Lots of religion to discuss, first, my Va Film schedule:

A Flock of Dodos (the repeat)
Everything is Illuminated
Jesus Camp (the repeat)
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
Life of Brian
Son of Man
Ten Canoes
Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny 00
The Apostle
The Dark Crystal
The Milky Way
Trapped by the Mormons

And speaking of religion, there are two really interesting articles recently out discussing religion in America, both from the NY Times.

The first discusses the loss of the young in Evangelical churches. The data aren't exactly clear, but they are concerned only about 4% of teens remain in the church.

At an unusual series of leadership meetings in 44 cities this fall, more than 6,000 pastors are hearing dire forecasts from some of the biggest names in the conservative evangelical movement.

Their alarm has been stoked by a highly suspect claim that if current trends continue, only 4 percent of teenagers will be "Bible-believing Christians" as adults. That would be a sharp decline compared with 35 percent of the current generation of baby boomers, and before that, 65 percent of the World War II generation.

While some critics say the statistics are greatly exaggerated (one evangelical magazine for youth ministers dubbed it "the 4 percent panic attack"), there is widespread consensus among evangelical leaders that they risk losing their teenagers.

Well, I can't say that would be a bad thing for our country, but what is funny is how they completely ignore the obvious solution. Instead of addressing the fact that their teachings are in direct opposition to the modern world (unless they want to become Amish, they have to change with the times) they instead turn to gimmicks. Music, concerts, anything but a real substantive change that will allow kids to keep their religious beliefs in the face of a world based on reason and science and equality of sexes. Not to mention, really all it takes is for an evangelical to just know a single gay person before they realize they don't have horns and really are the way they are (and good people).

The second article is a discussion of how conservatives have attacked the wall between church and state, and written in all sorts of clever tax breaks and exemptions for religious groups. War on Christians my ass, it's clear the government is excessively friendly towards the religious.

Federal law gives religious congregations unique tools to challenge government restrictions on the way they use their land. Consequently, land-use restrictions that are a result of longstanding public demands for open space or historic preservation may be trumped by a religious ministry’s construction plans, as in a current dispute in Boulder County, Colo.

Exemptions in the civil rights laws protect religious employers from all legal complaints about faith-based preferences in hiring. The courts have shielded them from many complaints about other forms of discrimination, whether based on race, nationality, age, gender, medical condition or sexual orientation. And most religious organizations have been exempted from federal laws meant to protect pensions and to provide unemployment benefits.

Governments have been as generous with tax breaks as with regulatory exemptions. Congress has imposed limits on the I.R.S.’s ability to audit churches, synagogues and other religious congregations. And beyond the federal income tax exemption they share with all nonprofit groups, houses of worship have long been granted an exemption from local property taxes in every state.

As religious activities expand far beyond weekly worship, that venerable tax break is expanding, too. In recent years, a church-run fitness center with a tanning bed and video arcade in Minnesota, a biblical theme park in Florida, a ministry’s 1,800-acre training retreat and conference center in Michigan, religious broadcasters’ transmission towers in Washington State, and housing for teachers at church-run schools in Alaska have all been granted tax breaks by local officials — or, when they balked, by the courts or state legislators.

These organizations and their leaders still rely on public services — police and fire protection, street lights and storm drains, highway and bridge maintenance, food and drug inspections, national defense. But their tax exemptions shift the cost of providing those benefits onto other citizens. The total cost nationwide is not known, because no one keeps track.

What I also love about the article is how, in classic Give Up fashion, the stupid removal of sensible regulations to save them money in each case just seems to result in scandals. The need for regulations of things like nursing homes, addiction treatment centers, whatever, is obvious. There is just too much opportunity for abuse, but they'll just have to learn the hard way again. And when districts have trouble making ends meet because of parasitism of religious institutions onto public utilities and services, there will be a backlash.