'Truth is Stranger Than Fiction' or 'You Must Have Me Mistaken for A Scientologist'

"Please - before you think about hurting someone over this trifle of a film, remember: even God has a sense of humor. Just look at the Platypus."

- Disclaimer preceeding the Kevin Smith film, 'Dogma'

The big-screen adaptation of Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code' opened with the most successful box office opening of the year, and if it has a fraction of the long-running success that the novel experienced, then we are sure to have a big hit our hands for a while. And along with this new movie comes a plethora of press, ranging from the front cover of Newsweek a few months ago to the Us Weekly poll of whether or not Tom Hanks' long-haired look is good for him. Within this group you will find the Falwells and Robertsons tearing their robes and screaming "Blasphemy!"

Granted, the plot is thick with new conspiracy theories involving the divinity of Christ and the secrets that the church keeps, but I have always been quite fascinated how quickly artistic pieces are condemned by the church.

The first that comes to mind is the release of Martin Scorcese's 'The Last Temptation of Christ'. Based on the novel of the same name, the movie was a huge "what-if" tale of Jesus' life when he is persuaded to save himself from crucifixion and comes down off the cross. He marries Mary Magdelene, has some children, mourns as Mary dies, and on his deathbed, prays to God to be given the chance to be Messiah again after being spit upon and shunned by the twelve disciples. The church was appalled at this all-too-human persona that Scorcese gave to Jesus. Boycotts, pickets, and criticism persued, arguing that such ideas would lead to some kind of breakdown of the church.

In 1988, Salman Rushdie published the novel 'The Satanic Verses'. The novel, with its debating and topical talk about the wives of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad and the infallibility of the Islamic holy book, the Qu'ran, led to the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini decreeing that Rushdie be killed, along with a cultural and diplomatic crisis between Britain and many countries in the Middle East.

Marilyn Manson was Public Enemy Number One following the tragic Columbine High School shooting in the '90's. After being reported that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were fans of Manson's music, debate over the influence of music, movies, and video games nearly overshadowed what should have been at the heart of media coverage and critique, strictly-enforced gun control reform.

And now, the new zealot bandwagon across the board appears to be Da Vinci damage control in the form of TBN and local TV church specials relentlessly decreeing the movie to be full of false fact. Fearing a worldwide church shake -up and concerned that the movie will shake the faith of the devout.

So here's my problem with this urgency within the church to squash this movie and book....

The book is sold in the Fiction section and the movie is not billed as a Documentary.

Certainly, there would be cause for outrage if you could easily pick up the book on the same aisle of the store as Bill Clinton's autobiography or, even better, a King James Bible. Dan Brown is using a religious basis for a murder mystery. Didn't George Lucas and Steven Spielberg do the same thing for two out of three of the Indiana Jones films? And those flicks are considered 'classics'.

There is no such thing as bad publicity, unless of course, you are a Televangelist

The more Pat Robertson, Paul Crouch, and Jerry Falwell pick a fight with a movie, the more a believing public will be intrigued to decide for themselves whether or not the movie is good. It works in the same way it helped Marilyn Manson sell millions, regardless of the controversy. If I were pointing fingers, I'd also want to make totally sure that there is no dirt on me. Ask Jimmy Swaggart.

If it shakes anyone's faith. it is not a problem with the movie.

I like to think that my faith is strong. I believe in the one true God. I have accepted Christ as my savior. I am well aware of His workings in my life. A movie is not going to change that, and if any movie did stir doubt, then what faith did I have to begin with? It's all entertainment, folks, like it or not.


So I decided that now I grasp Scientology. Maybe they are on to something; build a religion upon the writings of a sscience fiction novelist, and therefore the fact is already fiction and no debate is necessary. Note how we don't see any Scientology televangelists, although Tom Cruise seems to like the idea. But did anyone get in a hubbub about 'Battlefield Earth' being based on L. Ron Hubbard's novel? Well, only from me, because I demanded a refund.

Let's go to the movies!