The DrewVinci Code

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0518/p01s02-wogn.html
all italics quoted from the above referenced link

Being a movie buff and a talented, if braggadocious, historian, it is only natural I would follow the controversies surrounding the DaVinci Code. And, much like I thought about the controversies surrounding The Passion of the Christ, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and even Harry Potter, virtually the entire series, I can honestly say I find most of the arguments pointless, groundless, stupid, inane...I would go so far as to say banal.
I guess the Jews that were offended by the Passion, the "Christians" (I use the common-use umbrella term that I find devoid of virtually all meaning, not the Scriptural version) offended by Temptation and Potter, and the atheists or anti-religious offended by the Lion all fall under the same category for me...people who really haven't thought this through all the way.
I remember the furor over Temptation. The cries of blasphemy...which I found interesting. Many of the same people decrying the depiction of His adulterous relationship in that movie (His referring of course to Jesus) had...have "pictures of Jesus". you know the one, the one that depicts Him with long hair and a beard...despite the fact He lived under Old Testament law, including the commandment in the 10 Commandments prohibiting such pictures...and that His disciples taught against long hair, a teaching I seriously doubt they would have started had their mentor worn it so...the picture is ridiculous and just as "accurate" as the Shroud of Turin. Good for ripping coin from illiterate, incredulous peasants and not much else. (Would you like to know how I "really" feel?) Before you critique another's fictional, for entertainment and money making purposes, first stop performing blasphemy yourself. Or, spoken semi-Scripturally, "First take the log out of your own eye, then you can remove the mote from your brother's eye".
Oh, how the Jews hated the presentation of the Passion. It was "anti-Semitic"...despite following quite closely (I have been told, never having seen it) the Scriptural account of things. Of course, books such as Evidence that Demands a Verdict and The Illegal Trial of Jesus have been around for years saying the same thing. The Bible itself is 2000 years into saying them. Here is a frightening concept: if stating, revealing, or showing as historically accurate as possible version of events is racist, then every anti_Nazi film is anti-German. Think about it. Are all Germans evil? Of course not. Did some of them do some pretty heinous things? Yep. Are all U.S. citizens evil? Nope. Does showing a movie about what happened to the Nez Perce mean they (we) all are?
And don't get me started on the complaints about Harry Potter...a fictional movie in a fictional universe in a fictional time? How is that an attack on Christianity? Nor do you want to hear my rant about the people fearing the release of the Lion as establishing Christianity.
Let's get a clue, here, people, on both sides. If your faith for or against the existence of God, or your beliefs on how He should be followed, if that belief system can be established, shaken, altered, swayed, changed, obliterated, reinforced or some other foundation change...then you have a pretty poor belief system.
If an admittedly fictional, recreational book (The DaVinci Code) can shake the foundations of your belief...you need a new belief. If a fictional book is a direct attack on your beliefs...I am sorry for you. Very sorry.
And when I see an article that claims "ignoring it is not an option" when speaking of the religious world...why not? Is ignoring X-Men (which pushes macro-evolution very hard) an option? Is ignoring Ice Age II (same theme) an option? What about Shrek? You know what these all have in common? THEY ARE SMURFING FICTIONAL ENTERTAINMENT!
If you can't ignore it...well, again...perhaps you are a bit sensitive. Spent a little too long in the basement with the leather-clad whip wielding lady or something and it is a patch difficult to sit down at the moment.Boycott it? Sure, your option, and one I will probably exercise. Demand it be banned? No. No chance in Smurf Village. I would sooner eat all my meals with a spork.
Sporks are valuable, multi-purpose untensils that combine the scooping capabilities of a spoon with the food separation utilities of fork tines. They apprently also bring babies...I was told I was brought by a baby spork.
Of course, it is good to see Cattholics following the creed of Scripture as they always do. (editor's note: previous statement may contain lies. or sarcasm. or both). For instance, aren't the words of Cardinal Francis Arinze quite close to those of Jesus? Let's look at them together: Arinze: "Christians should not just "forgive and forget" insults to the founder of their religion, he said, but should react..." How could anyone not see he is simply echoing Jesus who said (paraphrased, but pretty close) "But I say to you love your enemies and do good to those who hate you". As you can see, Arinze is practically plagiarizing the words of the Lord.
In India, one Catholic activist has gone on what he says is a "hunger strike until death" unless the film is banned.
I guess the world will be a better place soon. Let's hope we don't have to suffer him long.

2 comments:

Riot Kitty said...

A hunger strike against freedom of expression? That's hilarious.

Riot Kitty said...

I see it!!Spork on!