City of Manila bans "[The] Da Vinci Code"

Philippine Daily Inquirer ^ | May 19, 2006 | Tina G. Santos

[Ebenezer]

MOVIEGOERS in Manila may have to go to neighboring cities to watch “The Da Vinci Code” after the city council yesterday passed a resolution prohibiting the showing of the controversial movie.

The resolution said the movie, which was based on US author Dan Brown’s explosive novel, “is undoubtedly offensive and contrary to established religious beliefs which cannot take precedence over the right of the persons involved in the film to freedom of expression.”

The resolution, which was passed just hours before cinemas in Manila and other parts of the metropolis began showing the movie, cited a provision in the Revised Penal Code that made it “a crime to exhibit films which offend a religion.”

Councilor Rolando Valeriano, one of the authors of the resolution, said the ban would take effect today after theater owners in Manila shall have been furnished copies of the measure.

The film’s premise that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and fathered children whose descendants have survived to the present day has sparked accusations of blasphemy not only from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) but also from other Christian groups across the globe.

Earlier this week, however, the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) allowed the film to be shown but gave it an R-18 rating, meaning it is restricted to adults.

According to Valeriano, cinema owners in Manila who defy the ban face a one-year jail term and a P5,000 fine. Those caught selling pirated DVDs or VCDs of the movie could be jailed for up to six months and fined P3,000, he added.

City’s sentiment

“This is the sentiment of the city of Manila,” said Councilor Benjamin Asilo, a co-author of the resolution.

“The film made erroneous and unsubstantiated claims against the fundamental doctrines of Christianity,” Asilo said, adding that the people behind the movie “should not be allowed to enrich themselves at the expense of desecrating our religious institutions and impairing our relationship with our God.”

Councilor Maria Asuncion Fugoso (District 3), one of those who approved the resolution, said she was withholding judgment on the film.

“It’s not for me to judge, I know it’s just fiction, but why use the name of Christ?” Fugoso said.

Councilor Cita Astals opposed the resolution, saying that she was for freedom of expression. She described Brown’s book as “excellent” so that “once you start reading it, you’ll not put it down.”

“If your faith is strong, any movie that depicts Jesus as Satan will not affect you. But if your faith is weak, any movie will not save you,” Astals added.

Councilor Lourdes Isip-Garcia, who also opposed the ban, said the movie “is fiction, just for entertainment.”

Not a sin

Fr. James Reuter, director of the Catholic Church’s National Office of the Mass Media, said it wasn’t a sin to see the movie.

“Rome, in general, has condemned it ... (But) the Holy Father has not made it a sin if you watch it,” Reuter told the Inquirer on Tuesday.

In France, director Ron Howard had a suggestion for people riled by the way Christian history was depicted in the movie: If you think the movie will upset you, don’t go see it.

“There’s no question that the film is likely to be upsetting to some people,” Howard told reporters at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. “My advice, since virtually no one has really seen the movie yet, is to not go see the movie if you think you’re going to be upset. Wait. Talk to somebody who has seen it. Discuss it. And then arrive at an opinion about the movie itself.”

“Again: This is supposed to be entertainment, it’s not theology,” he said.

The movie suggests that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene and fathered a child. One reporter asked the cast if they believed Christ was married.

Star Tom Hanks quipped, “Well, I wasn’t around.” With reports from Nikko Dizon and Associated Press

[Ebenezer]

So now I know Tom Hanks is another one of those Hollywood faith-deficient twits. So much for his generally good-guy image.

[Borges]

So now I know Tom Hanks is another one of those Hollywood faith-deficient twits.

So are the millions upon millions who bought the novel then.

[frogjerk]

So now I know Tom Hanks is another one of those Hollywood faith-deficient twits.

So are the millions upon millions who bought the novel then.

You said it.

[Ebenezer]

I prayerfully hope the Catholic Church realizes how deficient religious education and catechesis have been post-Vatican II, especially in the United States. That many otherwise-observant Catholics might buy the arguments and "facts" presented in "The Da Vinci Code" is appalling.

[frogjerk]

The movie suggests that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene and fathered a child. One reporter asked the cast if they believed Christ was married.

Star Tom Hanks quipped, "Well, I wasn't around." With reports from Nikko Dizon and Associated Press

But he can star in a film that makes that assertion. What a dumb answer.

[topher]

Manila is just trying to keep the status of its city above the sewer pits of the world - NYC, Hollyweird, etc.

Just trying to keep cr@p away from innocent minds.

Or is the Da Vinci Code a comedy?

When the critics gathered in Cannes for a special showing, the place broke out in laughter at the most dramatic scene of the movie! Well, maybe they realized how bad it was at that point, and laughed with nervous excitement...

[Always Right]

THE

CLINTON

CODE

If you thought The DaVinci Code was shocking, you ain't heard nothing yet.  Everything the media taught you about the Clinton's is wrong.  The Clinton Code reveals that Bill did not rape Juanita Broaddrick, did not sexually harass Katherine Willey, and did not have improper relations with Paula Jones, Jennifer Flowers or even Monica Lewinski.  These were all a big cover up for Bill's real passion.....12-year old boys.

The Clinton Code takes you inside the secret society, the Sid Blums, a society dedicated to protecting the dark secrets of socialism and communism.  How the secret blood line of Marx, Lennin, and even Hitler all lead to a little girl named Hillary Rodham.  How the secret rituals of the Sid Blums concerning the shoes of Hillary Rodham lead to the firing of Dick Morris and to Dick's new role in infatuating the other side by giving bad advice and making predictions that never come true.  Also the book reveals the story behind the mysterious death of Vince Foster, and how the Clinton Body Count actually grossly underestimates the carnage left behind by the Clintons.

DISCLAIMER:  This book is not anti-anything. The Clinton Code is a novel and therefore a work of fiction. The artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals depicted in this novel all exist.  This disclaimer takes no stance about the theories discussed in this book.  This book serves only to open up discussion on these important topics.  In fact, I am a supporter of the Clintons.  If you ask what a Clinton supporter is, everyone will give you different answers.  To some to be a Clinton supporter, you must have voted for them.  To others, liking them is all it takes.  I prefer not to rigidly classify this personal concept, so to me being a Clinton supporter simply means to seek the truth out about these SOBs.

[groanup]

Is there a chapter on why radical feminism looked the other way while Bubba raped, molested, harassed and sodomized women?

[Always Right]

Is there a chapter on why radical feminism looked the other way while Bubba raped, molested, harassed and sodomized women?

As long as abortion remain legal, who cares what sick perverted method the king uses to sexually gratify himself?

[twigs]

What does Vatican II have to do with that?

[RexBeach]

I'd say your assertion is correct.

I am Catholic and I had friends who said I should read the book because it would "help me question my faith." Really? I responded with this remark: "If I knew of a book that I thought would help you question the love you have for your son, would you read it?" Silence.

Yeah, I know, the book is fiction. However, there are many, many people in America who love a conspiracy - and possess no religious faith.

Nothing like a good conspiracy to keep you warm at night - when your faith does not.

See yah. -Rex

[topher]

In terms of Catechism, it still should be told from the pulpits (for those at least go to Sunday mass).

If one has a half-decent education on the faith, they might remember that Jesus said that it is better to put a yoke on your neck and be thrown into the sea than to bring [scandal to the innocent].

Basically, for Jesus to sin, would have been a great scandal, and by Jesus' own words, He should have killed himself by being drowned in the sea rather than commit an act of scandal...

The whole premise of the movie is that Jesus committed sin and scandal. But if Jesus was the man-God, how could that happen.

The exact quote I am using is from Matthew 18:5-10 (it is also found in the Gospel of Mark):

Matt 18:5-10 5 "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.

6 But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

7 "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!

8 If your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.

9 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

10 "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

(NIV)

The movie is a direct affront to this passage of the Gospel, as well as the words Jesus said: "Before Moses, I AM!" -- which where the phrase comes that Jesus is the Great I am.

People should be taught such things from the pulpit - Catholic or Christian, and what these words really mean...

[Ebenezer]

Vatican II itself is not to be blamed for the poor state of catechesis and the doctrinal illiteracy that has prompted gullible Catholics to buy "The Da Vinci Code" as factual. But it can be argued that, in misinterpreting the Council and in the name of "modernization", the teaching of Catholic doctrine in schools and churches was watered down.

[Borges]

Conspiracy theories are mainstray of postmodern fiction (especially Thomas Pynchon) if the eternal verities are tenuous and discredited then something else much more mysterious just has to be holding the world together. One epistemology falls and another takes its place.

[Bones75]

It sure is nice not to live in a country where some beurocrat can decide what movie I get to see.

[Bones75]

I am Catholic and I had friends who said I should read the book because it would "help me question my faith." Really? I responded with this remark: "If I knew of a book that I thought would help you question the love you have for your son, would you read it?" Silence. "

The answer from your friend would be: W"ell, no book would do that." Likewise, your answer to the original statement made by your friend could have been the same.

[freedumb2003]

Matthew was always my favorite.

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

The Clinton Code is a novel and therefore a work of fiction.

But it's based on fact. The part about Bubba's passion for little boys is true.

[ikka]

According to Valeriano, cinema owners in Manila who defy the ban face a one-year jail term and a P5,000 fine. Those caught selling pirated DVDs or VCDs of the movie could be jailed for up to six months and fined P3,000, he added. P5000 = $100 US Dollars, P3000 = $60 US Dollars. Not a lot of teeth in that fine.

[ishabibble]

Vatican II has nothing to do with the premise of the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Vatican II can be billed as "The Floodgates", which allowed thousands of homosexuals and social miscreants to enter the priesthood without fear. They have been caught, they have been shielded, they have brought the Roman Catholic Church to the very brink. Pope John Paul II thought that this was necessary to cleanse the American Roman Catholic Church, and so he sat silent while homosexual pedophiles, hiding behind Roman collars, were brought into courts in chains. He cleared the way for Pope Benedict XV to bring the entire flock around the world back into the true Roman Catholic faith. As I believe it to be, the one true faith.

The systematic murder of the Word of God, starting with the Roman Catholic Church, is the most integral part of the homosex agenda. If there is no one left to judge what is right or wrong, they are home free. Think Gay Gene Robinson in his Golden Robes, not in a church, but on the cover of Time magazine. Judgmental is a four letter word in today's American society. That doesn't make it right, or true, or good for anyone.

Think Gollum. LOTR is about America 2006, and what is "Precious"? Could it possibly be that "Precious" is simply, The Golden Rule? That "Precious" is most simply goodness in the ordinary human being? Bilbo Baggins is Everyman and goodness is the pathway to God, but how many take that path?
I would venture that the "born agains" understand more of my post than those who have never been truly tested.

The Word of Jesus Christ is more important than ever, and it is under attack by the many forces of evil, those that call themselves secular or "separation of church and state". The ACLU, CAIR, Code Pink, ANSWER are all Gollum, too. They think the secret is gold...true followers of Christ know that the answer is goodness.