Meditation 949
More religion in the news: The fighters against Satan
by: JT
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In Italy the former chief exorcist for Rome, Father Gabriele Amorth has denounced yoga and Harry Potter. According to Amorth, yoga is satanic because it leads to Hinduism and the false belief in reincarnation and the Harry Potter books are satanic because they lead to false beliefs in black magic and wizardry. In an earlier statement, Amorth proclaimed that the Church's problems with clergy abusing children sexually was proof that the Anti-Christ was waging a war against the Catholicism. Perhaps Amorth is proof that the religion is out of touch with reality.
Meanwhile, on this side of the Atlantic, a group calling itself Christians For A Moral America (whose website url is ambiguously http://christiansforamoralamerica.blogspot.com/) have called for a boycott of the new movie The Hobbitt. This group's mission is "Too long have we witnessed the destruction of our morals and values by advocates for Satan. We must overcome the enemy and take back our country before it's too late."
As for the film, it is due to be released a year from now and obviously has not been seen by those calling for a boycott. However, thier ignorance of the contents of the film has not stopped them from pre-emptively declaring it a work of evil because Peter Jackson is an atheist, an atheist who undermined the themes of the original text version of Lord of the Rings - you know, the themes of good versus evil and Christians versus atheists. (Remember the Christians and atheist in the book?) Thus, by their logic, the prequel is destined to be Anti-Christian bigotry and Atheist propaganda. Their announcement of the boycott reads as over-the-top parody, demonstrating religious extremism and parodies of religious extremism are indistinguishable.
Another one in a war with Satan is televangelist Ron Parsley. He announced he needs an additional $1.2 million because "The Adversary is waging an all out assault on our finances." Yes - it's Satan's fault he needs money, not that he cannot manage his minstry within a budget.
Among the benefits of being non-believers is that in addition to not having a God to worry about, we also don't have a Satan to worry about either. We can take personal responsibility for our own successes and failures. And we remain just as capable of critical analysis of the supernatural as presented in fictional entertainments as we are as we are capable of critical analysis of the supernatural as presented in "holy" scripture.