I was reading this news article today. It discusses the fact that “Creation”, the new movie about the life of Charles Darwin has failed to secure a US distributor, as his theory of evolution has been deemed “too controversial” for American audiences. When I was done weeping over that particular extreme fact of Fail (which probably deserves an isabigot.com post of its own–though “American movie audiences” feels like too broad a target for one), I decided to investigate the assertion the article made concerning Movieguide.org. Specifically:

Christian review website Movieguide.org has branded Darwin as “a racist, a bigot and a 1800s naturalist whose legacy is mass murder”.

After a little searching on Movieguide.org, I found the reference, here. It’s illustrative to reprint the referenced paragraph in its entirety:

DARWIN’S RACISTS – YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW exposes the real Charles Darwin: a racist, a bigot and 1800′s naturalist whose legacy is mass murder. This well written book shows that Adolf Hitler, along with other genocidal mass murderers, was influenced by Darwin’s half-baked Theory of Evolution. This book exposes Darwin’s Theory of Evolution for what it is: an elitist and racist dogma that has infiltrated our every area of culture thereby undermining sense and sensibility.

See, this was one of those cases where I had figured the article was making inflated claims, or decontextualizing a statement inappropriately. Nope. Turns out the source material is being referenced euphemistically, if anything. So what the fuck is Movieguide.org’s deal? Originally a biweekly journal, it was founded by M. Robert E. Theodore Baehr, a manifestly insane right-wing fundamentalist Christian nutjob if ever there were one. He currently serves as its publisher and Editor-in-Chief. While the site’s stated mission is “helping parents use informed judgment when deciding what entertainment products are suitable for their families’ enjoyment” (noxious enough), its real job is, as evidenced, the dissemination of right wing Christian hate speech.

And it doesn’t stop there.

Baehr’s public relations company, “Kairos Marketing”, is apparently in the business of accepting payment for “consulting and promotional activities” on behalf of movies “reviewed” in Movieguide. Movies for which payment are accepted are always reviewed positively. If Kairos is not strictly speaking part of Good News Communications (the non-profit that publishes Movieguide), Kairos does “donate” to Good News Communications, and both organizations have the same face on the flag. It’s a clear example of Baehr using the site’s popularity with vagina farm Bible-hugging lunatics to feather his own nest. A hilariously familiar story that grows even more comical when you realize that Movieguide.org is desperately attempting to portray itself as some morally righteous “Hollywood watchdog.” When Baehr got totally busted in 2004 for his two-faced shilling (by a fellow Christian rag, no less), his response served as testimony to the lawyer he once was:

“We’ve lent our expertise to many movies – gratis, for the sake of helping God’s kingdom advance in this industry. In a few cases, after we approve of and review the movie according to our stringent criteria, we have been remunerated for our services through a sister organization set up for this purpose to help underwrite the extra time these promotional efforts required.”

Nice job, Doctor Goebbels. I mean Baehr. Drop us a line if you ever want to stop lying, being a greedy shill, poisoning people’s minds with filth, and publishing slanderous attacks on brilliant scientists who happen to be long dead. We’ll give you a job in our legal department.

Shining shoes.