Tuesday, May 16, 2006

A tale of two religions

Theaters across America will break box office records on Friday with the debut of the Da Vinci Code. I, for one, will not see the movie. Not because it insults my faith, I've been on a "Hollywood" boycott for years now. I won't be going because I choose not to the line the pockets of Johnny Depp, Alec Baldwin, Sharon Stone and Susan Sarandon. Hollywood has been producing nothing but filth for years now and I refuse to contribute to their 401(k)'s. So, on Friday I won't be joining the protesters and I don't expect those small crowds to be burning tires or murdering movie goers and cinema employees. Nope, we won't see an assembly of masked Christians, rocks in one hand and the bible in the other, shouting "Jesus is the Greatest" on the evening news or plastered on the front of the morning paper.
OK, I'll get down from the soap box.
As a matter of full disclosure, I have read the book. I found it to be an exciting, well written novel. It did not shake my faith, or make me question what I know to be true. I read it so I could critique with some comprehension. Reading it gave me a "right" to criticize the book. Since it's publishing in 2003 the Da Vinci Code remains a best seller and Dan Brown a millionaire. What a wonderful country! Now let's compare this to what's happened in the ummah when a movie was made or book was written and cartoons published. Dan Brown has not been forced to go underground because a group of crazed Christians issued a death warrant. Now mirror that to the life of Salman Rushdie, the Satanic Verses author. Like wise, Ron Howard and Tom Hanks are free to move about the country without fear of being stabbed to death on the street not unlike Theo Van Gogh. Barnes and Noble, Borders and Walmart are free to display the book that insults my faith without millions of Christians threatening to boycott, or worse, have Billy Graham or Pat Robertson offer a reward for the proprietors heads.
What will be different Friday after the curtin goes up on the Da Vinci Code, no one will die because our faith was offended.



6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm planning to see the movie, but unlike many others, I realize that I'll be watching ENTERTAINMENT. Not reality. The Da Vinci Code is a movie based on a NOVEL. Fantasy. I've blogged about it too!

Anonymous said...

YOU CHOOSE NOT TO LINE THE POCKETS OF HOLLYWOOD BUT YOU WILL CONTINUE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE UNION BUSTING, MOM&POP STRANGLING,MINIMUM WAGE NOBENEFITS BEARING WALMART!!!!!!!!!!!
GO FIGURE

Malott said...

Mr Lucas,
I'm glad you realize the DaVinci Code is fantasy. As a Christian I'm concerned that this fantasy is being presented as fact.

It's the lazy, uneducated, and uninformed that will likely suffer.

This pertains to spiritual matters and consequences... so it's much more important than politics, economics, or anything else.

Anonymous,

I love WalMart. Sorry

Christina said...

Excellent comparison, Janice.

As usual, you hit the nail on the head. There will be boycotts, there will be peaceful protests, but I predict there will not be wide-spread (or probably any) violence. America is a free, unoppressive society. Islam does not opperate the same way.

What struck me as I was reading, though, is that if America continues to be "tolerant" to groups like CAIR and give in to Muslim demands, then it won't be long before America will be overtaken by the same violent oppression that other European countries are now facing.

I wonder how much longer we will be able to write a post like this?

SkyePuppy said...

The really good news is that even the lefties at the Cannes Film Festival said the film is a major stinker. Tom Hanks was "a zombie," the music was heavy-handed, and it was so melodramatic that people (lefty, church-hating people) laughed at some of the dialog.

If the people most prone to watch the movie don't like it, then we don't have much to worry about. :o)

janice said...

What I find amazing, Christians are "polarizing" when we object to our faith being molded by elephant dung, dipped in urine or other wise ridiculed and mocked.
Members of the RoP however should be dealt a pass for their "bad" behavior when mohammad is wearing a bomb on his head, we need to be respectful and "tolerant" of the masked cowards burning cars and killing paperboys.