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Imax Theaters Demur On Controversial Science Films
circletimessquare writes "The New York Times is reporting that a number of Imax theatres are passing on science-themed films that might provoke controversy among a handful of religious fundamentalists. Films that are having their distribution impacted include '"Cosmic Voyage," which depicts the universe in dimensions running from the scale of subatomic particles to clusters of galaxies; "Galápagos," about the islands where Darwin theorized about evolution; and "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea," an underwater epic about the bizarre creatures that flourish in the hot, sulfurous emanations from vents in the ocean floor.'"
According to the article, religious people had little affect. Imax cancelled these films, an editor theorizes it could be because religious people might get upset at these films (what? we don't get upset at Discovery channel...sigh), and VOILA! We get a full-fledged Slashdot peanut gallery bashing us "religious fundamentalists".
Sigh.
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit
Religion is a mental illness.
Ya know, it's cool and all to be the guy that hates Christians, but what kind of a hissy-fit would people be throwing if IMAX decided to show, for example, "Amazing Grace" (http://www.monergismbooks.com/amazing2112.html) or some other "fundie" film? Science doesn't always have the answer. It might not be clear why we're against abortion; then again, nobody really understood why some people were so hesitant to board the Hindenburg.
IMAX theaters in science museums shouldn't show creationism, as it's not science.
How can you just toss creationism out as "not science," By doing so you are as closed minded as the fundamentalists. The nature of science is for presentation of the facts and interpreting them. Just because creationists have different theories and interpretations doesn't discount them completely.
One of the good things about having an alternative theory is that it will bring out the gaps in the current theory, and force us to answer the open questions and create a more complete answer.
Rather than looking at creationism as a waste, try to learn from it. What evidence do they have that can't be explained by the current evolutionary theory? What are the gaps in the current theory they try to explain? Then work on solving those problems and create a more robust theory of evolution. Religion feeds on doubt. Once a theory is mature enough and has sufficient evidence, even the church can't deny it.
D6 63 0D 70 89 81 BB 8E 7B 7C 5F 5D 54 EA AB 73
Christianity (and all other religions) are superstitions that enslave people by keeping them wallowing in ignorance.
Until religion can eradicated, mankind will continue to wallow in ignorance.
Dubya and his retard neo-con republicrat lemmings are perfect examples of the stupidity of mankind in general.
God died. Get over it. Grow up..
Yes, those know-nothing religious fanatics sure are STUPID!
Come on, just because I profess to know Jesus? If only all that time in the science museum were able to OPEN some minds... I'm an engineer. I've been to other countries, spoken other languages, protested wars, and read Marx and Nietche. Just think about the PEOPLE you're disabusing.
Insightful? Really?
If there is a problem with the content of the films that causes the theatre to lean away from screening it then perhaps they're making a prudent business decision. The question then becomes who are these folks who are CENSORING OUR EDUTAINMENT? It's all those DARWIN NUTS down at the MUSEUM!
Sounds silly, right?
"The Borba"
I'd make a snide comment but I'm laughing too hard.
You sound as if fear, uncertainty and doubt are bad things.
If I don't want people to watch something that I believe is false, then what's wrong? Yeah, there should be more people discussing things and sharing views, without the pitch-forks, etc., but what went wrong in this scenario?
"Blasphemous", wouldn't have been the best theological word, but I don't think that that's the issue here. I see you focusing on that word, but I think that you are really upset at other aspects of the situation.
testing out my trending skills
Yeah, sure, but kind of petty to point out. How many novels have you published? ;-)
Professor of Astronomy, Author of Spider Star & Star Dragon (Tor)
I am a fundamentalist Bible-believing Christian, but that doesn't mean that I checked my intelligence at the door.
No, no, that is what that means. With no real evidence, you decided that a really old book contains the absolute truth about everything. If anything contradicts that book it simply must be wrong no matter what. No matter how good the evidence.
intelligence (n-tl'-jns) pronunciation n.
1. The capacity to acquire and apply knowledge.
2. The faculty of thought and reason.
I'd say you are sorely lacking in both of these.
Everything seemed to be going so nice
'till the end of all beings punched right through the ice
And when you consider that faith is the total absence of facts, the depravity of some people becomes even clearer.
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
You'd be amazed how many fundies go straight into a planetarium show about the Hubble Space Telescope - in a SCIENCE MUSEUM - and are SHOCKED that it mentions that the Unverse is around 15 billion years old. Then there was the one who complained to the local paper that the show about the Moon mentioned lots of theories about where the Moon came from, but didn't mention how God did it. The frustrating thing is that when we get complaints, we still have to be *civil* to our customers, not call them idiots, respect their beliefs, and somehow still defend your decision to run such programming. And it's hard explain your side of the argument while the guy making the complaint just keeps walking out the door with the rest of the audience. It might be natural for us in the science museum profession to want to hide away from the controversy and hope it goes away, but that won't make it get any better. This is a really, sad and frightening trend.
Speaking for "fundies" here, they aren't shocked that you mentioned that the universe is 15 billion years old, but rather that you tout unproven theories like they are fact. Christians want their voice to be heard and Creationism and Evolution to both be presented with all of the correct facts and theories given as free speech in the schools, but this is not allowed in America. Your job would not be so frustrating if you simply treated your theory as it is - a theory. It's equally as frustrating on the other side of the fence - but for a different reason - Creationism is not given a single chance to be heard in the schools. And yet how many thousands of Christians are there who are on the front lines of scientific research, pioneering new breakthroughs in science? The truth is painful, my friend.Who moved my sig?
I am absolutely disgusted by religion. It's an anathema to progress. It holds back society...are we before a new Dark Ages?
(I am also deeply sad about the turn the American society has taken. As a European, what once was the bright light for all humanity is now something to think about, if not totally avoid.)
You missed swan-fucking and random limb-birthing. Nice country you guy have there... that bullshit has gone on long enough, what aren't the rational people leaving so the thumpers can finish driinge the country into the ground? Sometimes you have to cut your losses...
perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)'
Except a heliocentric solar system has been proven. Evolution has not.
OOoh i was really close to thinking "ok, he's got a point...", but the last sentance changed my mind: "You can't ignore terrorist Christians just like you can't ignore terrorist Muslims."
Did I miss some event in the world? When did the term 'christian' and 'terrorist' come together in the same context as blowing yourself up on a bus filled with hapless commuters, or launching daily qassam rockets at kindergarten schools?
Evolution/Gay-Marrige/Abortion etc is all just polite-talk that excercises all our rights. We can sit and whine about which side is imposing its will. We can even yell and scream, threaten, and bad mouth each other. But, your not about to kill me other over it, and I'm not about to kill you for not accepting my view.
In this light, 'liberal extremist' and 'right wing conservative' is more humourous than dangerous. And that is a far cry from the idea of 'christian terrorists' being on the same scale as 'muslim terrorists'.
That is exactly the kind of 'dumping on religous oriented ppl' that I was talking about. Your closing comments only furthered my point.
The only PT Boat Journal on the web: http://www.PT171.org