Posted on 05/16/2006 10:01:02 AM PDT by NYer
“The Da Vinci Code” has undermined faith in the Roman Catholic Church and badly damaged its credibility, a survey of British readers revealed Tuesday as tensions over — and hype for — the forthcoming film reached a fever pitch.
As its stars off headed to walk the red carpet at Cannes, where the film was set to debut Wednesday before a worldwide release Friday, at least two countries limited the film's release.
The British survey, released by a group of prominent Catholics, revealed that readers of Dan Brown's blockbuster novel are twice as likely to believe Jesus Christ fathered children and four times as likely to think the conservative Catholic group Opus Dei is a murderous sect.
“An alarming number of people take its spurious claims very seriously indeed,” said Austin Ivereigh, press secretary to Britain’s top Catholic prelate Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor. “Our poll shows that for many, many people “The Da Vinci Code” is not just entertainment.”
He heads a prominent collection of English Roman Catholic monks, theologians, nuns and members of Opus Dei, who commissioned the survey from pollster Opinion Research Business (ORB) and have sought to promote Catholic beliefs amid the film’s release.
ORB interviewed more than 1,000 adults last weekend, finding that 60 percent believed Jesus had children by Mary Magdalene — a possibility raised by the book — compared with just 30 percent of those who had not read the book.
The group, which stopped short of following the Vatican line of calling on Catholics to boycott the film, accused Brown of dishonest marketing based on peddling fiction as fact.
Ivereigh complained that Brown and film studio Sony Pictures “have encouraged people to take it seriously while hiding behind the claim that it is fiction.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Yes, and I've come to the conclusion that the READER has a responsibility to research the difference.
A good book should force you to research a little background. The more I look at this, the more I've realized Dan Brown has done a favor for the church, giving it an opportunity to set the historical record straight inforont of people who would have otherwise cared less. Now, people will at least look!
There was great fear when the bible was going to be printed in bulk. It would make itself subject to interpretation on a new level. The Judas papers will produce volumes of interpretations.
Just bad lighting....
Naw, it's overhead lighting unaided by a fill-flash. Makes you look unattractive. Satan doesn't do much photography, but he does like working in red-lit darkrooms.
Is this survey from the same outfit that claimed that Harry Potter was turning kids to Wicca or some such?
WERTHEIMER: You're trying not to get too fictional with the facts here?
Mr. BROWN: Absolutely. The only thing fictional in "The Da Vinci Code" is the characters and the action that takes place. All of the locations, the paintings, the ancient history, the secret documents, the rituals, all of this is factual.
My disdain for "surveys" and "polls" is absolute and permanent.
Nevertheless, I can add that anyone whose faith can be shaken by a bad fiction novel/movie, doesn't have much of a faith to begin with...
I wonder how many went bonkers when "The Omen 3" hit the screens. After all, there are a group of Christian priests in that movie that got specially blessed knives that were trying to kill the Anti-Christ. Surely that must have been just as demeaning to Christianity,.
Have you been paying attention at all?
You know Tom Hanks is an actor and that Dan Brown is a hack trying to make a buck right? Yes, you gullible fool, take the word of actors and shills over Christians. How is it you atheists always know everything about religion?
People who think the Code is good history probably think there's a treasure map on the Declaration of Independence too.
That may be true of children, but not of adults, so I strongly disagree.
We each affirm (confrm) our beliefs, or reject them consciously at some point. It's called "growing up".
If a novel can undermine your faith, you ain't too faithful.
"Relax kid, it's only a movie."
-- Hardware Wars, 1978
Like it or not, this is a movie that raises important questions.
If you see just one movie this year, it must be "The Da Vinci Code"!
CINOs!
"How is it you atheists always know everything about religion?
"
I believe you are mistaken. I do not think Rudder is an atheist at all. Perhaps you misunderstood the post.
Are you serious.
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