The GOD Blog

Tom Cruise is planning to file a $100 million lawsuit against a publishing company that is going to sell a book claiming Cruise is #2 in command of the Scientology empire. The leader of Scientology is currently David Miscavige, a man who once had Scientologist staffers plant an entire field full of flowers because Cruise suggested that he would like to run through a meadow of flowers with then-wife Nicole Kidman.

Tom Cruise's career has struggled lately, with a collection of flops or underwhelming box office revenue in recent years. Many believe that Cruise's bizarre behavior is to blame. He shrugged off rumors that he was gay by jumping on Oprah's couch and proclaiming his love for actress Katie Holmes. His Scientologist views have also landed him in PR trouble, and many who have worked with him are uneasy with the control the religion has over Cruise's career decisions.
Diana author names Tom Cruise as 'World Number Two in Scientology' | the Daily Mail

Jerry Falwell, the man who established the Moral Majority and started a college that pumps out more White House employees than Harvard and Princeton combined, has passed away.

By solidifying the Religious Right, Falwell was able to bring Christians together to vote against liberals and feminists. He fought hard for 1950's ideals, a peaceful time in his world before such "evils" as free choice and civil rights were a part of the American lexicon.

With Jerry Falwell gone, the title of most hateful American has been passed down to his lesser cousin, Pat Robertson. Robertson has used his position not only to gain wealth and fame, as Falwell did, but also to hurt some of the poorest people in the world. Those who have donated money to his cause probably do not know that the funds were used to transport diamond mining equipment to Africa, where people are exploited for labor in exchange for false promises of riches. Bravo, Mr. Robertson.

Jerry Falwell will be given his own solitary place in hell. He'll get two visitors each year: Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon, who both have reserved places in the isolation wing. I can only hope that the achievements of Jerry Falwell here on earth are destroyed as quickly as possible. Liberty University should be stripped of its accreditation. I can't understand why anyone other than President Bush would hire a graduate of that school anyway.

Hardly anyone reads this site, but I'm sure the one person who does is going to Liberty right now, and I'll bet they are angry about this post. I do not apologize. Was your first instinct "how can I get this guy back for what he's saying"? How very Christian of you. Just relax and let it go. You're not going to convert me.
My Way News - TV Evangelist Jerry Falwell Dies at 73

The United States tends to be lenient as far as movie sales go. Although some racy stuff can't be seen in theaters, just about anything can be sold in stores, as long as it does not violate obscenity laws or contain lewd images of children. There is one film that does not meet that criteria but is nevertheless banned from distribution by an American court order. What's the name of that film? The Profit.

The Church of Scientology is a litigious religious group. They'll probably sue me for saying that. They sued and got the filmed blocked from the United States in 2002. Their reasoning may differ, but it's common opinion that the film is a fictional biopic of L. Ron Hubbard and a history of the creation of Scientology. The director of the film claims the lead character was based upon a fictional character. That main character's name just happens to be L. Conrad Powers (get it, L. Con Power?).

Despite making attempts to distance Scientology from the film, the group sued to prevent it from being released, claiming that it would influence a jury pool in the murder case of Lisa McPherson, who died while in the care of Scientologists. A judge issued a court order preventing the release of the film indefinitely. The McPherson case has been settled, but the court order remains. The man who once funded the civil case on behalf of McPherson and other suits with the Church of Scientology has since fought against the films release. He made a frantic call in the middle of the night to a friend, claiming his family was in danger. Many believe that he is being blackmailed by the Church.
The Profit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Kansas school board, which has been America's most ignorant group for 55 consecutive years, has decided to accept a part of science most educated school districts accepted over a century ago: species evolve through a process called natural selection.

Natural selection has not been kind to the state of Kansas. Due in part to lack of high-paying jobs, the brain drain out of the state has been quite constant for 150 years, and there's really no reason for anyone to move there, especially anyone with anything more than a high school diploma. It's good to see that radiation has somehow mutated the genes of Kansas' leaders and led them to make a decision that could finally help turn this state around. With an education system that has been lacking, Kansas needs to at least make sure that what they are teaching children is correct and won't get their students laughed at if they go to college.
Kansas Rewriting Science Standards | World Latest | Guardian Unlimited

On this date, nearly 400 years ago, famed scientist Galileo faced charges of heresy in an ecclesiastical court created by Pope Urban VIII, a man Galileo once considered a friend.

The fight between Galileo and the Pope has many parallels with the fight many face with organized religion today. Galileo's heresy was his claim that the Earth revolved around the sun. The Pope, who had limited astronomical experience compared to that of Galileo, disagreed. The Pope's word was the law of the land at the time. Galileo published a book about the subject, and he essentially mocked the Pope in the form of a fictional character.

Galileo ended up getting off easy: forced renouncement of his theory and a lifetime of house arrest. Today he'd be taken out by a church muscle. Of course, it'd be kept very secret, and we'd never find out about.
Wired News: Feb. 13, 1633: Church vs. Galileo

Keith Ellison is the first Muslim to be elected to Congress, and there was a bit of an uproar when he announced that he would be taking his oath of office with the Koran instead of the Bible. Virgil Goode, a Congressman from Virginia, called the idea a threat to American values.

Mr. Goode better get used to eating his own excrement, because Ellison has found a very savvy solution to the controversy: using a Koran once owned by one of America's founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson. The Library of Congress has possession of the rare book, and will lend it out for very special events such as this. They have also loaned out very rare Bibles for the same use.

Virgil Goode just happens to represent the same district where Thomas Jefferson was born, so this whole debacle is turning into a lot of egg on his ignorant face.
Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts - But It's Thomas Jefferson's Koran! - washingtonpost.com

In the interest of being fair to evangelicals, I've got to post this story about a church in Montana. Three teenagers recently broke into the church on November 12 and stole money and stereo equipment while causing thousands of dollars in damage.

Police arrested the young men, and a judge will decide their punishment, but the church has taken a different approach. They have made gift baskets filled with gift cards, a DVD player, and XBox, and other items and invited the young men to come to church.

I'm glad one church has actually taken the message of the Bible to heart and is actually fostering an atmosphere of caring, instead of punishment. I think they'll find a much larger and happier congregation than churches that spend their time trying to rule the lives of non-members by protesting at Planned Parenthood clinics or trying to disrupt funerals for Iraq war victims by linking their fate to our acceptance of gay marriage.
Great Falls Tribune - www.greatfallstribune.com - Great Falls, MT