Remember Kirk Cameron? AKA Mike Seaver, of “Growing Pains” fame?
After a lifetime of teenage debauchery, Kirk became the poster-boy (poster-man? I dunno) for Living Waters Ministries, a more obscure branch of the evangelical fringe known for ambush-style witnessing and homoerotic videos involving bananas and opposable thumbs. Living Waters, in turn, is the launch pad for the Way of the Master, which handles most of the web videos and “are you a good person” tests and whatnot. When he’s not busy making lousy movies, Cameron’s a prominent contributor to WOTM, often warming viewers up for some sweet shock witnessing by founder Ray Comfort (a man who has also apparently taken over his own Wikipedia page, according to the note at the beginning of the entry).
Not content to settle for appropriate venues or acceptable situations, the WOTM has lately taken a more heavy handed approach to thrusting itself into the popular culture spotlight. Want to know Michael Jackson’s REAL cause of death, or whether he made it to heaven? Comfort and crew concocted a tasteless disrespectful video answering just those questions (short answer; he died because he wasn’t Christian enough, and is probably burning in Hell because he didn’t want to be buried in an Egyptian sarcophagus. Just watch).
Now that the dust’s settled somewhat on the tragic death of the unrepentant sinner MJ, Comfort, Cameron and crew have settled their sights on a familiar foe; Charles Darwin. According to a video featuring Cameron and released by WOTM, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the release of Origin of Species (November 22, dubbed "Darwin Day"), Comfort and Living Waters Ministries will be handing out 100,000 copies of a newly self-published version of Darwin’s opus to colleges scattered across the country. Here’s the catch; the books will feature a 50-page introduction to Darwin, penned by Ray Comfort himself.
Described as chance to interject an alternate viewpoint into atheist-churning public universities, Comfort’s intro touches on a variety of subjects, including Darwin’s supposed racist tendencies, his inherent hatred of women, an the undeniable proof that Evolutionary Theory caused the Holocaust.
After watching this video (Via Huffpost) and skimming the introduction (cut me some slack, it’s a lot of shit to wade through) I was tempted to break it down and address the content piece by piece. But YouTube video blogger Christina beat me to it. She pretty much tears this to shreds. And does so with a hot Romanian accent. Observe:
Beyond rebuking WOTM back to the Stone Age (assuming they accept that there was indeed a Stone Age), Christina also raises an interesting point. If Richard Dawkins were to write an introduction to the Bible and distribute it to schools, the Religious Right would lose its shit like it has never lost its shit before. Yet when the Banana Man writes a ludicrous preamble to one of most widely-celebrated scientific texts in the modern world, it’s championed by the fundamentalist Christians. I smell a huge double-standard here.
Cameron mentioned that Origin of Species was in the public domain. So’s the Bible. The Religious Right should remember that when Dawkings or some other prominent scientist inevitably decides to take it upon themselves to pen an introduction to the Good Book. Before you gather your torches and pitchforks for that unavoidable witch hunt, remember that it was your team that started it.
J-dog, please don't try to tell me that you are surprised by the radical right being a bunch of self-serving shills. It is their modus operandi.
ReplyDeleteI tell you what might be a little surprising though, is the fact that in this day and age, they still have such a loyal following, one who is willing to give them money.