Dispatches from the Creation Wars

For those who watched Alexandra Pelosi’s documentary Friends of God on HBO, you might recall seeing video of Rick Scarborough preaching in it. That wasn’t done with a hidden camera, they took their whole camera crew into Scarborough’s church. Scarborough not only knew they were there, but his website promoted the documentary:

Yet here is what Scarborough is now saying about the documentary:

The special, directed by Alexandra Pelosi (daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi), focuses on every oddity imaginable — including “Christian wrestling” and “Christian miniature golf” — to make 80 million Americans from all walks of life seem freakish.

“I wasn’t even aware that such things existed until someone alerted me that I was in the documentary and I began investigating it,” Scarborough said.

Someone had to alert you that you were in the documentary that your own website has been promoting by saying, “Dr. Rick Scarborough is appearing on HBO between now and the end of February as part of the ‘Friends of God’ documentary”? What a fascinating little lie that is.

Hat tip to Pam Spaulding and Right Wing Watch.

Comments

#1 BG
February 2, 2007

It’s not the mini-golf and the wrestling that made them look “freakish.” Actually, the earnestness with which these people feel their faith and wish to communicate it to receptive audiences (no one’s making anyone putt for Jesus) is kind of endearing.

It’s the indoctrination against evolution (Video at OneGoodMove.Org) segment of the documentary that’s baffling and discouraging.

(Except for one kid Pelosi interviews on the way out who says he wants to be a biologist working for some Creationist Institute so that he can prove evolution wrong. Good luck and Godspeed, but at least he realizes science is the key to understanding.)
#2 David Durant
February 2, 2007

This is another great example of pre-internet thinking. A lot of these kind of folks just haven’t yet got used to the fact that everything they say publicly *will* be recorded somewhere and *will* be kept around effectively forever.

The days of throwing out casual lies about what you’ve said and done in the past are coming to an end. It used to be *easy* for these folks to retcon their history because it was so hard to check – no longer!
#3 RickD
February 2, 2007

Folks like Scarborough aren’t doing much for the credibility of religion, are they?

Oh wait – lying about the mundane matters of daily life should not reflect on the credibility of a person when he comments about matters of dogma.

Or should it?

(Hush, Rick, don’t be shrill!)
#4 CPT_Doom
February 2, 2007

Ms. Pelosi is a veteran documentarian, who has also done a film on the Bush campaign. You can’t tell me that she didn’t get all the releases and all the legal documentation she needed to use every bit of her footage, which means Mr. Scarborough or his staff had to know her actions during the filming.

Nice try though, “Reverand”
#5 Rev. BigDumbChimp
February 2, 2007

I’m sure its all very planned out. Scarborugh my be a dishonest purveyor of hate and lies but he is no idiot. I’m sure he knew exactly who was making the documentary and exactly how it would frame his side. Knowing this I’m sure he saw it as another opportunity to show the Christianists as being persecuted.
#6 tacitus
February 2, 2007

It’s funny that he’s whining about Ted Haggard getting so much face time in the documentary, complaining that they deliberately focused on Haggard to make all evangelicals look like hypocrites.

Since the documentary completed before before Haggard was outed (and was not re-edited afterwards) that is another baseless accusation. (And it’s not like we don’t have plenty of other evidence of evangelical hypocrisy–as a quick tour of Scarborough’s own web site will prove.
#7 Mike Kaspari
February 2, 2007

I was just there for the massage….
#8 Kristine
February 2, 2007

Scarborough, Google thyself.
#9 CPT_Doom
February 2, 2007

It’s funny that he’s whining about Ted Haggard getting so much face time in the documentary, complaining that they deliberately focused on Haggard to make all evangelicals look like hypocrites.

Since the documentary completed before before Haggard was outed (and was not re-edited afterwards) that is another baseless accusation. (And it’s not like we don’t have plenty of other evidence of evangelical hypocrisy–as a quick tour of Scarborough’s own web site will prove.

Actually, it’s even better than just editing – from an interview with Ms. Pelosi on the “Advocate” magazine website, in response to a question about Haggard and how he differed from his fellow evangelicals:

He had an open-door policy. He let all media into his church. People say, “Why did you spend so much time with him?” A lot of times, if someone makes a piece of television, you make the movie you can make with the access you get. Pastor Ted took me everywhere. [Megachurch pastor and best-selling author] Rick Warren didn’t take me on tour with him. If evangelicals have any complaints about the movie, I have to say to them, “You should have given me better access.” He wanted to show off his brand of evangelical. If this had aired before [his] fall, I would have been at a huge opening premiere night at [Haggard's former congregation] New Life Church.

http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid41342.asp

So, if they don’t like the attention paid to Haggard, it’s their own fault for being reclusive and distrustful.