The Lonely Goatherd Blog And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats - Matthew 25:32
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December 08, 2005
Brian Flemming's Lonely Christmas Blogcritics alumni Brian Flemming is out of his tree- specifically, he's out of his Christmas tree. Independent film producer Flemming and his promotional company Beyond Belief Media have officially "declared war on Christmas." From his PRNewswire release:
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 DVD "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. The movie has been praised by critics but condemned by pro-theocracy groups such as James Dobson's Focus on the Family.
God bless Brian Flemming. He's rebelling awfully hard against a God who's not even there. Brother, why ya fighting Christ so hard when he never even existed, according to this reckoning?
Sometimes protestant Christian types sympathetically suggest that supposed atheists really still believe, but that they're simply in rebellion against God- much like a teenage child. I don't put much stock generally in that bit of amateur Freudian psychology.
In fact, a lot of us just aren't buying the stories. Why would I rebel against someone who doesn't exist. It'd be like rebelling against the Easter Bunny, Gopher God or Lord Darth Vader. It'd just be silly.
Then there's Brian Flemming, flailing away, tilting at Christian windmills. He looks at harmless old Jerry Falwell on tv, and he somehow sees a murderous mullah. Whatever. Watch out Brian, Jesus gonna jump out and GET YA!
Now of course Brian's also got a promotional thing that he's using his personal issues for here, getting good use of them. Picking a dumb fight with James Dobson is not only emotionally satisfying, but also good for business. Pretty clever guerilla promotional work, actually.
I admire Brian Flemming. He's quite clever, and he's about something. Beyond everything else, I appreciate his professional hustle.
Of course, Brian Flemming has history around Blogcritics, including an abortive run for governor of California during the recall. Yee-haw, did he like to post the rabid wingnut lefty rants. He went on a particularly vicious campaign as a Blogcritic against candidate Schwarzenegger after he dropped out.
Brian and me kinda had a thing. We were in mad hatey-hate, meeting here at Blogcritics. Ew, wee, was he giving me heck. Heck, I say!
Ah, lost love. He drifted away, quit responding, and quit posting here altogether. Now poor Brian's alone at Christmas, shivering in the cold, cold night, with no Blogcritics or Jesus to keep him warm.
Let's all keep Brian Flemming in our prayers this Christmas.
