of Lisa McPherson, a Scientology member who died while in the care of the Church's Flag Service Organization.

Battlefield Earth (2001)

What It Said: In the year 3,000, Earth will be ruled by the Psychlos, a race of giant, beast-like aliens (that have dreadlocks).

Reaction: Based on a novel by L. Ron Hubbard, the movie was criticized for being secretly funded entirely with Church money, contained subliminal messaging and used sci-fi blockbuster spectacle to introduce children to Dianetics. The film tanked and is regarded as one of the worst movies ever made.



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Chuck Norris's Doomsday Election Video

VIA GLOOCE

With his wife, Gena, urges Evangelical Christians to get to the polls or else America faces “the triumph of evil” and “1,000 years of darkness.”



We are here to talk about a growing concern we all share. If we look to history, our great country and freedom are under attack. We're at a tipping point and, quite possibly, our country as we know it may be lost forever if we don't change the course in which our country is headed.
With our country at a crossroads, Chuck and I have asked ourselves what we can be doing to help support this great country we're blessed to live in and how we can encourage our like-minded American brothers and sisters to unite and let their voices be heard," she said. "It is estimated that in the 2008 election, 30 million evangelical Christians stayed home on voting day and Obama won the election by 10 million votes.
We know you love your family and your freedom as much as Gena and I do, and it is because of that we can no longer sit quietly or stand on the sidelines and watch our country go the way of socialism or something much worse.
As Edmund Burke said, 'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men and women do nothing.'
Our great president, Ronald Reagan said, 'Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same.
President Reagan went on to say that 'You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.
Please stand with us, let's unite for God and country. And may God continue to bless the United States of America. See you at the polls.

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Bill Nye Slams Creationism, Asks Parents to Abstain From Teaching it to Kids The man best known as "The Science Guy" has some tough words for those that deny evolution.

VIA GLOOCE

 

You know what gets Bill Nye's bowtie spinning? People who would refute the teachings of Charles Darwin.

The beloved scientist and television host posted a video on the website Big Think this weekend, making a case for evolution, which he called "the fundamental idea in all of life science, in all of biology." Not believing in the idea holds everybody back, he said.

"It's very much analogous in trying to do geology without believing in tectonic plates," Nye offered. "You're just not going to get the right answer. Your whole world is going to be a mystery instead of an exciting place."

Name-dropping his former mentor, astronomy all-star Carl Sagan, Nye made his case in a passionate yet restrained fashion.

"Once in a while I get people that claim they don't believe in evolution," he continued. "And my response generally is 'why not?' Your world just becomes fantastically complicated when you don't believe in evolution."

Finally, he made an appeal: "I say to grownups, if you want to live in your world without completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that's fine. But don't make your kids do it. Because we need them. We need scientifically literate voters and tax payers for the future."



-- Transcript:
Denial of evolution is unique to the United States. I mean, we're the world's most advanced technological—I mean, you could say Japan—but generally, the United States is where most of the innovations still happens. People still move to the United States. And that's largely because of the intellectual capital we have, the general understanding of science. When you have a portion of the population that doesn't believe in that, it holds everybody back, really.

Evolution is the fundamental idea in all of life science, in all of biology. It's like, it's very much analogous to trying to do geology without believing in tectonic plates. You're just not going to get the right answer. Your whole world is just going to be a mystery instead of an exciting place.

As my old professor, Carl Sagan, said, "When you're in love you want to tell the world." So, once in a while I get people that really—or that claim—they don't believe in evolution. And my response generally is "Well, why not? Really, why not?" Your world just becomes fantastically complicated when you don't believe in evolution. I mean, here are these ancient dinosaur bones or fossils, here is radioactivity, here are distant stars that are just like our star but they're at a different point in their lifecycle. The idea of deep time, of this billions of years, explains so much of the world around us. If you try to ignore that, your world view just becomes crazy, just untenable, itself inconsistent.

And I say to the grownups, if you want to deny evolution and live in your world, in your world that's completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that's fine, but don't make your kids do it because we need them. We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future. We need people that can—we need engineers that can build stuff, solve problems.

It's just really hard a thing, it's really a hard thing. You know, in another couple of centuries that world view, I'm sure, will be, it just won't exist. There's no evidence for it.


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