The God Racket, From DeMille to DeLay

Interesting Op-Ed piece today in the NYT:

FRANK RICH
The God Racket, From DeMille to DeLay

Published: March 27, 2005

As Congress and the president scurried to play God in the lives of Terri Schiavo and her family last weekend, ABC kicked off Holy Week with its perennial ritual: a rebroadcast of the 1956 Hollywood blockbuster, "The Ten Commandments."

Cecil B. DeMille's epic is known for the parting of its Technicolor Red Sea, for the religiosity of its dialogue (Anne Baxter's Nefretiri to Charlton Heston's Moses: "You can worship any God you like as long as I can worship you.") and for a Golden Calf scene that DeMille himself described as "an orgy Sunday-school children can watch." But this year the lovable old war horse has a relevance that transcends camp. At a time when government, culture, science, medicine and the rule of law are all under threat from an emboldened religious minority out to remake America according to its dogma, the half-forgotten show business history of "The Ten Commandments" provides a telling back story.

Edit: spelling

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/arts/27Rich.html


http://www.kliljedahl.net

wall-to-wall Jesus, all day long . . . (until prime time, of course, when they revert to their old standby: hot rods and choppers . . . but they're no doubt CHRISTIAN hot rods and choppers) . . .

Needs to be renamed the Mythology Channel.

She's catholic, I'm agnostic. Makes for some strange conversations at times.


http://www.kliljedahl.net

I wait patiently for a statement by Howard Dean or Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi.

Because it won't happen.