In an act of utter cowardice, United States distributors appear to be caving into a creationist campaign to bar the movie Creation on the life of Charles Darwin. The film explores his loss of faith following the death of his beloved 10-year-old daughter, Annie.
The film has been the target of creationists, who remind distributors that only 39 percent of Americans believe in evolution. Jeremy Thomas, the producer of Creation, notes “[t]he film has no distributor in America. It has got a deal everywhere else in the world but in the US, and it’s because of what the film is about. People have been saying this is the best film they’ve seen all year, yet nobody in the US has picked it up.”
Comedian and conservative commentator Ben Stein has drawn a bizarre connection between Darwin and Hitler that some Christian sites have embraced, here. On the Trinity Network, Stein makes the statement: “Love of God and compassion and empathy leads you to a very glorious place, and science leads you to killing people.”
Movieguide.org, a site specializing in
“family reviews” on movies, has published a joyous celebration of an alternative move called “Darwin’s Racists” which
exposes the real Charles Darwin: a racist, a bigot and 1800’s naturalist whose legacy is mass murder. This well written book shows that Adolf Hitler, along with other genocidal mass murderers, was influenced by Darwin’s half-baked Theory of Evolution. This book exposes Darwin’s Theory of Evolution for what it is: an elitist and racist dogma that has infiltrated our every area of culture thereby undermining sense and sensibility.
DARWIN’S RACISTS succinctly covers, among other revealing topics, who Darwin was, his impact on the human race, evolution and naturalism, agnosticism, creation, Charles Darwin’s family and friends, Darwin’s sickness, the eugenics nightmare, Darwin’s racists, frauds, and fakes, atrocities, crimes against humanity, cloning and genetic engineering, and the impact of Darwin’s thought on our rights and freedoms today.
The movie, however, can speak for itself as a beautifully crafted and touching treatment of Darwin as a person:
It is nothing short of scandalous that this movie, produced in part by BBC, has not been picked up in the United States. Instead, we can watch endless films with Ben Stein in such classics as Richie Rich or shows like Married…With Children.
For the full story, click here.
Update: Just in time for christmas (small ‘c’ intended).
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Quote:
Newmarket picks up Jon Amiel’s ‘Creation’
Charles Darwin pic targeted for Christmas release
NEW YORK — Indie distributor Newmarket is back on the acquisitions scene, picking up U.S. rights to Toronto International Film Festival opener “Creation.”
Chris Ball’s and Robert Fyvolent’s company has sealed the deal for Jon Amiel’s pic about the life of Charles Darwin, and will aim for a December release.
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Three letters to which the filmmakers should address themselves: HBO.
Wesley,
Personal attacks against creationists you mentioned aren’t my style, but the outcomes of those acting on creationist beliefs are often dangerous, inhuman, and criminal. For example, in June 2008 JT posted Branding for Jesus: Ohio Teacher Accused of Teaching Creationism and Burning Crosses into Arms of Students
http://jonathanturley.org/2008/06/20/branding-for-jesus-virginia-teacher-accused-of-teaching-creationism-and-burning-crosses-into-arms-of-students/#comment-14971
or:
http://jonathanturley.org/2009/08/02/creationist-kills-evolutionist-with-knife-but-is-sentenced-to-just-five-years-after-court-finds-him-a-person-of-good-character-and-the-killing-a-complete-aberration/
Sure looks like DEVO to me:
The Untied Negro College Fund – 1973
“A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”
True for people of any color and just a good message overall.
The GOP – 2009
“The mind is a terrabil thing and it be must stopped in our liftime before it killz an unborn child.”
Times they are a changing . . .
Wesley, the British Mail was wrong. Anyone who recalls the marches of the ’60s can tell you that the crowds in D.C. this weekend were insignificant by comparison. But ignorance has become something of a badge of honor in recent years. Historians will rightfully view this period in U.S. history as the Age of Denial. It is not simply the truly absurd rejection of evolution, but the growing tendency to regard science in general as simply another branch of politics concerning which people are permitted to believe anything, as though knowledge and opinion were synonymous terms. Indeed, the same tendency can be seen in discussions of the law, particularly on the subject of torture, concerning which otherwise responsible people urge that in determining the limits of acceptable treatment of prisoners, one man’s opinion is as valid as another’s, regardless of history, legal precedent and the specific provisions of statutes and treaties.
Since the making of films is generally a commercial enterprise, fear of boycotts and potential economic harm will always trump reason and logic in the minds of distributors.
Anti-intellectual fervor is more rampant and vicious currently than at any other point in my lifetime. Intellectuals have abandoned or have been expelled from the Republican Party for the most part, and those who remain are virtually ignored. There is little intelligent debate occurring because the vocal minority of know-nothings who presently control conservatism believe first and foremost in intimidation. Thus the term “elitist” has become an accusation hurled at those who believe in education.
I am a christian and creationist. But I feel that those who share my beliefs and world view do themselves a disservice when we protest such films. Darwinian Science is at least a fact of life. I don’t have to agree with it, but I can’t change what others think by beating them over the head. That’s just about as effective as calling people backwards, stupid, uneducated, neanderthals, or whatever. By the way, The British Mail reported at least 2 million in D.C. on Saturday.
Apparently mouth-breathing is the new black. Or maybe flannel would be more appropriate.
Note to Professor Turley: “No Brit” left the same comment–word for word–at my post about the Darwin movie at one of my blogs.
Everybody knows The Americans are another species the british HATE with an unbridled passion.
The british hate that The Americans are another species, so they’re trying to make them look like… get this… religious people. HAHAHAHA The brits are such poor losers. They invented Afrocentrism to fool the Africans into building their Israel, but that didn’t work. And they NEVER fooled The Americans from Day 0. Columbus couldn’t even do that!!
The british are such dumb, poor and hateful religious liars, losers and cowards.
What strikes me as very disturbing is the lack of argument. Why can’t people have an open discussion about creationism and evolution? I don’t understand why the other side has to just shut up and be quiet. If these creationists feel so strongly that they’re correct, then why won’t they let their belief stand up to the opposition in the light of day?