AANEWS for Monday, September 14, 2009 (Darwin Film too "controversial" to get a US Distributor")

[Synnical]

Pish, no chuffing here! (Did I get that right???) ;-)

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

A M E R I C A N A T H E I S T S
A A N E W S
#1276 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 09/14/09
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In This Issue...
* A public disgrace! Darwin film unable to find US distributor.
* Worth Noting --Karen Armstrong on God, more...
* Join American Atheists
* Dave's blog
* Resources
* About this list...

INTELLECTUAL BANKRUPTCY IN AMERICA: NEW DARWIN FILM
UNABLE TO SECURE U.S. DISTRIBUTOR

Producers of a new film about the life of naturalist Charles Darwin
have been unable to secure a company to handle distribution in the
United States.

According to Oscar-winning director Jeremy Thomas , the theme of
the forthcoming movie "Creation" is deemed "too controversial for
religious America"

The production opened the recent Toronto Film Festival and won rave
reviews. Starring Paul Bettany and Martha West, it traces the agony
and achievements of a young Charles Darwin in his "struggle between
faith and reason" as he penned his landmark work on evolutionary
biology, "On the Origin of Species." The Daily Telegraph newspaper
notes, "it has been sold in almost every territory around the
world, from Australia to Scandinavia ... However, US distributors
have passed on a film that will prove hugely divisive in a country
where according to a Gallup poll conducted in February, only 39%
of Americans believe in the theory of evolution."

In the course of the movie, Darwin agonizes over the sudden death
of his 10-year-old daughter and his loss of faith in God.

Production of the film has been closely followed by Christian
bloggers and web sites, and only recently was mentioned in the
mainstream media. Its release "is virtually certain to provoke
massive controversy" and spark new debate over evolution, science
and religion according to one Telegraph reviewer. The producers
have even opened a special resource service aimed at trying to
answer objections from Christian organizations who may find the
film blasphemous and objectionable.

One Christian web site, Movieguide.org, is characterizing Charles
Darwin as "a racist, a bigot and a 1800s naturalist whose legacy
is mass murder." It also described evolutionary theory as
"half-baked," and stridently claimed that Darwin's work resulted
in the horrific deeds of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi henchmen, along
with "atrocities, crimes against humanity, cloning and genetic
engineering." The Daily Mail reports that producer Jeremy Thomas
is astounded that such opinions find a wide and credulous audience
fully 150 years after the publication of Darwin's seminal work,
and that religious sensibilities constitute a near-insurmountable
barrier to finding an American distributor for this film.

"The film has no distributor in America," Mr. Thomas opined.
"It has got a deal everywhere else in the world but in the U.S.,
and it's because of what the film is about. People have been
saying this is the best film they've seen all year, yes nobody in
the U.S. has picked it up."

And more: "It is unbelievable to us that this is still a real hot
potato in America," says Thomas. "There's still a great belief
that He made the world in six days. We live in a country (the
United Kingdom) which is no longer so religious. But in the U.S.,
outside of New York and Los Angeles, religion rules."

Thomas is only partially correct, though in his assessment of
the American religious landscape. Religious fundamentalists are
not a majority of the population; and the ranks of us who describe
ourselves as having "no religion" -- a figure that includes Atheists,
Freethinkers, Humanists and other "seculars" -- has been steadily
growing. It is the fundamentalist Christians, though, who are among
the most politically organized in the country, as they saunter forth
to carry out "the Great Commission" and forge a "godly society."

The fact that religious prejudice can intimidate Hollywood
distributors and studios in so blatant a fashion is testament to
a number of disturbing trends.

One is the regrettable complacence of the scientific and
educational communities who, until recently, assumed that
creationist fantasies were a relic of the 1920s and small pockets
of backwoods provincialism. With a public school system and the
gradual enlightenment of the population, surely fundamentalist
ideas concerning the origins of life would dissipate. After all,
mainstream Protestant bodies and even the Roman Catholic Church
announced that there was no conflict between modern scientific
findings (like evolutionary processes, "deep time" and insights
into the chemistry of life itself) and their brands of religion.

Why worry?

The second is a deadly combination of ideological revanchism and
sheer determination by fundamentalists to proselytize and organize.
Creationism is alive and well, from the lavish Creationist Museum in
Petersburg, Kentucky to dozens of advocacy and legal groups seeking
to introduce this religious doctrine into the public schools under
the veneer of providing students with "alternative" explanations"
of how life and the universe began. We ignore these ideological
initiatives at our peril. America remains a sophisticated
technological society with a first-rate scientific establishment
(although some see erosion of this position); but socially and
culturally, we fail to live up to those lofty standards.

The fact that a film about Charles Darwin cannot be brought --
at least for now -- to audiences in America is evidence of the
religiously-driven intellectual bankruptcy plaguing our land. It is
also a call for all enlightened Americans to, well, get our hands a
bit dirty in the battle over teaching creationism, and the rest of
"good science," in schools and defending Darwin in the public square.
When, during the opening of the Creationist museum in Kentucky a
year ago Freethought activist Edwin Kagin organized the Rally for
Reason," he received widespread support. Some potential allies,
though,decided to sit out this battle, surmising that a public
demonstration at the gates of the newly-minted museum, would simply
draw unwarranted attention to the event. In other words, advocates
of "good science" and fact-based public policy should, presumably,
ignore the vocal and politically savvy movement of creationists and
"Intelligent Design" partisans in hopes that they will -- what? --
go away?

That is a gamble we as a culture simply cannot take.

We hope that "Creation" finds a willing and enthusiastic distribution
company in the United States, and that the public supports this
film at the box office. Failing this, we further tarnish our
international image and continue to jeopardize the education of
further generations.

-- Conrad Goeringer,
Editor, AANEWS

Links used in this report:

<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6173399/Charles-Darwin-film-too-controversial-for-religious-America.html>
Charles Darwin film 'too controversial for religious America' A
British film about Charles Darwin has failed to find a US distributor
because his theory of evolution is too controversial for American
audiences, according to its producer.

http://rallyforreason.arkonuts.com/
Web site for The Rally for Reason

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creationism
Wikipedia entry on creationism

http://creationthemovie.com
Web site for "Creation," the film.