May 12, 2006---Fanaticism XXXIV--Blasphemy On Steroids
Some years ago if a movie was banned in Boston it assured that it would be a great success at the box office—anything forbidden became immediately and covertly desirable. The Catholic Church was so powerful (as opposed to its current literal bankrupt status) that they could get city officials to pass legislation to restrict the sale of certain books or the public screening of dangerous or blasphemous movies such as The Man With the Golden Arm. Now of course anything goes—Boston even has a Combat Zone in the center of town where XXX movies are routinely shown.
Well, sort of because there is the problem with the soon-to-be-released Da Vinci Code. It has many Christians upset with what they see to be its version of blasphemy—it attacks the very foundation of Christianity by raising doubts about the divinity of Jesus. Jesus and Mary Magdalene have a child? How divine is that?
The NY Times reports (article linked below) that there is debate raging about what to do, how to direct church members: Don’t see it at all or have only certain Christian leaders see it and use it as “a teachable moment.” To quote the President of the Fuller Theological Seminary, a leading training ground for Evangelicals, “It’s very important for some Christians at least to be able to engage in an intelligent discussion” (my italics). Does this then mean that the rest of the Christians are to engage in an ignorant discussion?
The Opus Dei folks, who are portrayed in the book and film as the evil guardians of the conspiracy to cover up the true story of Jesus’ earthly life, have demanded that the filmmakers include a disclaimer saying that the film is a “work of fiction.” He has refused to do so.
Then there is the curious movement not to boycott but to “othercott.” Parishioners are being told to go to the mall to see another movie the weekend the Da Vinci Code opens. They are suggesting Over the Hedge, an animated family film. But not Mission Impossible III (with its Scientology problem) or Bettie Page (with its, well, S&M problem).
My personal favorite response to what to do to protest the film comes from the secretary general of the Catholic Secular Forum (there’s an oxymoron for you). He writes, “As a demonstration of the extent that our feelings have been hurt, there is a more Christian way of doing things rather than pulling down things and tearing them up.” He calls for thousands of people to turn out on the day the film opens to burn effigies of Dan Brown—a version of the good old days when they could have burned Dan himself at the stake. Oh, well.
But, he adds, if you can’t make it to the effigy burning there is still something else you can do to protest—starve yourself to death.
I am not making this up. In fact this “fast unto death” idea appeals to me because committing suicide is a mortal sin that relegates one to Hell where the most appropriate punishment would be to condemn the starved ones to either see or read the Da Vinci Code over and over again for all of eternity.
Not From Here to Eternity, also banned in Boston.
Well, sort of because there is the problem with the soon-to-be-released Da Vinci Code. It has many Christians upset with what they see to be its version of blasphemy—it attacks the very foundation of Christianity by raising doubts about the divinity of Jesus. Jesus and Mary Magdalene have a child? How divine is that?
The NY Times reports (article linked below) that there is debate raging about what to do, how to direct church members: Don’t see it at all or have only certain Christian leaders see it and use it as “a teachable moment.” To quote the President of the Fuller Theological Seminary, a leading training ground for Evangelicals, “It’s very important for some Christians at least to be able to engage in an intelligent discussion” (my italics). Does this then mean that the rest of the Christians are to engage in an ignorant discussion?
The Opus Dei folks, who are portrayed in the book and film as the evil guardians of the conspiracy to cover up the true story of Jesus’ earthly life, have demanded that the filmmakers include a disclaimer saying that the film is a “work of fiction.” He has refused to do so.
Then there is the curious movement not to boycott but to “othercott.” Parishioners are being told to go to the mall to see another movie the weekend the Da Vinci Code opens. They are suggesting Over the Hedge, an animated family film. But not Mission Impossible III (with its Scientology problem) or Bettie Page (with its, well, S&M problem).
My personal favorite response to what to do to protest the film comes from the secretary general of the Catholic Secular Forum (there’s an oxymoron for you). He writes, “As a demonstration of the extent that our feelings have been hurt, there is a more Christian way of doing things rather than pulling down things and tearing them up.” He calls for thousands of people to turn out on the day the film opens to burn effigies of Dan Brown—a version of the good old days when they could have burned Dan himself at the stake. Oh, well.
But, he adds, if you can’t make it to the effigy burning there is still something else you can do to protest—starve yourself to death.
I am not making this up. In fact this “fast unto death” idea appeals to me because committing suicide is a mortal sin that relegates one to Hell where the most appropriate punishment would be to condemn the starved ones to either see or read the Da Vinci Code over and over again for all of eternity.
Not From Here to Eternity, also banned in Boston.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
2:58 PM
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