“The script was finished, the roles cast, and a date has been set to begin filming,” says Riggs. “We have an all volunteer cast and crew. We received a grant from the City of Tacoma in the form of a store front to film in that we get, rent free, for three months.” Filming begins next month.

“One of the things I learned,” he adds, “is that making a feature length film is expensive, even with an all volunteer cast and crew. We have to pay for insurance, feed the cast, get some important filming equipment, electric bills, props, etc.”

Riggs is asking friends for financial help to finish this project. They start filming July 16th. “Any amount you can afford, even one dollar, will help,” he says.

A $20 donation gets you your name in the credits of the movie and a DVD of it when it’s done. $50 will get you a “Jesus-4-Less” t-shirt and your (bigger) name in the credits. Also, in return, you will receive their deep gratitude, and the knowledge that you are supporting the local economy and the artistic/creative endeavors of your community.

Here are the instructions:

1. Log onto www.paypal.com
2. Click “Send Money”
3. Enter the e-mail address: jesus4less@gmail.com
4. Enter your donation amount
5. Click on the “Personal” tab and select “Gift”

I try to get involved in local atheist activities that I find interesting, especially undertakings which I feel are exceptionally broad in scope or are particularly challenging. Recently I was told about a movie being produced in my area, presumably by atheists though I imagine atheist friendly believers might be involved as well, and possibly just some people with senses of humor who are more interested in the project for its entertainment value than anything else. The premise of the film is as follows:

Aaron and Jeremy, two wayward twenty something atheists work at Jesus-4-Less, a downtown Tacoma Christian bookstore. They find themselves competing with Christ-Mart, their rival in the bible business, for acolytes and sales; and with each other for the affections of an irresistible and mysterious new co-worker, Michelle.

Amid protests, breasts, and homosexuality with the help of baby Jesus and a midget, the guys find themselves navigating the issues of fundamentalism, love, lust, greed, and marijuana in this dark comedy. Jesus 4 Less is sure to leave you wondering, offended, and most importantly laughing.

Right now the group seems to be in the midst of fundraising, which is always a tricky task to take on and requires a lot of work that often seems thankless. I’m happy to do my part in trying to promote them and their undertaking, and I hope to be able to continue to chip in any support I can along the way.

If you’re in the area, I encourage you to come down this Wed., June 2nd to the Comedy Underground in Seattle and support this group. It’s only 5 bucks, and you might win a spot in the movie (if that’s your thing) or other prizes they’ll be giving away as people come. If you’re not in the area, I’d like to encourage you to look for projects in your area that you have interest in supporting and get involved. It’s fun and it helps shape the face of the community to be more representative of the people that make it up.

When: Wed., June 2nd
Where: Comedy Underground in Seattle
How much: 5 bucks/clams/smackeroos

So here’s something a little different — an example of what can be done when evolution of body, mind, technology and intention all collide and conspire for greatness and beauty. No invisible means of support (either wires of steel or figments of imagined superiority) were used in the making of this film.

I present the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers.

Lovely, inspiring, and an excellent sorbet to follow the news of the week.

Finally there is the question of film quality.  The more of a niche group the film is targeted to, the more the selection (and therefore quality) decreases.

Really, who wants to see Religulous or Jesus Camp again? Those movies are just exhausting! I have a list of the types of movies I’m thinking about, actually, it’s quite broad, nothing like Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter.

The list includes: Contact; Bedazzled (1967); Oh, God!; City of Ember; Saved; and others.

I’m trying hard not to see this as any kind of a snub. This is perfectly legitimate from a business perspective, especially now. But, in April there was the Faith and Film Series at the Grand, and that was sponsored by two local churches. Those films, which included Earth, a Deepa Mehta film about India’s partition, weren’t exactly mainstream movies.

We atheists have more than a thousand people who belong to atheist groups in the Puget Sound, more than 150 here in Tacoma alone. That’s not small potatoes. Our cash is as green as everyone else’s, and I want to show people that we have a strong and vibrant community.

Set in 4th century Alexandria in Egypt, during the onset of decadence in the Roman Empire, Oscar-winner Rachel Weisz (“The Constant Gardener”) portrays the legendary Hypatia, who devoted herself to science, the search for truth and tolerance. Two men are competing for her heart, the privileged Orestes (Oscar Isaac) and Davus (Max Minghella), her slave. Davus remains with Hypatia, despite the fact his freedom could be won if he joined the unstoppable surge of the Christians and the religious violence in the streets of the city, which have also spilled into Alexandria’s famous library.

“It’s set in the 4th century, but when I read it, what struck me is that nothing has changed,” Weisz said Sunday about the film, which seemed to receive a rather lukewarm reception from critics here. “People still kill each other in the name of God. Fundamentalism still abounds, and in many countries in [that region] women are second-class citizens.”

Despite his personal beliefs, Amenabar took strains at the end of the press conference in Cannes to emphasize that the film was not against religion, inerrupting the moderator who was trying to close the conversation saying, “I just want to say one last thing. “I was brought up Christian, then I was agnostic and then I realized I was atheist. But we have actors [in ‘Agora’] who are Christian. This movie is about fundamentalism and hate.”

The irony of religion is that because of its power to divert man to destructive courses, the world actually could come to an end. 

The plain fact is that religion must die for mankind to live. The hour is getting very late to be able to indulge in having key decisions made by religious people — by irrationalists – by those who would steer the ship of state not by a compass, but by the equivalent of reading the entrails of a chicken.

Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It’s nothing to brag about, and those who preach faith — and enable it, and elevate it — are our intellectual slave-holders, keeping mankind in a bondage to fantasy and nonsense that has spawned and justified so much lunacy and destruction. 

Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don’t have all the answers to think that they do. Most people would think that it’s wonderful when someone says, “I’m willing, Lord. I’ll do whatever you want me to do.” Except that, since there are no gods actually talking to us, that void is filled in by people, with their own corruptions, and limitations, and agendas. And anyone who tells you that they know, that they just know what happens when you die, I promise you you don’t. How can I be so sure? Because I don’t know, and you do not possess mental powers that I do not. 

The only appropriate attitude for man to have about the big questions is not the arrogant certitude that is the hallmark of religion, but doubt. Doubt is humble. And that’s what man needs to be, considering that human history is just a litany of getting shit dead wrong. 

This is why rational people — anti-religionists — must end their timidity and come out of the closet and assert themselves. And those who consider themselves only moderately religious really need to look in the mirror and realize that the solace and comfort that religion brings you actually comes at a terrible price. 

If you belong to a political party or social club that was tied to as much bigotry, misogyny, homophobia, violence, and sheer ignorance as religion is, you’d resign in protest. To do otherwise is to be an enabler, a mafia wife, for the true devils of extremism that draw their legitimacy from the billions of their fellow travelers. If the world does come to an end, here or wherever, or if it limps into the future, decimated by the effects of a religion-inspired nuclear terrorism, let’s remember what the real problem was: that we learned how to precipitate mass death before we got past the neurological disorder of wishing for it.

That’s it. Grow up or die.