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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Children’s Movies Are Turning Our Kids into Democrats

Did you know children’s movies are turning our kids into Democrats? Well that is the recent claim by conservatives. Movie’s such as Happy Feet 2, Cars 2, and Monsters vs. Aliens are being attacked for having a liberal agenda. Happy Feet 2 is being attacked because it talks about global warming and feminism. Cars 2 is being pointed out because it is said to be attacking the oil industry and Monsters vs. Aliens for standing against torture. Conservatives are saying these movies are brainwashing children. So let’s take a look into what these movies are doing to our children and how it will affect them later in life.

Happy Feet 2, which is a movie based on penguins talks about global warming/climate change. It is a fact that glaciers are melting at a faster rate than in years past, and all credible scientist agree that climate change is happening. So this movie may cause our children to grow up with a respect for science and our world including the animals that it inhabits and may cause them to think about how their actions affect other animals even the ones that are out of sight and live in another part of the world. This movie is also said to promote feminism, which is basically the idea that women are equal to men and should be allowed to have the same rights. This message may cause boys to respect women. It will also give young girls the idea they should be respected just as much as men and like men they can be whatever and whoever they want if they work hard enough for it.

Cars 2 is said to be attacking the oil industry. Many conservatives will deny that the use of oil causes global warming, but no one denies that using oil pollutes our air making it dangerous to breathe. And no one questioned this use of oil in the past because we needed energy so badly that we were willing to pollute our air in exchange for energy. But now we have developed new clean ways to create energy, and because eventually we are going to run out of oil it is in our best interest to use this clean energy now and further develop it for the future. So conservatives are basically saying this movie will cause kids to value clean air and plan the future so generations after us have it better than today.

Lastly, Monsters vs. Aliens is being criticized for standing against torture. Torture of course has been thought to be a good way of extracting vital information from those who may have knowledge one needs. But this has been showed ineffective and for those who don’t have knowledge of what is being asked of them, they are tortured repeatedly for no reason and eventually give false information just to stop the torture. However, many conservatives disagree with this which is why they feel this movie is pushing a liberal agenda. So beware - if your kids watch this movie there is a chance they may grow up to be against torture and support more effective ways of gaining intelligence.

If these are things conservatives are against, then what does that make them for? Polluting the air and ruining our planet just because it is profitable? Telling women they aren’t as valuable as men and their ideas aren’t worth listening too? Torturing people even though there are better ways of gathering intelligence? Just because torture works in the movies doesn’t make it effective in real life.

It needs to be said that these ideas should not be considered an agenda if they are based on fact and reality. It is not the movies fault for being educated and aware of these issues. The only reason conservatives are claiming these movies push a liberal agenda is because it goes against their own agenda which is based on misinforming the public and is motivated by profit. Their agenda is not to improve the quality of life for humanity but simply what is best for their bank account. And if these are the kind of movies they don’t want our children watching, what does that say about their values? If these movies which incorporate real issues are turning our children into democrats, it is not the movies fault; it is the republicans fault for being on the wrong side of these issues.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Atheists and Protest Signs

Occasionally we see atheists protesting with signs that have an anti-religious message or even a sign mocking religion. The most recent sign I've seen said, “If Jesus returns, kill him again.” Maybe it is just me, but I’m not a fan of these signs. For many atheists these signs are just a joke, but they seem to give those who are religious reason to think atheists acknowledge the existence of God and are against him. This of course is not the case; atheist can’t be against or even kill someone they don’t believe exist.

This is not the message atheists should be trying to spread, it is no better than a Christian fundamentalist protesting with signs such as, “God Hates Fags” or “Pray for more dead soldiers”. They are both based on hate and intolerance (even though the atheists sign is just a joke).  Atheists are already falsely accused of being evil bloodthirsty Satanists, and signs such as this only fuel the fire for religious fear mongering.

If the goal of atheism is to get people to think critically and base their beliefs on evidence and reason then these signs do not help the cause. Those who read this sign that are religious already lack the ability to think critically on this issue and dislike atheists so they do not see it as a joke and it only causes more confusion about who atheists are and what they stand for.

It can be fun for atheists to create these kinds of signs for a joke, but atheists are so misunderstood that it only becomes an inside joke for atheists and their message is completely lost. If an atheist feels so strongly to protest then they must care about having their message be heard, but those signs only hurt their cause.

If atheists want to make a real impact they need to be careful not to use signs that can be misinterpreted and only use signs that will get people to think about their beliefs, signs that appear to be name calling or hateful are not effective. Atheists for the most part see religious belief as an extremely serious matter, and we need to put serious consideration into what we put on signs. If there is one thing atheists hate it is the absence of critical thinking, and these signs show just that. Surely we can do better then this, when there are so many issues in the world that are caused by religion we MUST do better than this. We need to ask ourselves, will it cause more confusion or aid in promoting critical thinking and reason. If it would cause more confusion, do the world and atheism a favor and just stay home.