Goddamn religious censorship

There has been a round of religiously motivated censorship recently that I would like to draw everyone’s attention to.

First is the anti-Koran film Fitna which was pulled from LiveLeak due to threats according to the Underwire. Dan originally had the film embedded on his site when he talked about it a couple of days ago. You can still see a copy at Google Video.

Then of course is our favourite religious corporate organization, the Church of Scientology. They sued to stop the distribution of The Profit, a fictional film about a religious group that resembles the Co$. This event happened a few years ago but illegal distribution is still going on and the controversy is still active as of three days ago. Anti-Co$ hacker network Anonymous drew everyone’s attention to the film again recently. You can get the torrent at TPB (h/t DtB).

Lastly there is the PZ Myers episode last week of being expelled from Expelled. PZ is a biology prof and evolution blogger. Expelled is a creationist “documentary” about how “Big Science” shuts out the dissenting views on evolution. PZ went to a showing, was recognized while standing in line and kicked out of the theater. His three guests got in though, one of which was … wait for it … this dude! PZ blogged the incident and epic lulz ensued.

What to make of all this? Hey, the religious orgs are doing what they do: shutting people up and trying to control the message. Whether it involves litigation or violence, organized religion wants to build boundaries around the minds of believers and non-believers alike. The sad thing is that they have been surprisingly successful. However, I think this just makes them look worse in the end. I can’t wait for the day when transparency and rationality reign.