Saturday, May 20, 2006

So Dark The Con of Man...


Well, we saw "The Da Vinci Code" last night.

If you've read the book, you'll like the movie, emphasis on like, not love. Most of the main plot points were there, but a few of them were somewhat diminished. If I had not read the book, the movie would have been a little hard to follow. The new twist at the end was well done and I was pretty satisfied.

The best part, though, was the folks demonstrating out at the street where you turn into the movie theater. (I'll post a picture later...) For some reason, people are having a lot of trouble distinguishing between reality and fiction. If one's faith is so easily undermined by a modern novel and movie, how strong is that faith? Zealots don't give the regular folks a whole lot of credit. I'm guessing the assumption (emphasis on "ass") is that unless you are against the whole thing, then you must be letting it infiltrate your beliefs. Two and a half hours of entertainment will hardly undo a lifetime of influence, but I guess weakness is an expectation. I would think the more passionate Christians would embrace this movie as a new way to dialogue with others about religion and its place in society, rather than reverting to the same oppressions and judgements that have started wars in the past. Fortunately, I live in a country where I can still make the decision to see movies like The Da Vinci Code if I want to. Unfortunately, those same freedoms extend to those who sit in judgement about my decision to do so. "Judge not, lest ye be judged," seems to have been overlooked by those that think their opinions are greater than my choices. You know what they say about opinions, though, don't you?

1 comment:

FarmerW said...

Interseting thoughts Mike. I agree that it is very sad when people have their faith shaken by something so obviously false as this novel. Not only does Brown screw up his facts about christianity, but also his facts about nearly everything else in the book. That is the sad state of Christianity in our nation though, people actually are shaken by this novel. As far as some of the other things you have written I must disagree. Christianity in our nation is perhaps the most attacked institution. Everyone embraces diversity and sensitivity until it comes to Christianity. A few Christians decide they want to exercise their freedom of speech and they are criticized as being radicals and hate mongers. Since when did it become OK that everyones values are OK except a Christians.
Most of the people who protest things like Brown's novel, and the ensuing movie are primarily fed up with being the target of slanderous attacks.
If you want me to get really spiritual about this thing, I could explain how Brown's attack on Christianity is the same age old attack Satan has used in the past. It is called agnosticism, Brown even references part of the Gnostic gospels in his attempt to make people believe there was some great conspiracy. Yes, I am a "zealot" and I believe Brown's novel was spiritually motivated (I am not saying Brown knows this). I am also glad to see Christians waking up to the fact that they are in a battle and need to do something. Granted, because we have forgotten what it means to "love people as Christ does", the actions Christians take are sometimes not necessarily what Christ would do.