Archive for the ‘Religious Self-Made Martyrs’ Category

Christians Feeling ‘Date Raped’

Posted: September 29, 2011 in Religious Bloviate, Religious Crazies, Religious Credulity, Religious Self-Made Martyrs, Religious Windbags, Secular Humanism, Secularism
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Date ‘rape’ is an insult to Christians

THE Austrialian government and the BBC have been identified as “enemies of Christianity” following their decisions to replace the terms BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini) with “politically correct” BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era).

The Australian move, according to this report, relates to changes to the national curriculum, and was described by Peter Jensen, the Archbishop of Sydney, as:

An intellectually absurd attempt to write Christ out of human history.

And Christopher Pyne, education spokesman in the opposition Liberal National Party grizzled:

Kowtowing to political correctness by the embarrassing removal of AD and BC in our national curriculum is of a piece with the fundamental flaw of trying to deny who we are as a people. Australia is what it is today because of the foundations of our nation in the Judeo-Christian heritage that we inherited from Western civilisation.

The Rev Fred Nile, the foolish fundie who became an MP in the New South Wales parliament, described the changes as the “final insult” to Australian Christians. Either the man’s words were badly reported, or he has a special talent for screwing up English:

The direction of the national curriculum is towards almost a Christian cleansing to remove from our history any references to the role Christianity had in the formation of Australia.

But the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority said the new terms were the increasingly common standard for representing dates.

While BC and AD are designations used to number years in the Christian era, the terms BCE and CE are widely applied as their secular counterparts.

The report says that a similar change was made to the British curriculum nine years ago, provoking claims by Christians that the authorities were “imposing political correctness in schools to ensure children are cut off from the past”.

Meanwhile, The Wail on Sunday, commenting on the BBC’s adoption of CE and BCE, asked:

BBC 3′s AD BC is available to download at the link provided at the end of this report

How long will it be before the figures of Jesus and of Moses, which now adorn the Law Courts in London to remind us of the origin of our civilisation, are removed because they are deemed ‘offensive’ …

The Wail reports here that the BBC’s Religious and Ethics department states:

As the BBC is committed to impartiality it is appropriate that we use terms that do not offend or alienate non-Christians. In line with modern practice, BCE/CE (Before Common Era/Common Era) are used as a religiously neutral alternative to BC/AD.

Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, reacted angrily:

I think this amounts to the dumbing down of the Christian basis of our culture, language and history. These changes are unnecessary and they don’t achieve what the BBC wants them to achieve. Whether you use Common Era or Anno Domini, the date is actually still the same and the reference point is still the birth of Christ.

And former Tory Minister, the ghastly Catholic Ann Widdecombe, spluttered:

I think what the BBC is doing is offensive to Christians. They are discarding terms that have been around for centuries and are well understood by everyone. What are they going to do next? Get rid of the entire calendar on the basis that it has its roots in Christianity?

But Rabbi Jonathan Romain, from Maidenhead Synagogue, said he could see the logic behind the change.

‘In the year of Our Lord’ is a religious view that is not shared by many across the world, or even the UK. The change to BCE and CE is simply more inclusive.

The BBC said last night:

The BBC has not issued editorial guidance on the date systems. Both AD and BC, and CE and BCE are widely accepted date systems and the decision on which term to use lies with individual production and editorial teams.

Trivia fact: In 2004 – as part of its Christmas programming, the BBC screened a mock rock opera “with a comic twist” called AD BC. It is described as:

An all-singing, all-dancing, star-spangled musical leap around the biblical story of the Nativity, set in 1972 – and has continued to attract a growing number of avid cult comedy fans every since.

Hat tip: Pete H and BarrieJohn

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Sensitive Christian Bans Blasphemous Comic Books

Posted: September 20, 2011 in Ban, Christian Crazies, Religious Self-Made Martyrs
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Retailer boycotts Action Comics, Morrison over perceived blasphemy

From Action Comics #1 by Grant Morrison and Rags Morales

A North Carolina retailer has declared he’s boycotting all Grant Morrison comics after what he views as religious blasphemy in this week’s Action Comics #1.

“If you want Action Comics, you will have to buy it elsewhere,” Jeff Lamb, owner of The Comic Conspiracy in Asheboro, North Carolina, wrote on the store’s Facebook page. He called for Christian comics readers and retailers to join in the Morrison boycott, characterizing the first issue of the relaunched DC Comics series as “a slap in the face to Superman, Christians and Superman creators Siegel and Shuster!!”

That “slap in the face” is a single panel (above) in which the Man of Steel, when struck by artillery fired from a tank, utters “GD.” What many read as a grunt — Superman says “GNUHH,” “HNN” and “GGAAAAAA” in the same scene — Lamb interpreted as an abbreviation for “goddamn” (or maybe simply “God”?), an affront to his religious beliefs.

“I could see Guy Gardner and maybe even Hal Jordan (Green Lanterns) saying it,” he wrote. “I could see Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) saying it. I could easily see Damian Wayne (Robin) or MAYBE even Bruce Wayne saying it. But Superman was created to be the ‘perfect’ super-hero. Unblemished. Superman is an American icon. [...] This wasn’t creative flow. It wasn’t necessary in the story. It isn’t  Superman at all. And it goes against a basic Christian principle. It was  a blatant stab.”

 

Why someone would think a young and not-yet-invulnerable Superman would gasp an abbreviation, “blasphemous” or not, when hit in the back by artillery — “GD,” not “WTF” or “GTFO”? — isn’t exactly clear. However, Lamb, who said he’s “had to accept a LOT of changes over my nearly 35 years in the business,” is confident the Last Son of Krypton took God’s name in vain. And that’s the final straw.

“I deal with books like Crossed and The Boys,” he wrote. “I accepted gay characters being introduced into a children-specific book like Archie Comics. I however am getting very tired of having comic writer’s liberal agendas force fed to me. Mr. Morrison has stepped over my line. If I have to stand alone on this … I will.”

Lamb said he intends to contact Diamond Comic Distributors today to cancel orders for Action Comics #2 and all other titles written by Morrison, whom he called “a liberal Scottish schmuck.” “I ask my customers to understand as best they can,” he wrote. “I understand that it’s only a comic and it’s not the real world, but I feel that as a Christian I have to draw the line somewhere.”

(via Bleeding Cool)

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