Fundies want "Supersize Me" banned from schools

[Ian David]

This was sent through townhall.com

I don't know if to agree or disagree with them. I haven't seen the film.

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The following is an important message from the Center for Individual Freedom

Spurlock claims to be making a "family friendly" version of the film for use in schools. But merely editing out the some of the vulgar footage does not fix this film. Its premise undermines the key principle of personal responsibility in nutritional choice. This film pushes a "blame everyone else" attitude, promotes more government regulation of what we eat and drink, and encourages baseless lawsuits against restaurants. These aren't the values that our children should be learning in school. Further, Spurlock himself says on his website, “I personally believe high schools should show the theatrical version of the film, sexual references and foul language are nothing new to them."

The rest at:
http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/in_our_opinion/morgan-spurlock-super-size-me.html

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Related stories:

Concerned Women for America say being fat is like being gay:
Coming Out of the Pantry 9/23/2004
By Brian Fitzpatrick
So what do obesity and homosexuality have in common?

<snip>
Every time I open my mouth, I have a choice over what goes in. Dealing with the emotional problems, transforming my self-image, and losing the excess weight, is a very, very tough battle, but it is possible to make progress. So far, I've lost 40 pounds, and I still have 40 to go.
<snip>

No analogy is perfect, but the parallel to homosexuality here seems clear. The best psychiatrists and therapists (check out Charles Socarides and Jeffrey Satinover) acknowledge that same-sex attraction is a deep-seated emotional disorder, often triggered by a traumatic event, but shaped largely by choices made even as a child in responding to the trauma. In this respect, homosexual attraction is chosen, though unwittingly.

The adult homosexual can honestly say that he never consciously chose same-sex attraction. However, he does have the power to decide whether to indulge in the behavior. Every time he chooses to abstain, he weakens the grip the behavior has on him, and he weakens the attraction itself.

The rest:
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/6411/CFI/family/

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Thus, 4 out of 5 Fundies agree:
Obesity is all YOUR fault.

Do you hear THAT, Mr. Falwell?


I know gluttony is a bad thing. But I don’t know many gluttons.
- Jerry Falwell



A 1998 study by Kenneth F. Ferraro revealed that:

Obesity was highest in states where religious affiliation was highest, but the specific differences in body weight were more likely explained by differences in class, ethnicity, and marital status. Of all religious groups surveyed, Southern Baptists were the heaviest, followed by Fundamentalist and Pietistic Prostestants. Catholics fell at the middle of the list, while the lowest average body weight was found among Jews and non-Christians. Surveying attitudes within those groups, Ferraro concluded that obesity was associated with higher levels of religiosity…."Consolation and comfort from religion and from eating,” Ferraro wrote, “may be a couple of the few pleasures accessible to populations, which are economically and politically deprived.”

….did modern sects act to inhibit gluttony or obesity – the answer was…surprising. It didn’t. Instead the church had become a nest of unqualified social acceptance. As Ferraro wrote: “There is no evidence of religion operating as a moral constraint on obesity.” Instead, Ferraro went on, “higher religious practice was more common among overweight persons, perhaps reflecting religion’s emphasis upon tolerating human weakness and its emphasis on other forms of deviancy such as alcoholism, smoking and sexual promiscuity.”


Ferraro warned that it wasn’t that religion indirectly promoted higher body weight. Rather, most pastors simply saw obesity as too risky a subject. “They feel they would risk alienating the flock – at least at this point,” says Ferraro. “In that sense, we are in a stage with obesity like we were with smoking in the 1950s and 1960s.”

I think Ferraro might be just a little too cowed to say what is obvious: antinomian religion promotes denial about overeating and poor health.

Jerry Falwell stands as a crowning example of permissiveness and deep denial when it comes to overeating. So are those who talk about “fat as a human right", who claim that they are overweight simply because of “big bones” or because they have a chemical problem. “Oh, I eat very little,” you hear them say. Then you see them, with their plates piled high at a smorgasbord and you know that most of them are liars.


The rest:
http://paxnortona.notfrisco2.com/index.php?p=2521