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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 5, 2006


               NATIVITY MOVIE "BASED ON A TRUE STORY"?
             ATHEISTS SAY STUDIO USING FALSE ADVERTISING


The new family movie "The Nativity Story" marks the return to the silver
screen of the Christian tale about the alleged birth of Jesus Christ.
Are studio publicists, though, hoodwinking the public -- and distorting
history -- when they claim the film is "based on a true story"?

"There is no substantive proof to support the claims made in books of
the New Testament about the historicity of Jesus, and his alleged birth
as we've seen in countless films, plays and written accounts," said
Frank Zindler, an expert in biblical era history and languages.
Zindler, a member of several learned societies including the prestigious
Society for Biblical Literature, added that the film's production
company New Line Cinema "is using false advertising when it says that
this movie is based on fact."

Another critic, Edwin Kagin, states that accounts of the Jesus nativity
story echo many of the themes found in earlier religions.  "There's very
little original content in these New Testament stories," said Mr. Kagin,
an author and founder of Camp Quest, a nationally-prominent camp for
Atheist and other nonbeliever youngsters.  "If parents take their
children to this movie, they should admit that it is a fictional tale
comparable to 'Lord of the Rings' or some other mythic account.

Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists said that her organization
was not calling for censorship or disclaimers by film producers.  "We're
staunch defenders of free speech, but we think that the studio is guilty
of false advertising when it claims that 'The Nativity Story' is based
on historical fact."

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for Atheists; works for the total separation of church and state; and
addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.


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