Guerrilla marketing is all about tricking people into learning about your product. Most of the time, you don’t even know it’s going on around you. Sometimes it’s as subtle as a person at the bar strongly encouraging you to get shots of Jägermeister, and sometimes it’s a bunch of glowing ‘litebrights’ that cause massive panic (do you remember the Mooninites debacle?). This time, the devious minds at EA are attempting to use Christian fundamentalism to create buzz about their new game, Inferno.

Their tactic was simple: pretend to be a bunch of fundies, and make outrageous / cheap looking picket signs and make yourself visible. I have no doubt they were hoping other right wing Christians would jump in on the hate bandwagon. Any publicity is good publicity, and anytime the religious right boycotts something, it’s a good day for everyone’s bottom line.

The problem is that the game (which looks like a gigantic ripoff of God of War), based very loosely on the book The Divine Comedy, isn’t the kind of thing fundies are really concerned about these days. Sure, maybe 15 years ago it would have caused an uproar, but I have never in my life met a Christian who has bothered to read the actual book. It may have been required reading 400 years ago, but nowadays, only Liberal Arts students bother to pick it up. I’ve only read about 1/3 of it myself before passing out due to boredom. Then again, poetry was never really my thing.

Hilariously enough though, it seems to have generated a little bit of vitriol from a few Christians. Here’s a funny post over at Catholic Video Gamers:

Ok, look Electronic Arts, as much as the hardcore gaming community is full of the risible self-parodies known as the “freethinking” – the Richard Dawkins-loving, fundamentalist atheist, “I’m-so-much-smarter-than-you-are-because-I-don’t-believe-in-God” types, I doubt that even they would actually be more likely to buy a game because they *think* that their ideological foes (the equally risible Fundamentalist Creationist, anti-Catholic, evangelical “Christians”) happen to hate it. Gamers of all varieties will buy this product if its, well, actually a good game. So instead of engaging in a shamelessly anti-Christian stunt to promote your poor excuse of a product, maybe you ought to work on making this game, you know, something better than a blatant God of War rip-off and make it, ya know, something worthwhile?

Well, I guess the ad campaign did work a little, eh?

I’ve heard of some pretty stupid lawsuits in my day, but this one takes the prize as most insulting and intellectually bankrupt. The case involves a number of plaintiffs who are suing a library in Milwaukee for their decision to allow a controversial book to be in the Young Adult section. The book, Baby Be-Bop, is the story of Dirk and his struggle to come to terms with his homosexuality.

The group is suing the Library for $120,000 in emotional damage and scarring. Presumably, the mere presence of the book at the premises made these individuals lose considerable sleep. They are also suing for the right to burn this book in public. What is this, the Middle Ages?

Perhaps the book will offend a few people, but so what? Do they really think their outrage gives them the right to burn books and sue non-profit institutions? We aren’t living in a fascist dictatorship, so hopefully this frivolous lawsuit will end with the members being exposed for the bigoted, anti-intellectual morons they are.

Hey, conservative Christian guys, stop trying to burn books you don’t agree with. Stop trying to tell everyone how to live their lives, and for your God’s sake, can you all just leave the rest of us who don’t buy into your bullshit alone for a while? Find a hobby that doesn’t include burning literature, please. I highly recommend thinking; it seems you’ve neglected this activity. These jerks just made the ‘Wall of Shame‘.

Most of you are probably familiar with this argument. It’s inevitable that at some point in the conversation, a genuinely confused Christian may ask you how you can have a definitive moral system without the benefit of a higher power telling you what is right and wrong. As far as many Christians are concerned, the denial of God also means the denial of an absolute system of ethics.

I can understand their confusion. They have been led to believe the Bible is the absolute authority when it comes to ethical behavior, and our society is the product of Christian teachings and values. However, unbeknownst to them, western society has been influenced more by contemporary philosophers and thinkers than theologians. The reason is simple: as a moral treatise, the Bible is far too inconsistent, cruel, and incomplete to serve our needs. What are we supposed to do with the Book of Numbers, which says:

Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. Numbers 31:15-18

You don’t exactly see a lot of foreign policy being dictated by Biblical scholars, do you. Or how about this passage on how to properly raise your child from Deuteronomy:

If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him . . . and all the men of his city shall stone him with stones that he die. Deut. 21:18-21

I’m not trying to suggest all parts of the Bible are vicious or incompatible with how we live our lives today. The ‘Golden Rule’ of treating others how you would like to be treated is something all human beings can agree on. It’s also why this rule appears in many other religious texts which predate the New Testament. The idea that people should live peacefully and love thy neighbor is not a new concept, and it certainly isn’t limited to Christianity.

The Golden Rule, however, does not necessitate the existence of a God in order for it to work. It’s a rule that deals only with how human beings interact with one another, and there is no need to invite a supernatural element to it. Treat me kindly and I’ll do the same; that’s it.

In fact, you’ll find our entire society is built on the premise that human beings have a responsibility to act in the best interest of their fellow man. When you harm, steal, or kill someone else, you will be punished by people, not by a sky God. For a long time we have realized the only way to have an orderly society is by taking matters in our own hands. We’re not waiting for God to punish the guilty. We handle that ourselves.

All laws are man-made. They are designed by humans, for humans. When drafting any new law, we look at the impact it will have on people; not how a mysterious sky God will react. Long ago, before there was any real orderly structure of society, religion was one of the few ways to keep people lawful. But because clergymen are above reproach, abuses were inevitable (can you say Inquisition?). Western society only became modern when we wrestled these responsibilities away from individuals who could not be held accountable, or who claimed divine providence.

I would rather place my trust in other human beings than in a God who answers to no one. If ‘He’ decreed all Canaanites must die, there isn’t a lot of room for debate, and that in itself is fairly frightening. Christians may wonder how we can be moral without God, but I ask you this: how can you be moral when you can’t even understand how he operates (don’t you always say he works in mysterious ways)? Let me put this another way for anyone who claims the Bible is the infallible word of God: since you obviously pick and choose what you think God wants you to do (see above quotes), how can you be sure you picked the right rules to follow?

I’d rather trust in the inherent goodness of people than some tome of highly dubious origins. Why should we entrust our morality to a book that was written during a time when genocide, war, murder, and slavery wasn’t a big deal?

Now that former President Bush is no longer in the White House, his ability to control public opinion has waned, and frightening new facts are being revealed that demonstrate the kind of fanatical, dangerous ideas George believed in. When trying to form his coalition shortly before the war, Bush spoke to French president Jacques Chirac, informing him the forces of Apocalypse were amassing in the Middle East. He said that:

“This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a New Age begins”

The story has now been confirmed by Chirac, who was disturbed by Bush’s view. He wondered how anyone could have such a naïve and disturbing world view. This was the most powerful man in the world, literally believing Gog and Magog were gathering their armies in preparation of the Second Coming of Christ. It’s absolutely insane. Bush isn’t the only president to believe so strongly in God. Reagan had similar views, believing that within his presidency a mushroom cloud would engulf Israel. He was often noted as being giddy when thinking about the possibility of the Rapture.

The most important position in the world is being arbitrarily given to men of little intellect, who literally believe in the fairy tales of religion. In fact, the ability to become president is contingent on the fact the candidate must believe in Jesus, and all the baggage that belief comes with. Men of reason, moral fiber and free thought are not welcome here. Instead, they want candidates who believe the world will end in a fiery war that will consume all of mankind. How fucking insane is that?

Here’s an article dealing with the ‘stupid’ things Christians sometimes believe will affect their faith. Pastor Osborne claims too many of his parishioners were complaining about having a bad life despite their Christian status. This often leads them, he says, to have a spiritual meltdown when they realize having faith does not protect them from harm anymore than unbelievers.

Now it’s nice of Osborne to tell everyone the truth here, but it sounds to me if you follow a religion’s rules, pray like a madman, and still get royally screwed over, it might be time to call it quits on their whole religion business. After all, they do claim your life will be improved by believing, and if that’s just not the case, then logically you can determine those making these claims are full of shit. Nothing too surprising about that, no?

Osborne takes the practical approach to faith. He says you shouldn’t expect God to lift one finger to help you, but rather your faith is essentially a lottery ticket you’ll be able to cash out when you die.

They all lived by faith “yet their faith didn’t fix anything,” Osborne points out. What faith does promise, however, is forgiveness and the gift of eternal life.

Yeah, I’m not convinced this God of yours who apparently offers no special protection or services to mankind will suddenly appear in the 11th hour and whisk me away to that big ‘House Party’ in the sky. How about I don’t waste my life pretending to understand what this confusing entity wants from me and instead live my own life the way I see fit. At least if I screw up, it’ll be my own fault!

When I think about the year 2010, the first thing that comes to mind is the sequel to 2001 A Space Odyssey. It makes me think about how optimistic Arthur C. Clark was in terms of the human race’s engineering skills. Let’s just say it’s doubtful we’ll be sending anyone to Jupiter. In fact, rather than being a scientific Mecca, the world seems to have taken a nasty turn towards superstitious belief. Case in point: there is currently a bill floating around in Congress that wants to make 2010 the ‘Year of the Bible’.

(1) to designate an appropriate year as ‘The National Year of the Bible’; and

(2) to issue a proclamation calling upon citizens of all faiths to rediscover and apply the priceless, timeless message of the Holy Scripture which has profoundly influenced and shaped the United States and its great democratic form of Government, as well as its rich spiritual heritage, and which has unified, healed, and strengthened its people for over 200 years.

The text goes on to say the Bible has apparently “…inspired compassion, love for our neighbor, and the preciousness of life and marriage, and… healed and blessed our families, communities, and our entire Nation, especially in times of war, tragedy, and economic and social crisis”. I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but anyone who thinks the Bible is an adequate moral guide has never actually bothered reading it. The wording makes reference to the moral teachings of both the Old and New Testament. You might remember that these same texts were used to justify slavery, and used to torture and kill suspected witches by the Pilgrims. Anyone who has any degree of moral fiber will admit the Bible is one of the worst ethical texts in history.

These kinds of stupid and unconstitutional bills are in direct response to the momentum and visibility of the Atheism movement, make no mistake; the Right is trying to show everyone the Bible is the true heart and soul of the country rather than The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, or The Bill of Rights. This is the kind of fight we have to be prepared for. These religious idiots will fight us at every turn. Each time a poll comes out showing that our numbers are growing, they will act with increasing impunity to destroy the separation of church and state. It’s going to be a long and hard battle against superstition, ignorance, and nonsense. Hope you’re all ready to fight the good fight!

Here is a great article on the Independent asking the British government to stop forcing kids to engage in prayer. Since I’m not from the UK, the fact this is mandatory is new to me. I suppose it makes sense; there was a time not so long ago where the majority of Britain was pretty religious. That time has now passed, however, and it’s time for a change:

I can understand why the unelected, faltering religious institutions cling to this law so tightly. When it comes to “faith”, if you don’t get people young, you probably won’t ever get them. Very few people are, as adults, persuaded of the idea that (say) a Messiah was born to a virgin and managed to bend the laws of physics, or that we should revere a man who at the age of 53 had sex with a nine-year-old girl. You can usually only persuade people of this when they are very young – a time when their critical and rational faculties have not yet been developed – and hope it becomes a rock in their psychological make-up they dare not pull out.

I also find the majority of comments are hilariously abusive; the writer is accused by one fellow of being a left wing ‘tosser’. You Brits are too funny.

It used to be you only needed to warn your kids not to trust strangers trying to lure them into their vehicles for fear they might be kidnapped. Now parents in Colorado Springs have to worry about the Cornerstone Baptist Church luring their kids inside their creepy vans in order to baptize them. That’s what nearly happened to a 7th grader at Russell Middle School. Administrators immediately sent a warning out to parents to remind their kids that religious nutballs are scary and should be kept at a safe distance.

Personally, I find this almost as funny as hearing about Mormons baptizing the deceased. Do these clowns not realize a baptism is merely a symbolic gesture on the part of believers? If there really was a rule that every human who wanted to go to heaven was required to have water splashed on their face by a dude in a costume, how stupid would that be? Oh wait, the whole idea of heaven is pretty stupid, isn’t it?

Also, how desperate is this church for new members? I’m pretty confident parents would not respond positively to a their kids being temporarily abducted in order to perform a weird religious ceremony. Just a thought.