By the way… an update on this movie. It has basically bombed at the theater. Its opening weekend take in the U.S. was $26.1M, which is below even the worst-case scenario by New Line Cinema, hoping for at least $30M. By comparison, The Chronicles of Narnia’s opening take in December 2005 was $65.6M. To add insult to injury, nearly 5,000 Yahoo reviewers have given it an average C+ rating. Revenue from international release (where it’s been out for 5 days) is $55M–for all other countries. It cost New Line $180M to make it! I doubt they’ll even break even on this one.

I believe I’ll have another beer.

William, you always make interesting comments. Although you’re being somewhat dishonest with the history of our country, and also trying to slip through an argument that doesn’t hold water. To say that there is a direct correlation between the rise of atheism and “better” education is a non sequitur. First, how are you defining better educational systems? By whose standards and definitions? Second, it was religious people who championed education in this country from the start–so people would know how to read the Bible! Christians have always been pro-education, not anti-education.

With regard to Mitt Romney, he was directly quoting a Founding Father of this country–John Adams. They were Adams’ own words about religion and its role in a free country like ours. I thought Mitt’s speech was rather brilliant. (Perhaps you’re overdosing on the DailyKos?)

We’ve had a discussion of faith elsewhere, so I won’t repeat it here. I will say this briefly: You have faith every day. Faith that the car you ride in will not crash. Faith that the chair you sit in will not break and fall. Etc. Faith is a reasonable expectation based on evidence. I would never advocate suspending reason or taking a “blind leap” of faith. That is not what Christianity is based on. It is based on evidence. In short, it is a reasonable faith (expectation).

Organized religion, as you point out, has had it’s checkered past. There are many things Christians are not proud of in our history (e.g. the Crusades of the Middle Ages). However, when I look at history, some of the most obscene atrocities were committed by atheists–like Stalin (Communism), Mussolini (Fascism) and Hitler (Nazism). I believe you’re view that atheism, if only adopted by the masses would somehow put the world right, is naive at best.

The number of secular Americans has nearly doubled between 1990 and 2001 to 14.2% while the number of Christians has declined from 86% to 76%.

Interestingly, Finland, Belgium, and Sweden, whose educational systems far outshine and outrank Ammerica have the largest non-religious populations. Only 34% of Dutch citizens, 41% of Swedes believe in God.

This trend toward secularization and better education can only serve to breakdown the division and conflict religion has brought, creating a higher degree of reason, rational thought and cooperation. Religion has been the cause for conflict in human history and if artists perhaps reflect the trend away from religion toward secularization.

Mitt Romney’s speech stoked the divisiveness of politics and religion, pitting the ‘bad secularists’ against the so-called ‘people with faith’ – citing the dubious notion that founding fathers built America based on ‘religious faith.’

Faith is not a mere failure of reason: Faith is the willful abdication of reason.

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have a president making decisions based on reason and rational thought over ‘faith’.

Schaeffer once wrote (going from memory here so it may not be quite right), that there is a progression of how ideas are adopted by society or “the common man”. It starts with philosophers and thinkers. An idea then is adopted by artists of various kinds. It then makes it way into popular entertainment, and finally the idea is accepted by the culture.

It is just one movie…but I find its message troubling. And movies do have a powerful role in our society.

You said “Christians, of all people, have nothing to fear from engaging with and hearing other viewpoints. We should welcome debate because it is only through that debate and opposition we will know if our faith and beliefs are built on a foundation of truth, or a foundation of lies.”

Nothing to fear? You sound pretty threatened to me. This movie is fiction, right?

Why do you associate liberals with atheists?

You wouldn’t be the first. And talk about indoctrination:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CgvgjfwyPs