The Los Angeles Times interviews Harold Ramis who directs the upcoming film “Year One” starring Jack Black and Michael Cera. Ramis, who was behind comedic hits like “Groundhog Day” and “Ghostbusters”,  explains how he is (hopefully) avoiding offending Christians, Jews, and Muslims in a slapstick Old Testament road-trip film.

“Post-9/11, religious differences were tearing the world apart. Every religion preaches tolerance, yet people were destroying [one another] wholesale,” said Ramis, who co-wrote the script. But how to go about making his point about religious extremism without alienating audiences? “I started thinking, ‘You can’t attack Christianity, Islam or Judaism. But nobody cares if you go after a dead pagan religion.’ “

Now, obviously Ramis may just be joking here, he is a comedian after all. But later in the interview Ramis does take care to mention that he’s getting the film screened by the Anti-Defamation League before it’s released in theatres.

Aware his irreverent take might irk some who take the Old Testament at its word — particularly certain of its promises — Ramis said with some trepidation the Anti-Defamation League would be having a peek soon. “I’m Jewish; that gives me a lot of room to play. Liberal Jews tend to enjoy self-mockery. All it’s saying is that this notion of being chosen or being given land by God is a hard one for people to swallow,” he said. “So the circumcision jokes, I know they’ll be able to take. I think the land joke is the one that might be more offensive.” Ramis is careful to point out the movie is “not an attack on religion; it’s an attack on mindless fundamentalism.” He relates an exchange as it was scripted in an early draft: ” ‘You burn virgins so it rains?’ ‘Duh. Where do you think rain comes from? Clouds?’ “

You see? Attacking the “mindless fundamentalism” of “pagans” who “burn virgins” is funny stuff! Monotheist claims that God granted them certain lands? Not so much. Or at least you have to be sure you couch it in a disclaimer and run it by an anti-defamation group first.

Now, I’m not getting bent out of shape about this, religion (and the human foibles attached to religion) has been a comedy goldmine since the days of Lucius Apuleius Platonicus. Only humourless extremists can’t laugh about their faith, or tolerate a joke told by someone else about your belief system, so don’t expect any calls to protest or complain about “Year One” from me (heck, considering some of the talent involved, I may go see it in the theatres). But I do think it is extremely telling that we have reached a point where certain segments of the dominant monotheisms are so insecure and reactionary that film-makers wanting to skewer the Bible have to deflect barbs onto pre-Christian religions in order to avoid controversy. As I’ve said before, modern Pagans (who look to the pre-Christian religions that Ramis satirizes) should fight genuine hate-speech but avoid the tone-deaf excesses of some “rights” groups.

“…the last thing I want to see is for Pagans to adopt the tactics of groups like the Catholic League. Constantly scanning the news looking for the next outrage, the next rallying cry for those who believe some great religious conflict is brewing. I don’t want us to become unable to laugh off something stupid, I don’t want us to become unable to tell the difference between an innocuous trifle, and real anti-Pagan hate speech.”

Ancient pagan religions may be easy to joke about, but let’s hope Ramis doesn’t use that as an excuse to de-fang his Biblical satire in “Year One”. After all, the only safe way to avoid offending a specific group in comedy is to be an equal-opportunity offender.

My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.

We start off with two film-related tidbits that might interest my readers. First, Warner Bros. is moving forward with a big-budget production of the Odyssey directed by Jonathan “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning” Liebesman and scripted by Ann “The Chronciles of Narnia” Peacock.

“Warner Bros. has nabbed Ann Peacock’s spec “Odysseus” and set Jonathan Liebesman to direct. Story centers on the Greek lit hero and king of Ithaca who returns to his island after 20 years of fighting the Trojan Wars only to find his kingdom under the brutal occupation of an invading force. Gianni Nunnari (“300”) is producing through his Warners-based Hollywood Gang shingle. Craig Flores exec produces.”

The Warners-backed Hollywood Gang is also producing the Theseus-starring “War of Gods” (and an as-yet untitled sequel to “300″), making ancient Greek legend a hot topic in 2010. Meanwhile, the remake of “Clash of the Titans” (starring Perseus), which is racing “War of Gods” to the theatres, has started filming and you can see some set photos, here. I predicted in the wake of “300″ that we’d see more “sword and sandal” flicks set in a Greco-Roman context, and it looks like the flood has arrived.

Since we’re talking about film and fantasy, you might want to check out a fascinating round of panel discussions by SF Signal that asks about gods and pantheons in fantasy literature.

“In a created fantasy world, gods can proliferate by the hundreds. When building religious systems for fantasies, what are the advantages/disadvantages of inventing pantheons vs. single gods, or having no religious component at all?”

Check out some of the really thoughtful and insightful ruminations on the subject from fantasy luminaries like Marie Brennan, Elizabeth Bear, L.E. Modesitt Jr., and John C. Wright (among others).

Speaking of panelists, Starhawk speaks out against torture at the On Faith site and references the repeated tasering of a Pagan Cluster member and the Burning Times in the process.

“Torture, like a virus, also has a way of spreading. When torture is licensed at the highest levels, it percolates down to every police department and branch of Homeland Security. We may have a black president now, but a black man in this country who is arrested still stands a high chance of being brutalized and beaten. At the protests last summer outside the Republican National Convention, a dear friend of mine was attacked by police at a legal and peaceful rally, thrown to the ground and tasered multiple times. Another young friend was beaten in jail, then marched hooded and shackled through the hospital where he was finally taken for treatment. These are small examples, but they show how a culture of torture, force and bullying takes root and eventually threatens the freedom and safety of us all.”

I’ll ignore the Burning Times references and instead agree that ultimately no good can come from a policy of torture. Most of Starhawk’s fellow panellists seem to agree (except for Chuck Colson). I wonder what they think about the Pew Forum’s recent study linking torture acceptance with increased church attendance.

While I’m on the subject of Pew research, another recent study finds that nearly half of Americans have changed faiths in their lifetime.

“Americans change religious affiliation early and often. In total, about half of American adults have changed religious affiliation at least once during their lives. Most people who change their religion leave their childhood faith before age 24, and many of those who change religion do so more than once. These are among the key findings of a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. The survey documents the fluidity of religious affiliation in the U.S. and describes in detail the patterns and reasons for change.”

Sadly this data doesn’t go into how many people leave Catholic and Protestant Christianity for “other” religions, but it still gives and interesting snapshot of how fluid religious affiliation in America truly is.

In a final note, the dreaded H1N1 (the virus formerly known as “Swine Flu”) briefly cast its spectre over famed Pagan goth-rock band Inkubus Sukkubus who were in Mexico City for a concert.

“Tony and Candia McKormack went to Mexico City last week to play a gig to promote their band’s new album — which is ironically about the Mexican Day of the Dead. Authorities cancelled the event after the swine flu outbreak and Tony, 48, and Candia, 42, flew back to England on Monday. They began feeling unwell after arriving at Heathrow and have now been ordered to remain inside their home in Kingsholm, Gloucs, along with their two children Leon, 11 and Carmen, four.”

Luckily it turned out to not be H1N1 and everyone is fine. The band’s new album “Viva La Muerte” is shipping now, and all planned gigs are going forward. For more Pagan-related music news, check out the Twitter feed for my A Darker Shade of Pagan podcast.

That’s all I have for right now, have a great day!

I think that I was more surprised than anyone when I was invited to participate in envisioning and shaping the future of the preeminent Pagan distance education institution as a member of their board of directors. While there are many online schools, colleges, and seminaries that claim to provide higher education and advanced training to the Pagan community, only Cherry Hill Seminary backs up those claims with a robust and serious-minded curriculum. Their faculty are not only experienced practitioners and clergy, but the majority hold advanced academic degrees in the fields they teach. The school is now engaged in a multi-year plan that will not only see the school start to provide Master’s degrees in Divinity, Counseling, Ministry, and Pagan Studies, but achieve accreditation through the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). Their achievements and goals paint a portrait of a school that is avoiding easy shortcuts, or becoming a money-making degree/diploma mill, and is instead heavily invested in making sure our future is filled with well-trained and accomplished leaders.

Naturally, an endeavor like this doesn’t come cheap. We have staff and faculty to pay, infrastructure to build and maintain, and certain benchmarks to meet if we are to achieve our goals. Tuition from students only covers a portion of these costs, and like all higher learning institutions we rely on donors to meet the ever-rising costs of running a learning institution of this type. When I joined the board at Cherry Hill, it was expected that I would take part in fund-raising efforts to show my personal commitment towards making the school as success. While I have no secret contact list of wealthy donors or rich relatives, I do have something of a bully pulpit here at The Wild Hunt. So in this one instance I’m going to briefly stray from news-gathering and editorial pontificating, and ask the thousands of people who read my blog and are invested in institutions like Cherry Hill Seminary succeeding and growing to consider giving a donation during our annual appeal. I understand that times are hard, and that many of you can’t spare much, but if you do have some disposable income, and are interested in making a tax-deductible contribution to help us succeed now is the time.

Like many of you, I’m always deeply skeptical of online endeavours that claim to advance our community. I have aligned myself with Cherry Hill because I trust the people running it, and I respect the people teaching for it. If my goals in life were a bit different, I would not hesitate to pick Cherry Hill as a place to receive advanced skills that would prepare me for a future in aiding and guiding my coreligionists towards a better future. If you agree with my assessment, please choose this time to make a donation, small or large, towards our future. If and when you do, please let them know that The Wild Hunt sent you. You may also, if you want to support this mission but have nothing to give at this time, re-post my message on your own blog or journal. We always ask where the advanced material is, and when we are going to advance beyond “101″ lessons, well here is where that need is answered and fulfilled. I hope you’ll join me in helping Cherry Hill shape our collective future.

Cheers,

Jason Pitzl-Waters
The Wild Hunt
Cherry Hill Seminary B.O.D.