Conservatives Admit Defeat In Culture War

Some conservatives are conceding defeat in the culture wars. The Telegraph reports:

Leading evangelicals have admitted that their association with George W. Bush has not only hurt the cause of social conservatives but contributed to the failure of the key objectives of their 30-year struggle.

James Dobson, 72, who resigned recently as head of Focus on the Family – one of the largest Christian groups in the country – and once denounced the Harry Potter books as witchcraft, acknowledged the dramatic reverse for the religious Right in a farewell speech to staff.

“We tried to defend the unborn child, the dignity of the family, but it was a holding action,” he said.

“We are awash in evil and the battle is still to be waged. We are right now in the most discouraging period of that long conflict. Humanly speaking, we can say we have lost all those battles.”

Despite changing the political agenda for a generation, and helping push the Republicans to the Right, evangelicals have won only minor victories in limiting the availability of abortion. Meanwhile the number of states permitting civil partnerships between homosexuals is rising, and the campaign to restore prayer to schools after 40 years – a decision that helped create the Moral Majority – has got nowhere.

Though the struggle will go on, the confession of Mr Dobson, who started his ministry from scratch in 1977, came amid growing concern that church attendance in the United States is heading the way of Britain, where no more than ten per cent worship every week.

Steve Benen agrees with James Dobson that the right has lost (even if they are not all giving up the fight. (Has anyone ever before written the words “Steve Benen agrees with James Dobson?)

Now, in fairness, this report omitted some context. As my friend Kyle reported, Dobson actually emphasized his desire to keep the fight going, despite the religious right movement’s setbacks: “Humanly speaking, we can say that we have lost all those battles, but God is in control and we are not going to give up now, right? … I have been assured by the board and by many of you that we’re not going to cow, we’re not going to be discouraged.”

That said, whether Dobson and his cohorts give up now or not, his assessment about their lack of success is nevertheless accurate. The culture war is all but over, and far-right evangelicals have precious little to show for their efforts. After about three decades of fighting, the culture warriors are hard pressed to point to any progress at all.

Anti-gay animus is not only waning, four states now allow gay marriage. Abortion is still legal and a majority of Americans are still pro-choice. School prayer isn’t even on the political world’s radar screen anymore. Pornography is not only a multi-billion industry; it’s more accessible than ever. The single fasting growing segment of the American spiritual landscape is non-believers and those with no religious identification.

James Joyner also writes that The Right  Lost The Culture War in response to this article in the Washington  Examiner.  Political editor Chris Stirewalt asked, “Has the Right surrendered in the culture war?”

I would quibble, however, with one word in Stirewalt’s question.  The right hasn’t surrendered the culture wars; we lost.

And yes, I include myself.  As regular readers know, I’m decidedly not religious and am libertarian on these matters with respect to the use of government power.  I spent the first nearly-three-decades of my life, though, immersed in Southern and military culture.  I’m still anti-abortion (although not anti-contraception) still oppose reading same-sex marriage into the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause (a subject for a separate post).

Conservative culture has been under assault from the popular culture, the schools, and the courts for quite some time now.  We’ve lost the youth and future generations are decidedly unlikely to ever become meaningfully “conservative,” short of an apocalyptic scenario.

I am not yet prepared to claim victory and consider the culture war won for liberalism. I’ve often written that history is on our side. The trend of history has been towards greater liberty and for reason over superstition. However history does not always work in straight lines. It is not possible to know what issues will reemerge in the short run. Just four years ago the right was able to capitalize on anti-gay marriage initiatives to bring out the religious right and defeat John Kerry. While the trend of history is towards greater liberty, there will always be opponents who desire to impose their will and values upon others.

SciFi Weekend: Cancelled and Returning Shows; Seinfeld Reunion; Paparazzi and Emma Watson

It is that time of year when we start receiving news on which shows will or will not be returning. It is now official that Life on Mars has been canceled and production will stop after the seventeenth episode, leaving four left. As I didn’t expect the show to return in light of its poor ratings I actually saw the early announcement as good news. Knowing that the show will not be renewed allows them to properly wrap up the series.

The American version Life on Mars will actually run one more episode than the British version. A show of this nature actually works better as a limited run series with a definite beginning and end. Such series are rare on American television, probably guaranteeing failure for this show. If the show had continued for five years it would have either dealt with general police shows or the hints about the time travel aspect would have become increasingly contradictory and incomprehensible, reminiscent of the latter mythology episodes of The X-Files. Hopefully they can now write an ending which does justice to this idea.

Heroes will return for another season but will be reduced to eighteen to twenty episodes. They are also considering a definite end date and conclusion for the series like Lost and Battlestar Galactica.  Upcoming episodes will include Angela Petrelli’s  back story.

terminatortscc_glau

It is questionable if Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will return. The season finale was written to answer a number of questions and serve as a series  finale if it isn’t renewed. This week’s episode returned to the main characters along with wrapping up the Riley stories after recent episodes  seemed to be drifting. It also looks like they are returning to the storyline from the beginning of the series in which Cameron might be damaged. Summer Glau discussed the upcoming episodes:

For her part, Summer Glau, who plays the cyborg Cameron, added that the show will provide some kind of closure for her character as well.

“At the beginning of the second season the thing in Cameron’s life was that she was damaged,” Glau said, referring to the chip in Cameron’s head. “She had been damaged, and then that threw her off her game. And I think if my character was experiencing anything, it might have been insecurity about whether or not she was capable of doing her best at protecting John [Thomas Dekker] anymore. And I think she was really struggling with the insecurity of having a new girl in John’s life, Riley [Leven Rambin]. … And I think that that’s all going to come to a head toward the end of the back nine [episodes], and then in the finale something, there’s just a huge, huge change/resolution/change.”

Summer Glau will also be appearing as herself on Big Bang Theory tomorrow.

matt-smith-dr-who

We already knew that Doctor Who is returning next year with a new show runner and a new Doctor played by Matt Smith. The Tardis is also to be redesigned when Stephen Moffat takes over the show. This will allow Moffat to establish his view of Doctor Who. Reportedly the design will be more high tech and desgned to look better in high defnition.

Lost moved in a new direction yet again with last week’s episode. Sawyer has become head of security for Dharma after the time jumping left him in the past, and he is living with Juliet. The episode ends with the return of Kate and others to the island, which is bound to create new complications.  Now that the story has moved back to Dharma we will learn more about Ben’s early days on a four episode arc involving young Ben.

seinfeld_tv_show

Curb Your Enthusiasm will be returning to HBO and will include a multi-episode arc with the cast of Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards, playing themselves.  The show stars Larry David, creator of Seinfeld, who plays himself, with frequent references to his past work on Seinfeld.

emma-watson-2

Yesterday I noted the remarkable amount of interest on line in nude pictures of Emma Watson (Hermione Granger). The Week reports that interest in salacious pictures has become a serious problem for Watson since turning eighteen:

Emma Watson sometimes wishes she were still 17, says Louise Gannon in the London Daily Mail. The British actress has been playing Hermione in the wildly successful Harry Potter films since the age of 9. Despite all the fame and riches, she managed to stay grounded, studying hard and keeping her private life private. But when she turned 18 last April, the paparazzi in Britain were legally allowed to photograph her at will, and they pounced. “It was pretty tough turning 18,” she said. “I realized that overnight I’d become fair game.” Suddenly her every move was being chronicled by
photographers hoping to catch her in a compromising position. “I had a party in town and the pavements were just knee-deep with photographers trying to get a picture of me looking drunk, which wasn’t going to happen. I don’t actually like being drunk, particularly in public.” She has been taken aback by the level of intrusion, starting the very day she came of age. “The sickest part was when one photographer lay down on the floor to get a shot up my skirt. I woke up the next day and felt completely violated by it all. That’s not something I want in my life. I just kept thinking that if it had happened a day earlier, people would have sued their asses off.”

I don’t know what the law is in the U.K. but I would think there should be some limitations on a photographer’s ability to lie on the ground to invade her privacy in that manner.  Why bother with going to all that effort to harass Emma Watson? There are other young actresses like Lindsay Lohan who are willing to show off everything. (And yes, I’m aware that there are up-skirt pictures of Emma Watson available on line but I purposely excluded them in choosing the picture for this post. It is one thing to post pictures of people like Lohan who are seeking such publicity, but a different matter to post such pictures of others.)

Florida Teacher Fired for Wizardry

Some things are just so bizarre that you can’t make them up. Tampa Bay Online reports:

The telephone call that spelled the end of Jim Piculas’ career as a substitute teacher in Pasco County came on a January day about a week after he performed the disappearing-toothpick trick for a group of rapt middle school students.

Pat Sinclair, who oversees substitute teachers in the Pasco County School District, was on the phone. She told Piculas there had been a complaint about his performance at Rushe Middle School in Land O’ Lakes.

He asked what she meant.

“She said, ‘You’ve been accused of wizardry,’

” Piculas said.

He said the statement seemed bizarre to him, like something out of Harry Potter.

Piculas said he replied, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He said he also told Sinclair, “It’s not black magic. It’s a toothpick.”

Steve Benen is relieved that at least they didn’t burn him at the stake and wonders “how accusations of ‘wizardry’ can exist in the 21st century.” Considering that there are conservatives who believe things such as that dinosaurs and humans coexisted, and considering the conservative reaction to the Harry Potter novels, it comes as little surprise that there remain people who are worried abut wizardry.

SciFi Friday (Sunday Edition): Lost, Torchwood and Jericho Head Towards Finales; Hugo Nominees Announced

It is certainly a relief that the writer’s strike ended and Lost didn’t end the season with Meet Kevin Johnson. Seeing Michael’s story after leaving the island was probably the least interesting of the episodes this season. We did learn a couple of things. The island was capable of keeping Michael from committing suicide even after leaving as there were still things for him to do (unless he just got lucky in the auto accident and Tom told him this hoping it might dissuade Michael from trying again.) For the moment I’ll accept Tom’s claim considering that we also saw Jack’s suicide attempt get interrupted. Besides probably verifying the supernatural nature of the island, seeing Tom also provided further evidence that the Others can come and go from the island. This still leaves the question as to why Ben did not seek medical attention for his tumor off the island.

One mystery that was definitely settled was the identities of the Oceanic Six. The promos for the episodes after Lost returns from hiatus did reveal that Aaron is one of them. I bet that the producers purposely spread information that Aaron wasn’t one of them so that we wouldn’t know that it wasn’t possible for both Jin and Sun to have returned home.

We might have received a little information with regards to other mysteries which are to be revealed later this season. While far from certain, the top theory right now as to who is in the casket in last season’s finale has to be Michael. Once he returns home on the freighter he presumably will be able to commit suicide without interference from the island as his work will have been completed. That assumes that he survives after Sayid has exposed him to Captain Gault.

The bigger mysteries regard Widmore’s reasons for sending the freighter, whether he really intends to kill those on the island, and who really set up the faked Oceanic 815 on the bottom of the ocean also remain. While we’ve heard characters make claims as to what is going on, I don’t think we can trust what anyone says regarding this until more answers are revealed at the end of the season.

Torchwood aired Something Borrowed, featuring Gwen’s wedding on BBC America. Three additional episodes have aired on the BBC. From Out of the Rain is pretty much a stand alone episode, but it does briefly mention Jack’s past. It was an ok episode, but the two following it were much better. Adrift (picture above) shows more of what the rift has done, as well as how Jack has responded. There’s also a game of naked hide and seek. (Jack cheats.)

Fragments, the second from last episode of the season, is particularly worth looking forward to (or downloading) as it reveals how everyone got involved with Torchwood, even Jack. Torchwood as portrayed on Torchwood has always differed from how portrayed on Doctor Who, and this episode attempts to reconcile this by making reference to the destroyed Torchwood London as a different organization. This still does not account for all the discrepancies between Doctor Who and Torchwood but nobody expects either show to be entirely realistic.

Jericho is heading towards a civil war, but it will have to be wrapped up quickly. The show has been canceled and therefore they will be going with the finale which (hopefully) wraps things up. After the show was canceled last season fans grabbed on to a line about nuts in the finale and convinced CBS to give the show another shot by sending in tons of nuts. This time I wonder if CBS executives are insisting that the finale involve silver dollars, Cuban cigars, or perhaps crates of Dom Perignon.

Besides Jericho, it is now official that The Bionic Woman will not return. While not definite, chances are looking good for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles to be renewed. SciFi Channel has also given the go ahead to the pilot for Caprica, the prequel series to Battlestar Galactica, which returns on April 4. Doctor Who will be returning to the BBC on April 5, with shows being broadcast in the U.S. on the SciFi channel beginning April 18. The SciFi Channel will also begin airing The Sarah Jane Adventures on April 11.

The Hugo Award nominees have been announced. Here’s a partial list:

Best Novel: The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon, Brasyl by Ian McDonald, Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer, The Last Colony by John Scalzi, Halting State by Charles Stross

Best Novella: “Fountains of Age” by Nancy Kress, “Recovering Apollo 8” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, “Stars Seen Through Stone” by Lucius Shepard, “All Seated on the Ground” by Connie Willis, “Memorare” by Gene Wolfe

Best Novelette: “The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairytale of Economics” by Daniel Abraham, “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” by Ted Chiang, “Dark Integers” by Greg Egan, “Glory” by Greg Egan, “Finisterra” by David Moles

Best Short Story: “Last Contact” by Stephen Baxter, “Tideline” by Elizabeth Bear, “Who’s Afraid of Wolf 359?” by Ken MacLeod, “Distant Replay” by Mike Resnick, “A Small Room in Koboldtown” by Michael Swanwick

Best Related Book: The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community by Diana Glyer; Breakfast in the Ruins: Science Fiction in the Last Millennium by Barry Malzberg; Emshwiller: Infinity x Two by Luis Ortiz; Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction by Jeff Prucher; The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Enchanted; The Golden Compass; Heroes, season one; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Stardust

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Battlestar Galactica: Razor; Dr. Who, “Blink”; Dr. Who, “Human Nature”/”Family of Blood”; Star Trek New Voyages, “World Enough and Time”; Torchwood, “Captain Jack Harkness”

I’ve previously discussed some of the nominees for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form including Blink, Human Nature, Family of Blood, Razor, and Captain Jack Harkness. I’d give the award to Blink, but the other nominee from Doctor Who comes very close.

SciFi Friday (Sunday Edition): The Oceanic Six, Jericho, SNL, and the Disappointing Return of Amy Sherman-Palladino

This week Lost fooled us until the end with Sun in a flash forward and Jin in a flashback. We also found, to nobody’s surprise, that Michael (now Kevin) is Ben’s spy on the freighter. The producers had said that we would know all six members of the Oceanic Six after this episode, but being Lost there remains controversy as to who they really are. The five definite members are Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, and as of this week, Sun.

There are several possibilities for the sixth. If Jin had been rescued and then died he would have still been the sixth, but his tombstone shows he “died” the day of the crash. As the tombstone is a fake this leaves open the question as to whether he really died or had to remain on the island. It did seem like he was actually dead when Sun and Hurley spoke of him at the end, but there could be misdirection there.

Michael (Kevin) and possibly Walt remain possibilities, but as they got off earlier most likely they have a different cover story or new identities. Aaron could be the sixth, but the producers had said he isn’t in one of the Oceanic Six during one of the podcasts on the show.

There are a couple of more unusual possibilities. We know Ben is alive and off the island in the future. Possibly he left the island assuming the identity of someone else. We certainly know he is capable of obtaining fake identities. It is less likely he would ever go with the people on the freighter. There have been suggestions that Christian Shephard really is alive and perhaps they claimed he was a living passenger on the flight. If so, then perhaps Jack wasn’t just calling for his father as a result of being drunk in last season’s finale.

Jericho is quickly moving towards the season finale, and it is not yet decided if this will also be the series finale. Ratings have not been very good so I do not expect it to survive. At least it looks like the show can go out with a good ending. The problems with Goetz are now resolved, although the repercussions of his killing remain to be seen. Most likely the final episodes will center around fighting the Cheyenne government and trying to expose the role of Jennings & Rall in the nuclear attacks on American cities.

The fourth season of Battlestar Galactica begins Friday, April 4th. If you aren’t up to date, the third season of Battlestar Galactica will be out on DVD on Tuesday. The stars of the show will be doing the Top Ten list on Letterman on Wednesday.

There were seven Harry Potter books, but there are going to be eight movies. The final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is being divided up into two movies. The first part is scheduled for November 2010 and the second part for May 2011. The Harry Potter movies are now the most financially successful film series in history, having surpassed the James Bond series after only five movies.

The Martha Jones trilogy has concluded for those watching Torchwood on BBC America. The next episode, Something Borrowed, features Gwen’s wedding, including an uninvited guest, and some alien sex.

Tracy Morgan responded to Tiny Fey’s recent “editorial” on SNL’s Weekend Update supporting Hillary Clinton because bitches get things done. Morgan responds by saying, “Bitch may be the new black, but black is the new president, bitch!” Morgan also questioned Clinton’s qualifications by saying, “I want to know what qualifies Hillary Clinton to be president? Is it because she was married to the president? If that were true, then Robin Givens would be heavyweight champion of the world.” Raw Story has the video and full transcript.

Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose star in 'Jezebel James'

The Return of Jezebel James premiered on Friday, marking the return to television by Amy Sherman-Palladino after she left Gilmore Girls. Like Gilmore Girls, the new show begins with two women whose relationship differs from the traditional nuclear family. In The Return of Jezebel James Parker Posey has her estranged younger sister, Lauren Ambrose, to be a surrogate mother as she is unable to have her own baby.

Perhaps the show will develop over time, but there was no sign of the dialog and relationships which gave Gilmore Girls its strength. Under the best of circumstances it would be tough for Amy Sherman-Palladino to recapture the success of Gilmore Girls. I fear I watched half expecting Parker Posey to be Lorelei Gilmore. It was even more confusing with Lauren Ambrose as I couldn’t decide if she should be Rory Gilmore or if she should be Claire Fisher, her role on Six Feet Under. Either way, this was certainly a waste of Ambrose’s talent.

Reviewers have said that the second episode is better than the pilot so I will give it another chance, but this show won’t last long without considerable improvement. Perhaps A S-P should concentrate on writing a satisfactory finish to Gilmore Girls to make up for the season done without her.

SciFi Friday: Televison During the Strike; Lost Secrets; The Golden Compass and Religion

With the writers strike going into six weeks the number of new shows is dwindling. AP presents an update as to which shows still have new episodes and which are on indefinite hiatus. Fortunately there are also some shows planned to start in the winter which already have some episodes completed, including Jericho and Lost. Jericho will resume on February 12 with a run of seven new episodes on Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. What seemed like such a short season has now become almost a norm for this year. One new show, The Sarah Conner Chronicles, even has thirteen episodes ready to air starting with a two night premier on January 13-14.


SciFi Wire received some answers from the producers of Lost, but they won’t come as much of a surprise, or really clear up any mysteries. They reveal that “the show is about redemption. All the characters on this island are confronting the failures of their past and revisiting issues that go to the core of their emotional makeup.” Other comments regarding the meaning of the show include the producers saying, “We are interested in exploring how good and evil can be embodied in the same characters and the struggles we all have to overcome the dark parts of our souls.” The person in the coffin at the end of season three is someone we’ve seen before, but there are no further clues. Walt will return but it doesn’t sound like it will be soon. The Jack/Kate/Sawyer triangle will continue. There will continue to be flashbacks and looks into the future. Jacob will be more important to the show in the future, with the producers realizing that the unveiling of Jacob in the third season did not provide any answers.

Heroes concluded with an episode which was intended to be the end of one arc for the season but which served as a good season finale. They put an end to the threat of the virus which in one alternate future wiped out most of humanity, and Hiro gave the immortal Adam the punishment he deserved in being buried alive–forever (or until they decide to bring him back in a future season). Sylar is now rejuvenated and ready to use his powers for evil, after taking a break to play Spock. At least the strike means Zachary Quinto has some time to film Star Trek without limiting his time for Heroes. The idea of going public may be at an end. HRG is back at The Company, but are they really wise to leave him on the loose? It looks like the end for both Nikki and Nathan, but who knows for sure.

Star Trek XI stars filming Leonard Nimoy’s scenes next week. The X-Files movie begins production next month and is signing stars including Amanda Peet (above), formerly of Studio 60.

The controversy created by the Harry Potter books and movies might be greatly exceeded with the opening of The Golden Compass. The books, especially the second and third, really do have an anti-religious bias and those who objected to Harry Potter will find much more to become upset about. That doesn’t mean they necessarily have to hide from the books or movie. After all, my family watched The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and we weren’t tempted to give up our liberal, secular ways (or devil worship if you ask Bill O’Reilly). For those fearful of ideas they don’t agree with, I hear that the movie version of The Golden Compass does play down the views of religion presented in the novels. The Guardian reviewed the movie last spring after it premiered at Cannes:

The Golden Compass, the Hollywood adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, launched in Cannes yesterday with a sneak preview of the film, which will hit UK cinemas at Christmas.

Chris Weitz, its screenwriter and director, used the event to address speculation about whether the books’ firmly anti-religious message would be retained.

Referring to the Magisterium – the all-powerful religious body that wields total political power in the world of Lyra, the heroine – he said: “In the books the Magisterium is a version of the Catholic church gone wildly astray from its roots. If that’s what you want in the film, you’ll be disappointed. We have expanded the range of meanings that the Magisterium represents.”

He added that there would be no specific marketing to neutralise any potential religious backlash in the US. “We’re going to let the film talk for itself,” he said.

Speaking from his home in Oxford, Pullman told the Guardian: “The Magisterium as I conceived it always did stand for a range of things, including organised religion and secular authority.

“The outline of the story is faithful to what I wrote, given my knowledge of what they’ve done – and given they have compressed a story that takes 11 hours to read out into two hours or so.”

Weitz said: “Philip Pullman is against any kind of organised dogma, whether it is church hierarchy or, say, a Soviet hierarchy. We often deal quite obliquely with it in the film … but we have done service to Pullman’s books. Those people who read them for their philosophical content will not be disappointed.”

The War on Halloween

Living in a conservative area, I’ve always known people who wouldn’t allow their kids to celebrate Halloween due to being a pagan holiday. (There’s also stores within a half hour of here which wouldn’t sell Harry Potter books for the same reason). Sean Hannity has escalated the conservative War on Halloween, declaring it to be a liberal holiday. Transcript from Media Matters:

HANNITY: You know what? I totally agree. I’ve got two young kids, and I am the food police. And I’m constantly monitoring what they eat.

GERALDO RIVERA (Fox News host): And but for your involvement, wouldn’t they eat the worst stuff?

HANNITY: Chicken nuggets, pizza, cake, cupcakes, junk food —

RIVERA: Of course. There’s not — there’s not a night where I’m out where they have the choice of what they order out that they ordered something that’s bad for them. Always.

HANNITY: By the way, Halloween is a liberal holiday, because we’re teaching our children —

COLMES: Oh, come on. Please.

HANNITY: — to beg for something for free.

[laughter]

RIVERA: Do you notice I wore my costume? I wore my mustache tonight.

HANNITY: Hey, by the way, I heard Mike [Jerrick] on [the Fox-syndicated The Morning Show with] Mike & Juliet dressed as you.

COLMES: By the way, I’m going this Halloween as a Republican. I’m taking candy away from people.

[laughter]

[…]

HANNITY: And coming up, things got pretty scary when Rosie O’Donnell made a Halloween appearance on the Martha Stewart show, and I’ll tell you why Halloween is really a liberal day, next.

[…]

HANNITY: That is frightening. Rosie O’Donnell making a rare TV appearance on the Martha Stewart show, and she makes a pretty frightening Queen Elizabeth. The interview proved far from interesting. Martha certainly didn’t take Rosie to task; it was purely Halloween hoopla. All right, now here —

[sound effect of witch laughing]

COLMES: What’s wrong with Halloween hoopla? Are you anti-Halloween?

HANNITY: No. Can I tell you something? Halloween —

COLMES: Yeah.

HANNITY: — is teaching our kids to be liberals.

COLMES: What are you going as this year?

HANNITY: No, I’m not, uh, Hillary Clinton. Frightening.

COLMES: That’s a cheap shot. Come on.

HANNITY: Well, it’s the number one — it’s the number one most frightening mask out there. Go look at those new papers out there.

COLMES: You know, you’re scared that she’s going to be president of the United States.

HANNITY: No, can I tell you something?

COLMES: Yeah.

HANNITY: But I’ll tell you why. Because we’re teaching kids to knock on other people’s doors and ask for a handout. That’s how we turn —

COLMES: Is Christmas a liberal holiday, then? When people give things away?

HANNITY: No, but you offer gifts. You give on Christmas. I give gifts on Christmas?

COLMES: Well, what you give on Halloween?

HANNITY: No, you don’t give. The kids [knocks on table] — “Please, can I have some more?”

[sound effect of witch laughing]

COLMES: It’s the act of giving around — that’s our producer, laughing. But it’s the act of giving. It’s a wonderful thing. Isn’t that a Christian thing, to give, to share with your community?

HANNITY: Not to teach your kids to beg —

COLMES: It’s not begging —

HANNITY: — for a handout.

COLMES: — because you do it, too. You do it at their homes.

HANNITY: You’re teaching your kids to beg for a handout.

COLMES: So you’re anti-Halloween. That is, unfortunately, all the time we have left this evening. We toss it to Greta van Susteren, here to go on the record. Good evening, Greta.

Steven Benen compared this to the view at Focus on the Family and found that Hannity was even to the right of Dobson’s organization:

Whereas it can be argued that Christmas is a Christian holiday with Christian origins that has suffered the effects of growing secularism, Halloween can be traced to distinctly pagan sources. It is reasonable, then, that many believers would find some aspects of its celebration disturbing. I agree with them in that regard.

The traditional emphasis upon the occult, witches, devils, death, and evil sends messages to our kids that godly parents can only regard with alarm. There is clearly no place in the Christian community for this “darker side” of Halloween.

Even here, however, there is a place for some harmless fun. Kids love to dress up and pretend. If the Halloween experience is focused on fantasy rather than the occult, I see no harm in it. Make costumes for your children that represent fun characters, such as Mickey Mouse or an elderly grandmother, and then let them go door-to-door asking for treats. This side of Halloween can be thoroughly enjoyable for the little ones.

Let me add, again, that I’ve given you my personal opinion. I realize that the topic is controversial among committed Christians, and I’m sensitive to the reasons for their misgivings. My final word to parents on the subject would be “Stay true to your own convictions.”

The Christian Broadcasting Network has additional views on Halloween, taking no position on the controversy as they present different views with the disclaimer, “Leading Christian thinkers have disparate views on Halloween and how Christians should respond to it. We have offered several different viewpoints so that you, the reader, can prayerfully decide what is the correct response for your family.”

Conservatives Shocked But Harry Potter Fans Not Surprised By Revelation That Dumbledore Was Gay

As expected, the wing nuts are upset that a fictional character in a fictional world had a fictional crush on another fictional male. Bill O’Riley is upset that J. K. Rowling is promoting the gay agenda for revealing that Dumbledore was gay.

Many fans had already figured this out. The Los Angeles Times contacted “Andrew Slack, head of the Harry Potter Alliance, an organization that uses online organizing to mobilize more than 100,000 Harry Potter fans around social justice issues.” Slack gave seven clues that Dumbledore was gay:

1. His pet. “Fawkes, the many-colored phoenix, is ‘flaming.'”

2. His name. “While the anagram to ‘Tom Marvolo Riddle’ is ‘I am Lord Voldemort,’ as my good friend pointed out, ‘Albus Dumbledore’ becomes ‘Male bods rule, bud!'”

3. His fashion sense. “Whether it’s his ‘purple cloak and high-heeled boots,’ a ‘flamboyantly cut suit of plum velvet,’ a flowered bonnet at Christmas or his fascination with knitting patterns, Dumbledore defies the fashion standards of normative masculinity and, of course, this gives him a flair like no other. It’s no wonder that even the uppity portrait of former headmaster Phineas Nigellus announced, ‘You cannot deny he’s got style.'”

4. His sensitivity. “Leaders like Cornelius Fudge, Rufus Scrimgeour and Dolores Umbridge (yes, even a woman) who are limited by the standards of normative masculinity could not fully embrace where Voldemort was weakest: in his capacity to love. Dumbledore understood that it’s tougher to be vulnerable, to express one’s feelings, and that one’s undying love for friends and for life itself is a more powerful weapon than fear. Even his most selfish moments in pursuing the Deathly Hallows were motivated either by his feelings for Grindelwald or his wish to apologize to his late sister.”

5. His openness. “After she outed Dumbledore, Rowling said that she viewed the whole series as a prolonged treatise on tolerance. Dumbledore is the personification of this. Like the LGBT community that has time and again used its own oppression to fight for the equality of others, Dumbledore was a champion for the rights of werewolves, giants, house elves, muggle-borns, centaurs, merpeople — even alternative marriage. When it came time to decide whether the marriage between Lupin the werewolf and Tonks the full-blooded witch could be considered natural, Professor Minerva McGonagall said, ‘Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world.'”

6. His historical parallel. “If Dumbledore were like any one in history, it would have to be Leonardo DaVinci. They both were considered eccentric geniuses (‘He’s a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes’); both added a great deal to our body of knowledge (after all, Dumbledore did discover the 12 uses of dragon’s blood!); both were solitary, both were considered warm, loving and incredibly calm; both dwelt in mysterious mystical realms; both spent a lot of time with their journals (Leonardo wrote his backwards while Dumbledore was constantly diving into his pensieve); both even had long hair! And, of course, a popular thought among many scholars is that the maestro Leonardo was gay.”

7. The fact that so few of us realized he was gay. “No matter how many ‘clues’ I can put down that Dumbledore was gay, no matter how many millions of people have read these books again and again, Rowling surprised even the most die-hard fans with the announcement that Dumbledore was gay. And in the end, the fact that we never would have guessed is what makes Dumbledore being gay so real. So many times I have encountered friends who are gay that I never would have predicted. It has shown me that one’s sexual orientation is not some obvious ‘lifestyle choice,’ it’s a precious facet of our multi-faceted personalities. And in the end whatever the differences between our personalities are, it is time that our world heeds Dumbledore’s advice: ‘Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.’ Today as I write this, I believe that it’s time for our aims to be loyal to what the greatest wizard in the world would have wanted them to be: love.”

Rowling Outs Dumbledore

As if the religious right didn’t hate the Harry Potter books enough, J, K. Rowling has given them yet another reason to condemn the series. In response to a question about whether the Hogwarts Headmaster ever found true love, Rowling revealed that he is gay:

“Dumbledore is gay,” the author responded to gasps and applause.

She then explained that Dumbledore was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards. “Falling in love can blind us to an extent,” Rowling said of Dumbledore’s feelings, adding that Dumbledore was “horribly, terribly let down.”

Dumbledore’s love, she observed, was his “great tragedy.”

“Oh, my god,” Rowling concluded with a laugh, “the fan fiction.”

Potter readers on fan sites and elsewhere on the Internet have speculated on the sexuality of Dumbledore, noting that he has no close relationship with women and a mysterious, troubled past. And explicit scenes with Dumbledore already have appeared in fan fiction.

Rowling told the audience that while working on the planned sixth Potter film, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” she spotted a reference in the script to a girl who once was of interest to Dumbledore. A note was duly passed to director David Yates, revealing the truth about her character.

Rowling, finishing a brief “Open Book Tour” of the United States, her first tour here since 2000, also said that she regarded her Potter books as a “prolonged argument for tolerance” and urged her fans to “question authority.”

SciFi Friday: Harry Potter Ends (Spoilers Included)

The final Harry Potter book was released a couple of weeks ago, but before commenting I’ve given people who care time to either read the book or learn how to avoid spoilers. This post does contain major spoilers. You have been warned.

The Harry Potter series began as a fantasy which was irresistible to every teenager who ever felt alienated. Harry started as an outcast but quickly found out that he was special. Not only was Harry a wizard, but he was one of the most famous wizards of all.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone concentrated on the magic surrounding Hogwarts and established Harry, Hermione, and Ron as the major characters throughout the series. As the book, and the school year, progressed we were given our first exposure to the threat from Voldemort. Subsequent books dealt with a new school year and were increasingly dominated by the dangers of Voldemort returning. Normally I avoid reading series as the books tend to become repetitive, featuring the same characters in similar situations. Harry Potter was different as, while there was somewhat of a formula, it was clear that there was a definite story line being developed which would end in the seventh book.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows concludes the series as predicted with Harry defeating Voldemort. Being a children’s series, I never believed the speculation that Harry would die, which would also be contrary to a prophesy made earlier in the series that one (not both) must die. Deathly Hollows follows a trend established where the novels became progressively darker, and often longer. In the earlier novels the length was often of benefit even when portions were not necessary. For Harry Potter fans part of the fun is just spending the year at Hogwarts and the longer the book, the longer they coud do so.

The limited time spent at Hogwarts, other than for the final battle, was one reason why the length of this book was a problem. Very little of consequence happens in the first four hundred pages. Instead of enjoying them at Hogwarts, I felt, just as Ron Weasley did, that we were wandering aimlessly.

The book becomes much more exciting as it approached the end, but still far too much is revealed either from seeing Snape’s thoughts after his death or in discussion with Dumbledore following his death. This is more acceptable in a book about wizards where such extraordinary ways of transmitting information are possible, but the story would have been stronger if Harry’s own investigations had revealed the truth about Snape and Dumbledore, as well as his own fate. There had been clues from the beginning that Snape was actually on Dumbledore’s side, such as when Snape saved Harry from falling from his Quidditch broom in the first book. I also suspected this when Snape punished Ginny and others in a way which was hardly real punishment.

The epilogue which takes place nineteen year later might be the most controversial part of the book. Many think it did not fit in well with the darker tone of the book. While it differed from the tone of Deathly Hollows, it was a fair epilogue for the series as a whole. Other than for Deathly Hollows, going off to Hogwarts was an important event taking place relatively early in each book. We were denied this in Deathly Hollows, but seeing the children Harry and others go off to school brought closure to the series.

While other parts of the book were too long, I actually wish the epilogue did provide more information. We see that the world has returned to normal without Voldemort, that Hogwarts has continued, and who some of the characters married. We do not learn the immediate aftermath of the battle, such as whether Harry needed to return for his seventh year or graduated with his class due to his real world experiences.

While it would be preferable if the information had been included in the book, J.K. Rowling has filled in some details in interviews and web chats following the publication of the final book. She says that Harry and Ron did become Aurors who fight the dark arts, with Harry the department head. Hermione, not surprisingly, is high up in the  Department of Magical Law Enforcement. This might also not be the end for Rowling’s involvement in Harry Potter as she is considering writing a Harry Potter encyclopedia among other projects. He  other projects include novels for both children and adults.  It will be interesting to see if J.K. Rowlings can recreate the same type of magic for readers in new novels, regardless of whether the deal with magic of fantasy literature.