I’m watching Defiance, Episode 2 – a new SyFy channel production about a post-apocalyptic earth city filled with mixed alien races. One of the aliens communities is torturing one of its own for cowardice in battle. The new sheriff, a typical blonde American cowboy, stops the ceremony at gunpoint.

The alien in question begs to let them finish his torture, which is necessarily to clean him of sins so that his soul will reach absolution, and also to redeem his family. It’s a not-so-foreign religious idealism which believes pain is purgative. But the cowboy won’t listen – until the mayor weighs in and allows them to continue their rite.

“Can you honestly tell me that what you think they are doing is RIGHT?” he whines.

“No, but it is NECESSARILY” she replies.

Which side are you on?

At first I was pissed at the sheriff for sticking his nose into the private affairs of a foreign culture and passing judgment on their religious traditions. What if, for example, a foreign lawmaker walked into your daughter’s first communion.

“You’re FORCING her to drink the blood of 2000 year old man! That’s barbaric!”

“But please sir, I need to do this, drinking the blood will wash away my sins!”

Do … Read More »

I’m watching the 2013 “Oz the Great and Powerful.”

I’ve been excited about the movie for a long time; what a rich theme to build a story into. Disappointingly it’s mostly a kid’s movie. Not the smart and mature kid’s movie that the original Wizard of Oz was, but the cheesy and silly kid’s movie that is aimed at the largely vapid youth of today.

But nearing the end of the movie, I’m recognizing the classic pieces of the Jesus myth: Oz (James Franco) appears to have fallen – run away and abandoned them first, then been struck down in his hot air balloon – everybody gives up hope, the land is controlled by darkness and evil.

The wicked witch yells, “Your prophecy is dead! Your wizard is dead!”

But then (surprise!) Oz is not really dead! He returns in light and power to defeat darkness!

“Wow, you fooled everybody,” says the flying monkey. “That was your greatest trick yet.”

Oz puts on a technological deception, with smoke and mirrors, to fool the witches into thinking he is REALLY the Wizard of Prophecy. “Thanks to you, I’ve shed my mortal form. I’m more powerful than ever. I’m invincible!”

“I defy you” says the ugly witch (stand-in for … Read More »

I’m working on a paper for an Apocalypse conference in Romania the details are fuzzy, but I wanted to make some notes to come back to later.

In short, the majority of contemporary post-apocalyptic YA novels are about Revolution. Unlike classic dystopian fiction like 1984 or even the more modern Never Let Me Go show a reality that can’t be escaped from. Resistance is really futile, if not only because systems of bio-power have nullified any possibility of Real Freedom.

For decades theorists have been commenting on the total inability (and yet the desperate need) to seek out freedom in order to get to a real, true act – one not simply a chain of causal reaction from within the power structure/system.

Foucault concluded revolution is necessary – even if impossible – only in the act of resistance and rebellion is there the possibility of Truth. Deleuze and Guattari talk about “deterritorialization”; Badiou talks about “courage” and “fidelity to the Truth Event.”

Of course we could go back earlier, when theorists were actually still talking about real, political revolution. Camus’ The Rebel or Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience and many more had the seeds of these theories already.

Things seem to come together in Slavoj Zizek, who’s … Read More »

I’m watching Utopia, Season One Episode 5. A small band of unlikely heroes are chasing down a conspiracy. They have one of the badguys tied up to a chair and are asking him questions about a dubious new super-vaccine called Janus, created along with a flu-epidemic panic. The gang thinks the bad guys are trying to eliminate a certain race.

Not so.

“We are now past 7 billion on this planet. When I was born it was a little over two. Food prices are rising, oil is ending, when our resources end in 20 years, given everything we know of our species, do you really think we’re going to just, share? Janus affects 90 to 90% of the human population, leaving only one in 20 fertile. We predict the population will plateau at 500 million in just over 100 years. By then, normal breeding rates should resume, but on a planet that will feel… empty.”

“You’re fucking insane.”

“You accuse us of being genocidal. Not acting is genocidal. 1/3 of the world’s farmland is now useless due to soil deprivation, and we keep producing more mouths to feed. What’s your solution to that, energy efficient light bulbs? Not to do something is to condemn … Read More »

On location in Romania and Transylvania last year outside Bucharest, Universal Studios shot “Werewolf: The Beast Among Us”. As paranormal fantasy playing off the trendy vampire/werewolf motifs that have their roots in Eastern Europe, this might have seemed like a natural move. And yet, the economic motivations and cultural implications of the movie make a statement that shouldn’t be overlooked.

A brief summary

At the beginning of the film, everybody is scared. The Gypsies hover on the outside of town, paranoid of strangers, careful with their secrets. The townsfolk are a superstitious mob, prone to violence and racial prejudice (they are quick to pounce on the Gypsies as the source of the killings). They offer a reward to anybody who can kill the beast, and almost give it away to someone who brings in a wolf with antlers stuck on its head.

And then, just when all hope is lost, the hunters show up. Unlike the other characters, who mostly have thick accents, the hunters speak proper American (although the evil character speaks British English). The hero has a traditional country cowboy drawl.

It’s Hildalgo-esque: American cowboys traveling the world winning prizes for being awesome.

As things unfold we learn that the only decent towny … Read More »

I got up early the second day of the conference, took a coffee and a pastry from the hotel lobby, and headed to the convention hall in Springfield Missouri. There was a large crowd outside today. I smiled, eager to meet new friends – until I realized they were Christian protesters.

Skepticon describes itself as the “Largest Free Conference on Skepticism” in the nation, and it has been a well-known atheist convention for several years.

I’d flown in the day before and driven down from Kansas City, passing through pleasant countryside, old white houses, and lots of bible colleges.

As someone with a background in theology and comparative literature, my writing and art focuses on religious themes without actually being reverent; in fact my playful paintings and research into historical religious literature and mystery cult traditions inevitably comes across as blasphemous.

It’s difficult to share my work with theists, who get uncomfortable, and so I’ve begun to make connections with atheists communities. But this was my first time actually participating in an atheist event. As somewhat of an outsider, I surveyed the gathering with the detached eye of a social scientist.

From the protesters outside, you would think atheists were dangerous, or evil, or violent, … Read More »

I went to Skepticon 5 expecting a group of heretics that would get a kick out of my inversed reading of Milton’s Paradise Lost, which claims that Satan is the hero of the story (which was actually the mainstream reading before it became the “mistaken reading”, and is now coming into vogue again by top Milton scholars).

I was surprised to find that Satan makes atheists uncomfortable. Atheists already have a huge image/perception problem, with the religious proclamations that people can’t be good without God and that therefore all atheists are “evil.” Christians already think of atheists as nearly synonymous with Satanists; hence atheists have an uncomfortable relationship with Satanists and don’t want to be associated with the Devil.

Even more so than the term “Atheist”, “Satanist” has an immediately powerful negative connotations. And on the one hand, I definitely think that those people who wish to create a secular political and social force big enough to stand up to religious groups that are trying to make their faith-based beliefs govern the private lives of the rest of us, need to think about how they are perceived because it does impact the message being shared.

But there is still a very good reason … Read More »

Halloween is for everybody, but it seems like atheists and non-religious people would particularly enjoy dressing up as devils, monsters and witches (role-modelling their true heroes on the only socially acceptable day for it). It’s also an opportunity, depending on your level of daring, to make a funny, obnoxious or controversial irreligious statement with a loud costume choice. But what are you going to wear?

I searched for Atheist Halloween ideas for awhile but couldn’t find much – I’d like to develop this post into something longer with lots of pictures, so I’m sponsoring a Halloween Costume Contest: $50 to best costume idea. Just send me a picture of you in your costume.

Here are some ideas to get started (I’m sure you can come up with better ideas).

1) Biblical Characters

It’s pretty easy to dress up as Biblical characters. You can be Moses, Jesus or God. Or you can choose someone more interesting, like Jeremiah (eating shit because God told him so) or Jonah (with an enormous whale around you.) It would be fun to be King David, carrying Goliath’s head around, maybe escorted by a Harem, or Salome with the head of John the Baptist (a couple’s costume?), or Lot with … Read More »

Is Kevin Costner an Atheist? This thought crossed my mind a few times while watching the History Channel’s 3 part special “Hatfields and McCoys”.

While based on a historical family feud, a few key themes in the plot and dialogue seemed specifically focused on the relationship between violence and religion. So what exactly does the mini-series have to say about religious belief? Let’s find out.

Kevin Costner plays Anse Hatfield, opposite Bill Paxton who plays Randall McCoy.

The crucial break between the two men, who had been friends, comes when Hatfield decides to quit the battlefield and become a deserter during the civil war. The battle lines are drawn between familiar sources of conflict between the religious and irreligious: Hatfield represents freedom, business, progress, expansion. He makes his own rational choices, forges the land with his will power and hard work. He’s the entrepreneur.

McCoy symbolizes duty, devotion to God. He stays to fight the war till the final end, coming home a much changed man. Interestingly, the law is on McCoy’s side – a relative lawyer is stereotypically cast as a sneaky, evil, pasty son of a bitch (who tries to cheat Hatfield out of his property).

Although both families have jerks and idiots … Read More »

I’m surprised I didn’t see it before. I’ve been working on a research book about Satan as a revolutionary hero: a tradition of liberal rebellion against totalizing and corrupt government, starting from Prometheus, going through Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, the Modernist and Romantic Movements, ending in today’s Super Heroes.

I’ve already considered contemporary revolutions as part of this same tradition: I can prove that The American Revolution, the Free Rights, Gender Equality, Racial Tolerance and all other movements of liberation and progress are indebted to the Satanic tradition, rather than a religious one.

Hackers shutting down websites and taking on huge corporations, using technical skills, and organizing mass protests are also firmly on Satan’s side of the line. (Technology has always been associated with Prometheus and Satan – who give humans these skills and knowledge against God’s wishes).

But for some reason, I hadn’t until today recognize the importance of the Guy Fawkes mask, which was used in the movie “V for Vendetta” and has since become a symbol of rebellion and revolution – something for protesters to wear into battle to protect their identities from the persecution of authorities.

Guy Fawkes is Satan

I don’t need a whole entire book to prove this point … Read More »

Oops, it’s 2:56AM here in Taiwan and I was just reminded that September 30th is International Blasphemy Day. Luckily, since most of the world is half a day behind, I still have time. I decided to celebrate by dusting off this post about Emily Dickinson I’ve been meaning to publish for about a year.

It vexes me to see Christians and other religious people quote Emily Dickinson’s Poetry in support of their faith, when she spent so much time, irony and wit mocking her religious contemporaries with blasphemous poetry. She refused evangelical conversion point-blank, and denied Christianity in favor of a naturalistic (Pagan) spirituality. Some may claim that she is not “an Atheist” but rather deeply devote – but this trespasses over her very cutting criticisms and mockery of Jesus and the Christian God, whom she saw as a cruel tyrant. There is also a tendency in literature studies to avoid the straight-forward anti-religious tone of the poems and interpret Dickinson’s poetry more imaginatively.

Dickinson is actually pretty easy to understand and appreciate – unless you disagree with her. Then suddenly she becomes “cryptic” and “mysterious” and “difficult”. Giant edifices of literary theory have been constructed around the idea that Emily is hiding … Read More »

“I just need to know how he does it.”

This is the consuming passion of Psychologist Margaret Matheson (Sigourney Weaver) as she investigates a world-renowned blind psychic Simon Silver (Robert De Niro), who has resurfaced after decades for a final appearance.

The movie builds and builds, with supernatural attacks leading up to the death of Margaret. Her partner Tom Buckley (Cillian Murphy) takes over the case, determined to solve the mystery.

“Forget about Silver, there are certain things it’s better not to know,” says his girlfriend Sally (Elizabeth Olsen).

“I just need to know,” Tom responds.

At this point in the movie, the implied moral seems to be this: that rigorous skeptics and scientists will be destroyed and their skepticism will consume them; they will break like waves against the paranormal rocks of our mysterious universe.

Margaret and Tom seem to be the fanatics, trying to use logic to solve the incredible paranormal power that they can’t accept as real.

Silver, meanwhile, has come back to prove to the world that his powers are real:

“It’s a matter of absolute priority that science begin to learn all it can about these forces. We can’t wait any longer. The aim of my public appearance is just to generate … Read More »