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God's Not Dead II: The Straw Man Returns

posted 9 years ago by temp-544-612798
8 replies | jump to latest

And now, the sequel to 2014's cinematic suppository about an "Atheist" who works hard to establish the god he supposedly doesn't believe in, so that the plucky young advocate can smash the straw man's nefarious schemes like so much kindling.

I can't get animated about this because it's prima facie evidence that Christianity is losing power. Used to be, the Christian perspective was the de facto position in American culture. But with the spread of information, communication, and verifiable evidence (such as quotes from the Bible advocating slavery and child murder or the horrors of fifteen centuries of mass torture and murder), people are realizing that once you get past the selectively presented fairy stories, there's a LOT of ugly in Christianity.

The church is having to advertise again because people are not buying their product like they used to. There's a lot of "but those people weren't real Christians!", invoking the 'No True Scotsman' fallacy when advocates are confronted with physical evidence or documentation of the hideous history of their faith. The product they're selling is so dirty--and so obviously dirty--and their denials so blatantly unrealistic that people are turning away in droves; not just from the ugliness of the church, but from the blithe denial of reality its advocates project.

We might just very well be seeing the start of the next great reformation.

[–] Navaros 9 years ago

I agree with your point that obeying God is becoming less popular and obeying satan/evil has become wildly popular. I know that is not exactly what you said, but that is the gist of your post.

However, to say Christianity is "losing power" is not accurate. Even if no Bible-believing Christians were left on the earth, Christianity's power would remain 100% intact.

I find irony in how you feign offense at murder even though atheists/darwinists pretty much universally love and/or advocate for and/or commit murder (they call their acts of murder by euphemisms, like "abortion" and "euthanasia," to pretend they are not murder, even though they are).

horrors of fifteen centuries of mass torture and murder...the hideous history of their faith

It sounds like you are talking about catholics. They are not to be conflated with Christians, at least not the ones who disobey God, believe in doctrines of demons, and commit evil (as are all the ones you cited). That conflation would be like me concluding that you are a Nazi because hitler was a Nazi and hitler believed in darwinism, and you also believe in darwinism therefore you must be a Nazi. I'm not saying you are a Nazi, but I'm just saying that if your own logic is valid, then you must be.

"Science creates fictions to explain facts" – Gilman

[–] Thessaly_Witch 9 years ago

Dude, Catholicism is a form of Christianity (and the fact that certain - not all - Protestant sects can get so aggressively nit-picky about it really is not a good advertisement for their religion).

Also, Hitler didn't believe in "darwinism". The Nazi eugenics programme was based on the principle of artificial selection, which has been known, understood and practiced since the creation of agriculture, and is entirely antithetical to the process of natural selection, which in any case is not a religion. Hitler's faith was, like over 90% of his followers, Christianity.

[–] goddancredmond 8 years ago

The RCC only counts as a Christian religion when total numbers are needed to show how many followers Christianity has.

[–] Laszkin_Revenov 9 years ago

Way to put words in his mouth. So because someone's views are different than yours, they're "Satanists."

[–] HelloMyNameIsMrBurns 8 years ago

Even if no Bible-believing Christians were left on the earth, Christianity's power would remain 100% intact.

huh?

It sounds like you are talking about catholics. They are not to be conflated with Christians,

huh?

That conflation would be like me concluding that you are a Nazi because hitler was a Nazi and hitler believed in darwinism, and you also believe in darwinism therefore you must be a Nazi. I'm not saying you are a Nazi, but I'm just saying that if your own logic is valid, then you must be.

what the *beep*

[–] blogger 9 years ago

Agree on the Straw Man issue, disagree on the sign that Christianity is losing power. Movies like this are essentially "Martyr Porn," which deeply Christian people just adore. They love nothing more than to believe that they are terribly, cruelly oppressed, but persevere because of their righteousness and the backing of God.

Never mind the irony that they are the overwhelming majority, that the "persecution" they "suffer" is far more imagined than real, and that the very real religious discrimination and persecution that does exist in this country is committed by them against minority faiths and beliefs. What would their reaction be if Bernie Sanders announced that he would not allow people of faith to serve in government? They would go insane. And yet, one of their own, Newt Gingrich, announced exactly the same thing in reverse—that he would never allow atheists to serve in an administration of his—to the great support of people like this. Christians cry, weep, and rend their hair about how they're so persecuted if they're not allowed to preach from every public podium—but then rage and scream in outrage when a Hindu is allowed to give an invocation in Congress on a single day, instead of Christians getting to do it every time.

To them, it matters little if the story is outrageously distorted relative to reality; this is bread & butter for them. When Ben Carson was telling that story about how he was a stabby teenager, it mattered little that his story was blatantly fake. Such is expected among fundamentalists; the main idea is that your story is "true" in a different sense, the most important element being about how it glorifies God and faith.

These films aren't signs that Christianity in America is weakening, but rather that it's going more mainstream in its propaganda. Yes, it's losing adherents overall, but like the Republican Party, that just means that the ones who are left are become more fervent, passionate, and entrenched, doing more and more to establish their grip on the culture.

[–] kurt-2000 9 years ago

The OP didn't see the sequel, since it hasn't been released yet. And assuming the OP even saw GND in 2014, he/she should have known it was a pro-Christian film. There is no excuse for this kind of temper tantrum on his/her part.

Then the OP copied his/her/its comments from the first film. Prejudice runs deep.

[–] DrIdaho 9 years ago

The sequel definitely has a straw man in it just like in the first installment.