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

[Bouncy Ball]

1. Of course they do.

It criticizes the quality of school lunches.

[China_cat]

9. I have a problem with that film

simply because the guy set out to show that his premise was correct and when you shoot the arrow and then paint the target around it you'll get a bullseye every time.

No, I don't consider fast food as a diet to be something healthy. I also don't consider it to be the worst thing possible if it is an occasional thing. But if you eat fast food 3 times a day, choosing only the biggest portions, what do you expect?

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

2. NEWSFLASH:

Fundies want logical thought and free-thinking banned from america

[atommom]

3. It's not because the film suggests that a major corporation might bear

some responsibility for the effects of the products it sells. No, it's because eating a Big Mac is too much like giving in to your homosexual urges. :think:

As usual, I can't wrap my brain around their "logic."

[OneTwentyoNine]

4. Is 'Ole Jerry working on his third chin or fourth?

I'll guarantee the money he has pouring in from religious saps means he's really livin' large. And it shows.



Woah......

[w13rd0]

5. Concerned Women of America...

...seem really big on wasting government time and money complaining and bitching about everything. They seem to be "concerned" only with how much controversy they can generate over every damn thing under the sun. As bad as the "Parents Television Shitshop" or whatever that bunch of million FCC complain filing crackernuts are called...

[jjmalonejr]

6. "Every time I open my mouth, I have a choice over what goes in. "

Funny thing to say in an article about what obesity and homosexuality have in common.

[Ian David]

7. What Concerned Women for America is Concerned About

Concerned Women for America is concerned about who and what go in your mouth.

[Ian David]

8. Falwell Pleads for Money

Says Falwell, "I want to add a new wing to my church and one more chin to my face."

[Radical Activist]

14. Is it wrong for me to hope he goes to prison

where that statement won't always be true? :evilgrin:

[atommom]

10. I find it hilarious that this thread was posted the same day as THIS one:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2839299&mesg_id=2839299

[MatrixEscape]

11. The movie offers

a valid, cultural counter to the implications that the fast-food industry creates -- even if you see it as opinion more than scientific. I suggest seeing and sharing it. If anything, it might serve to spark more alternative information on such an important subject.

Corporations have a strong bias towards what information that they present and how it affects the perception of their product. If you expect honesty and truth, without severe criticism and pressure, you won't get it.

The point that the movie gets across, and I agree from both experience and exposure to nutritional concepts, is that fast-food is not formulated or designed as a healthy diet, per se. We are encouraged to infer that it is on the same par with anything else in the sense of a realistically sustainable, balanced diet.

We see commercials and advertisements that never even suggest that the food may be more like a "desert" or "treat" in nature, (designed to impact and engage your taste-buds and stir your base motivations) rather than good, wholesome food that can be safely be eaten regularly without consequences to health. The ingredients in fast-food is primarily a scientific, money-making formula, as you would expect in an exclusively profit-driven model.

If you look at the dairy and meat industries and their impact on the food pyramid, you can see this is not a new concept. So, if they film does something to incite people and children to actually think about what they are eating and who is telling them to eat it, there are benefits to be had both personally and in a general way.

[libpunkmom]

12. "I don't know any gluttons."

I quess Jerry gave up looking in the mirror when he quit hiring hookers in New Orleans.. As far as "Super Size Me" in schools. There are a large number of schools that serve fast food on a daily basis. When it comes to school lunches, the government classifies a ketchup packet as a vegetable serving. I don't know if that particular movie is the way to address the issue of what kids are eating (my son saw it, but we don't eat fast food), but to many schools are dependant on fast food/junk food contracts for money. My son's school has an "exlusive" (as stated by the principal) contract with Coke.

[Radical Activist]

13. Serving corporate America in the name of Christian morals!

This kind of stuff should make it so obvious that their religious beliefs are only being manipulated to benefit a corporate agenda. Sadly I don't think that will occur to most of them.

[zbdent]

15. I find this line very funny

'This film pushes a "blame everyone else" attitude'

Sounds very much like a current misAdministration we know and loathe . . .

[seaglass]

16. My 13yo son saw this in school. He is really into his health

class and tries to be moderate with unhealthy foods. This is a GOOD thing. He knows he can make his own choices.

The only thing he told me about the film was when the filmmaker said all the fast food gave him McGas. He thought that was hysterical.