Posted on 12/06/2005 8:23:25 AM PST by NYer
Los Angeles, December 5, 2005 -- Beyond Belief Media has formally
declared war on Christmas, the December 25 holiday in which
Christians celebrate the birth of the mythical figure Jesus Christ,
the company announced today.
“Christian conservatives complain nonstop about the ‘War on
Christmas,’ but there really isn’t any such war,” said Beyond
Belief Media president Brian Flemming, a former fundamentalist
Christian who is now an atheist activist. “So we have decided to
wage one, to demonstrate what it would look like if Jesus’ birthday
were truly attacked.”
As its opening salvo, Beyond Belief Media has purchased
advertisements this week in the New York Times, USA Today and the New
Yorker magazine. The company’s 300-member volunteer “street
team” is also descending on Christmas-themed public events with
random “guerilla giveaways” of Beyond Belief’s acclaimed
documentary THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE.
“No Christmas pageant or Nativity display is safe from our
troops,” said Flemming. “Wherever the mythical figure Jesus is
celebrated as if he were real, we will be there with an information
barrage. We will undercut the idea that there is any point at all to
celebrating the ‘birth’ of a character in a fairy tale.”
THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE is a taboo-shattering documentary that
Newsweek says “irreverently lays out the case that Jesus Christ
never existed.” The film includes interviews with some of the top
religion experts in the world. Directed by Flemming, the movie is
also highly critical of the modern Christian right and explores the
dangers that religious belief poses to society. The movie has been
praised by critics but condemned by pro-theocracy groups such as
James Dobson’s Focus on the Family.
“Obviously our ‘War on Christmas’ is a bit tongue-in-cheek,”
said Flemming. “But the Christian myth does dominate U.S. culture,
and there’s no time better than Christmas to take a fresh look at
that myth and see it for what it is.”
The print ads, which encourage giving THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE as
"the perfect holiday gift," may be viewed at http://www.thegodmovie.com. The New Yorker magazine ad appears in the Dec.
12 issue, going on sale today. The New York Times ad appears on Dec.
6, the USA Today ad on Dec. 9. The “guerilla giveaway” raids on
Christmas pageants and mall Santa locations begin today and continue
through Christmas.
ABOUT BRIAN FLEMMING
Brian Flemming’s fictional work has been called "a parallel
universe" by the BBC, "jaggedly imaginative" by the New York Times,
and "immensely satisfying" by USA Today. The Fox News Channel dubbed
him "a young Oliver Stone." He wrote and directed the independent
feature NOTHING SO STRANGE, which won the 2002 New York Times
Claiborne Pell Award for Original Vision. A playwright as well as a
filmmaker, Flemming is the co-author of the hit play BAT BOY: THE
MUSICAL, which played eight months in New York in 2001 (Lucille
Lortel Award for Best Musical). John Landis (BLUES BROTHERS) will
direct the film version of BAT BOY, expected in 2007. Flemming’s
previous nonfiction work, including many segments for the magazine-
style show “Split Screen,” has aired on Bravo, the Independent
Film Channel, ABC.com and Beliefnet.com.
ABOUT THE GOD WHO WASN’T THERE
“Provocative -- to put it mildly,” said the Los Angeles Times
about THE GOD WHO WASN’T THERE. Since its world premiere in May
2005, the film has had theatrical exposure in New York, Los Angeles,
San Francisco and dozens of other cities. THE GOD WHO WASN’T THERE
won the 2005 Best Documentary prize at the Grassroots Cinema Festival.
Partial cast list:
--Sam Harris won the 2005 PEN Award for his uncompromising book The
End of Faith, which argues that religious faith poses great dangers
to the human race.
--Robert M. Price is Professor of Biblical Criticism at the Center
for Inquiry Institute and a fellow of the Jesus Seminar.
--Richard Dawkins, possibly the world’s most famous atheist, is an
evolutionary biologist and author of several best-selling books.
--Alan Dundes was Professor of Folklore and Anthropology at the
University of California, Berkeley.
ABOUT BEYOND BELIEF MEDIA
The mission of Beyond Belief Media is to provoke conversation about
the dangers of religious belief.
CONTACT:
Zoe Lee
Beyond Belief Media
7510 Sunset Blvd. #504
Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 874-1517
publicity@thegodmovie.com
http://www.thegodmovie.com
It's not so much a war on Christmas as it is a war on Christ.
Good grief! God forbid that people would stay married to one another and not murder their own children! [SARCASM/IRONY ALERT]
What is wrong with those folks is no small thing.
Why ain't they mad at halloween?
The "mythical figure Jesus Christ"? Boy, do they have a surprise waiting for them.
Guess this group hasn't heard: "Be careful what you ask for".
Sheesh! What went wrong in 300 people's lives that compels them to behave like this? I know most of the article is fictional, but why would you even *think* of doing this?!?!?!?
Some people are pretty sad...
I've also been getting tired of the overheated complaints about Wal Mart greeters and Walgreen's cashiers refusing to scream "MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!" at everyone who walks in or out. Seems a bit extreme to actually go out and start canvassing Christmas events with Atheist literature though.
I doubt that was meant as a compliment!
THEY WILL BE JUDGED!
If Jesus were so "mythical" then why are they going to such extreme lengths to say he is?
Gee - do you suppose this reporter is just a wee bit prejudiced???
If we can get 20% of America to boycott the idiots doing this we'd win.
The homosexuals have 2-3% (dispite claims of 10), the liberals probably have less when it comes down to actual supporters. Corporations know this, and will change course when their gold comes into question.
Christmas used to be a time of Good News, love, giving and sharing. Now it's become a time of political conflict caused by buttheads who can't keep their noses out of other people's business.
If he is so mythical, why do Roman (aka non-Christian) historians mention him?
I'm still trying to figure out what "jaggedly imaginative" is supposed to mean.
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