Walk Away from Fundamentalism

Chicago Sun-Times reporter Cathleen Falsani reviews the Jesus Camp movie, and finds it disturbing and sad. That she finds it disturbing and sad isn’t particularly surprising, as the movie documents a Pentacostal revival camp and some of the outrageous attitudes and teachings there. What’s surprising is that Falsani is a Christian, and rather than go into apoplectic fits over the film, she uses it as a chance for some self-reflection.

After watching “Jesus Camp,” I can’t help but wonder where education ends and indoctrination begins, whether indoctrination can ever be a benign thing, and what, exactly, constitutes spiritual abuse.
…
Spiritual abuse leaves debilitating scars, even if you can’t see them. There’s more than one way to walk through this life with a limp.

The entire review is well worth the read, if only to read some very conscientious musings.

The Washington Post recently ran an article on homophily, the phenomenon of individuals of similar background and interests to associate with one another.

While like people spending time with other like people isn’t necessarily bad by itself, this quote is quite striking when considering the atmosphere of fundamentalist Christianity.

We participate in settings where we don’t have to explain ourselves because everyone else agrees with us. What this means is, “I have no reason to challenge or question my own beliefs.”

For the fundamentalists who say homosexuality is unnatural comes a new zoo exhibit in Oslo:

“We may have opinions on a lot of things, but one thing is clear – homosexuality is found throughout the animal kingdom, it is not against nature,” an exhibit statement said.

Geir Soeli, the project leader of the exhibition entitled “Against Nature”, said: “Homosexuality has been observed for more than 1500 animal species, and is well documented for 500 of them.”

Good news from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

“Local groups are springing up all over the place,” said Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists. Active groups have grown by about 90 percent over the past six years, she said.

While only atheists are mentioned, it seems reasonable that all of those without religion or with sympathetic beliefs are speaking out and making a difference.

Via the fantastic Red State Rabble blog is a great piece on the evolution vs. ID wars here in Kansas. Donna Viola, one of the candidates for Kansas state school board, was talking with a voter about why ID should be taught in schools. The conversation moved towards religion and Viola commented that religion was the domain of churches and not of the schools. The voter responded with

But, the kids are not going to church and they need to get it somewhere.

Nice to finally see some honesty from the ID crowd.