Talking soup,

I can totally agree with you that there are true fanatics and extremists in Christianity as well as other religions.
I also agree that perhaps that there were those few twisted Nazis in power that miraculously persuaded the others or most of them to do what they did.

Uh, “miraculously” persuaded the others, Andrew?  True, I guess good Christians wouldn’t have done such evil things unless God was empowering the “few twisted Nazis"…

Ulfrekr- Adam Gopnik is one of the main reasons I still subscribe to the New Yorker.  Plus the cartoons, of course.

Debbie I hate to break this to you but the Bible is not the inspired word of God. It was written 2000 years ago by a bunch of desert baked primitive nomads who ate bugs and honey. Of course they saw God!

YOu among many will greatly suffer!! Just because you dont belive that GOD exsists dosnt stop him from exsisting intruth you are the TRUE freak.

Tonia I am suffering now by being subjected to assholes like thou!

It’s been a while since somebody tried to sell fire insurance, hasn’t it?

You know what blogs need? Something like Raid, only that repels silly “Christian” trolls.

It’s been a while since somebody tried to sell fire insurance, hasn’t it?

Btw, the movie opens today. Even assuming I could get a seat, I don’t think I’m gonna see it. Just not my cup o’ tea. I prefer “Lord of the Rings” and “His Dark Materials”, personally (at least as far as fantasy goes).

I will probably go see it, because I always liked Lewis; but I have mostly read his didactic works like Problem of Pain and Mere Christianity.  The only fantasy works I’ve read were Screwtape Letters and Space Trilogy - both of which were very enjoyable.

But if the symbolism is as clear in TCON as it is in Space Trilogy, you’d have to be incredibly obtuse to miss it.  Subtlety wasn’t Lewis’ strong point.

I suppose I’ll eventually end up seeing it (if only to compare it to the version I saw as a third-grader; I can only hope my views of what was “boring” have evolved since then), but probably not for a while, anyway.

I’m look forward to the movie as C.S. Lewis’ works were a staple in my upbringing.  His method of storytelling is intriguing and I always likened him to a Christian J.R.R. Tolkien.  I’m just an atheist that enjoys a good story.  Maybe that’s why I abandoned the King James Bible for the better illustrated Tijuana Bible.

To this day, no one has produced one iota of evidence that their is a god, or any other extra-terrestrial being for that matter. (Fact)

Throughout history more people have been killed in the name of god, any god, than anything else. (Fact)

If per chance, there were a god, or gods, wouldn’t it be incredibly egotistical to believe they gave a rat’s ass about you or your beliefs?  Great big universe but our God is busy smiting those pesky Muslims using our Christian Nation as his tool.

Well if there is a God, isn’t it right that God is on the side of righteousness and truth and decency and not on the side of those blasphemous, dirty, rotten,scum sucking Venusians. They’re all a bunch of scufflers anyways! 

A His Dark Materials movie series would be sa-weet. Particularly if it was marketed to the same crowd that’s being courted with Narnia. “Hey, we’ve got a fantasy movie with God in it too, bring the whole flock! ****Spoiler*** Oh, did I forgot to mention that God is murdered in this one? Oops.” Heh heh heh....

A His Dark Materials movie series would be sa-weet

They’re in the works as we speak:

http://imdb.com/title/tt0385752/

Tragically (for those who are familiar with and are fans of this brilliant series), I have heard through the rumor mill that all references to organized religion (in this series, the Catholic Church is the antagonist) will be neutered to some “secular agency”. Can you believe that? I can’t say I’m exactly surprised, given how pathologically religious this country is, but what made these books so brilliant (along with superb writing skills) was that it had the balls to directly take on Christianity (not to mention the most powerful branch of the Christianity in the world). How Philip Pullman (author of the series) can be aware of this and not sue is beyond me. I may not even see these movies if they so openly butcher the powerful message that was conveyed in these books. *sigh* Oh well, I’ve always got the books. I highly recommend them to anyone interested in the abuses of organized religion (i.e. most people who participate on this blog, I assume). Even people who may subscribe to organized religion (assuming they aren’t nutcase fundies) may find the books interesting as well, even if they may not fully agree with the message.

By the way, U, I love your avi. I’m a humongous “Calvin and Hobbes” fan.

Thanks for the info and the compliment Sadie! I think the avatar sums up my general disposition better than anything I say ever could. To wit:

So I am sitting here at 10:48, having just gone to a 9:45 showing of “Narnia”. How, you may ask, do I find myself at home a mere hour after the movie started? Well, it’s a sad story. See, some brain trust decided it would be a good idea to bring their 2-year-old kid to a late show on opening night. As a further display of their parental prowess, they decided to sit in the front row of the theater and give their child indulgent looks as he repeatedly tried to jump onto the front railing, giving a little yelp each time. Before long, even the obnoxious teenagers who had started the movie clearly intent on talking through it had shut up and started glaring at this kid. But it gets better. Not content with merely irritating 150 people five times his size, the little prodigy decided to go for full-on infuriation by running up and down the aisle in front of the screen yelling and giggling. This went on for a couple of minutes before mommy dearest decided that she should maybe quiet her little angel down. Now, you may ask yourself, how did she do this? Did she pick the kid up and tell him to be quiet? Did she carry him out of the theater? Did she hold him in her lap and clamp her hand over his mouth? Not this Mom of the Year! She decided to YELL at her kid, full voice. Of course, she didn’t want to sound angry or anything, because then sweet Danny might have thought he was doing something wrong. So she just gently shouted his name, over and over and over and over, while Pa sat there smiling beatifically at his precious little clan. So my bf and I got up, went to the manager’s desk, told him what happened, and exchanged our tickets for the midnight show, where, no doubt, we will be just as irritated by another group of the aforementioned fucking teenagers.
Seriously people, what’s happened to our civilization? I love the movies. I go all the time, and I have all my life. But for some reason, in the last couple of years, it seems like I can’t just go to a goddam movie without some idiot screaming their head off about something like a jackass, or braying into a cellphone, or whatever. I remember a time when movie theaters used to kick these people out. What the hell happened? How can people be so totally inconsiderate of everyone around them? Where does the sense of entitlement come from that lets someone think it’s okay to act like they’re at home just because they paid for their ticket LIKE EVERY OTHER PERSON IN THE THEATER? Why even go to the fucking movies if you CAN’T SHUT UP AND JUST WATCH? And why isn’t anyone doing anything about it?
Ug. Okay, I know I’m ranting, but I’m just so sick of it. I was stuck in my office for 35 hours straight without sleep this week, I was in my first car accident this morning, and I just wanted to go and be entertained for 2 hours without worrying about anything. What is wrong with our society that that’s suddenly too much to ask? I’m 23 years old. How is it I find myself grumbling UNIRONICALLY about “kids these days” and how “things used to be better” AND KNOWING I’M RIGHT?
When will the lambs stop screaming?

See,THIS is why “Blockbuster Video” is such a lifesaver for the movie lovers. I fucking hate people who bring their hideous spawn to movie theaters, too. I also hate twelve-year-old boys who think it’s their duty to scream out plot points in advance, thus ruining the film for all who have not seen it.

Based on the little that you saw of the film, what did you think?

Wow, Ulfrekr!  I think you just cleared up a mystery for me.  I had been wondering what drives the sale of giant-assed plasma screens and buncha-speaker home theatre systems.  Now I know.

With Theatre owners bitching about profits, they should take a look at just how much people are willing to spend to watch a movie in peace.

When I was a kid, no one thought of talking out loud in a movie theatre.  It just wasn’t done.

I feel for you, Ulfrekr.  But as the father of two kids who were once two years old, this Danny might well be an “angel”, “sweet”, and a “prodigy”.  He’s two.  I know you laid most of the blame on his parents, but I would lay all of the blame on the clueless idiots.  I hope you and your bf got to see the later show undisturbed.  Let us know how it is- I have mixed feelings about the Narnia series, but if you leave aside the sexism and religionism (admittedly not an easy task), the stories are pretty entertaining.

Sexy Sadie- Yes, Calvin and Hobbes is the best. How people can compare it to drivel like Garfield is beyond me.  And Pullman’s books are great- very imaginative and deliciously cynical.  I especially identified with the armored bear Iorek.

My family and I are going to see the film in just about 2 hours from now. We’re even getting up early to do it. Not so much because we’re big Narnia fans (though Courtney is fond of it), but because it’s free with free popcorn and pop, the breakfast of champions, and then free lunch at Tubby’s after that.

This is all thanks to the folks at Compeople, where I was freelancing for the past few months. They are celebrating their 1 year anniversary and rented the theater for a special showing to say thank you to their clients and employees. They’re good folks and still hope to steal me away once the business grows a little more. If you’re in South Eastern Michigan and need computer support for your small business or at home then give these folks a call.

Thanks, Ulfrekr, for taking the time to pass that experience along. It’s sad that people are so inconsiderate that something needs to be done.

DOF has a good idea for how to communicate with potentially noisy patrons.

I would have been very tempted to talk to that couple then and there so I admire your restraint.

What about the car accident? What happened and are you okay?

I’m a born-again Christian, and really have the same ideas that Andrew has. I want to point out a couple things, to make things more clear. first, all those suppose Christians that killed so many people during the Inquisition are NOT real Christians. Catholics? roman catholics? I don’t give a darn what they were. they were working for Satan, and will pay for what they did. second, Aslan is the perfect sacrifice. He is Jesus and God in the Chronicles of Narnia. he is the savior of Narnia (which we figuratively know as Earth). I am unsure why God created a universe He knew would be sinful. but what I do know is that, because it sinned against Him, He came down in human form, was tortured beyond what any man can imagine, and saved man from Hell. how cool is God? I just told you. will you believe? it’s up to you. but given the facts, why not believe. God bless, and I hope I didn’t offend anyone. but I believe that Jesus is the only way.

Dale, we’ve already had the *ZOMG! Not True Christian* plea about 5 million times already.

Please excuse us while we *headdesk*

We’ll not pray for you, Dale.