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Ted Baehr Calls Blasphemy, Sex Immorality Reasons to Miss Da Vinci Code(question: who funded it?)
agapepress ^ | May 4 06 | agape press

Posted on 05/05/2006 10:06:53 PM PDT by churchillbuff

A well-known pro-family media critic advises Christians to forego seeing the movie screen adaptation of Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code, and he says they should warn others to avoid the film as well.

Dr. Ted Baehr is chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission (CFTC) and publisher of Movieguide, a biweekly journal that reviews and rates films according to their values and family-friendly -- or unfriendly -- content. And when it comes to the kind of content viewers will find if they decide to go see the upcoming theatrical release, The Da Vinci Code (rated PG-13), the Christian movie reviewer says, "There's a lot of good reasons for people not to."

On May 17, two days before the movie's general release, a group of Christian leaders are going to hold a press conference in Washington, DC, to address the issues surrounding the controversial film. Baehr, who will be part of that group, says there is a lot more to The Da Vinci Code's plot than just the assertion that Jesus married Mary Magdalene. That is minor, the critic says, compared to some of the other blasphemous ideas presented in the story.

In the novel and its film adaptation, a Harvard symbologist named Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) teams up with a brilliant French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), to follow clues revealing that the recently murdered curator of the Louvre was involved in an ancient secret society called the Priory of Sion, over which an evil Grand Master presides.

Following clues from the murder scene, Robert and Sophie are caught up in a dangerous mystery as they match wits with an unknown enemy somehow connected with Opus Dei, a clandestine Catholic organization. Opus Dei, according to Brown's story, is believed to have long plotted to seize the Priory's carefully guarded secret -- the secret the "code" supposedly obscures, that Christ was not crucified but instead survived, married, and sired progeny.

Besides the story's more obvious blasphemies, Baehr notes, are other issues that he feels make the movie unfit for Christian audiences. "One of the problems," he explains, "is that The Da Vinci Code's main point is leading up to Sophie discovering that the Grand Master's invitation into eternal life is a sexual ceremony where he's surrounded in the basement with his cohorts in the cult of the Priory, having sex with the temple prostitute."

The CFTC chairman says he has heard some prominent Christians tell other believers to go see The Da Vinci Code because they can use the storyline of the film as a springboard to tell people the truth about Christ. But God's Word tells believers to look upon the good, the true, and the lovely, the Christian film reviewer points out. They are not told to look upon the evil, sexual ceremonies that are contained in the upcoming Tom Hanks movie, he insists.

"In Ezekiel, God tells us to be a 'watchman on the wall,'" Baehr continues, "and he says if you know that somebody is going to make a mistake, you tell them not to." Christians should avoid the movie based on Brown's novel, he contends, "because the book is just chock full of occultism, Rosicrucianism, Masonic Satanism, et cetera -- I mean, we have a lot of material on all the satanic material, all the sexual material, all the pornographic material."

The Movieguide publisher says a conscientious, thinking Christian "would be hard pressed to argue that people should indulge in this, because it's going to be engraved on people's minds." He urges believers to ignore anyone advising them to "invite the devil through dialog."


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: blasphemy; davincicode; moralabsolutes; movieguide; moviereview; tedbaehr
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The Movieguide publisher says a conscientious, thinking Christian "would be hard pressed to argue that people should indulge in this, because it's going to be engraved on people's minds." He urges believers to ignore anyone advising them to "invite the devil through dialog."
1 posted on 05/05/2006 10:06:56 PM PDT by churchillbuff
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To: churchillbuff

At the May 17 press conference, Baehr adds, the Christian leaders involved will provide some telling information about who funded this controversial, anti-Christian film. He believes this revelation and other facts about The Da Vinci Code will raise many Christians' concerns and further show why believers should not spend one dime on the movie.


2 posted on 05/05/2006 10:07:39 PM PDT by churchillbuff
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To: churchillbuff

WHO FUNDED THIS ANTI-CHRISTIAN MOVIE? MOVIEGUIDE APPARENTLY WILL REVEAL SOME INTERESTING INFORMATION LATER THIS MONTH.


3 posted on 05/05/2006 10:08:32 PM PDT by churchillbuff
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To: churchillbuff
Brown couldn't buy better publicity.

When are people like Baehr and institutions like my Catholic Church going to figure out the psychology of begging people to boycott a film?

4 posted on 05/05/2006 10:11:03 PM PDT by sinkspur ( I didn't know until just now that it was Barzini all along.)
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To: churchillbuff
The Movieguide publisher says a conscientious, thinking Christian "would be hard pressed to argue that people should indulge in this, because it's going to be engraved on people's minds." He urges believers to ignore anyone advising them to "invite the devil through dialog."

We rely more and more upon movies to educate us, so I can understand his concern. A thinking Christian understands that while The Da Vinci Code is fiction, people are asking questions based on faulty scholarship and downright unhistorical assertions. For those who care little for such distinctions, like truth and falsehood, have I got a film for you! Ever heard of this flick called 'Farenheit 9/11?'
5 posted on 05/05/2006 10:13:16 PM PDT by Das Outsider (Are Marxist academics and apostate bishops trustworthy enough to tell you who the "real" Jesus is?)
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To: sinkspur
. When are people like Baehr and institutions like my Catholic Church going to figure out the psychology of begging people to boycott a film?"""

What's your point? You think Christians should ignore a massively financed attack on their faith? If a movie came out that portrayed Anne Frank as a prostitute - - and it was promoted as massively as the promotion for Da Vinci Code (which portrays the Catholic Church as basically Murder Incorporated) -- would you criticize Jewish groups for objecting? I certainly wouldn't -- and by the same token, Christians have every right to object to this pile of blasphemy that Hollywood is serving up.

6 posted on 05/05/2006 10:15:23 PM PDT by churchillbuff
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To: churchillbuff
WHO FUNDED THIS ANTI-CHRISTIAN MOVIE?


7 posted on 05/05/2006 10:15:35 PM PDT by Das Outsider (Are Marxist academics and apostate bishops trustworthy enough to tell you who the "real" Jesus is?)
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To: churchillbuff

People will say it is just a movie, but for the rest of your life it's false facts will fill the arguments of people that challenge your faith.


8 posted on 05/05/2006 10:17:33 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: wagglebee

Sounds horrible.


9 posted on 05/05/2006 10:19:15 PM PDT by little jeremiah
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To: churchillbuff

Heck, 99.99% of the movies that come out of Hollywood are unfit for Christians.

Then again, they're usually unfit for entertainment, but occasionally, something good comes out. I plan on seeing the Da Vinci Code at some point. If they did a good job, chances are I'll enjoy it.

But nothing says I'm going to believe it or treat it as anything other than entertainment, and the people likely to believe it probably aren't Christians to begin with. The best way to guarantee that something will stick around is to try and suppress it. Some things just have to go out of style on their own.


10 posted on 05/05/2006 10:20:25 PM PDT by coconutt2000 (NO MORE PEACE FOR OIL!!! DOWN WITH TYRANTS, TERRORISTS, AND TIMIDCRATS!!!! (3-T's For World Peace))
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To: ansel12
People will say it is just a movie, but for the rest of your life it's false facts will fill the arguments of people that challenge your faith.

The overwhelming popularity of The Da Vinci Code is proof that the "It's just a..." attitude has gotten us nowhere.
11 posted on 05/05/2006 10:21:04 PM PDT by Das Outsider (Are Marxist academics and apostate bishops trustworthy enough to tell you who the "real" Jesus is?)
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To: ansel12
People will say it is just a movie,"""

It's "just a movie" that slanders Christ and His Church as a collection of cold-blooded murderers. As I asked Sinkspur, let's try a thought experiment. Suppose a movie - admittedly fictional - portrayed Anne Frank as a prostitute. Would all the folks who are saying that "Da Vinci" is "just a movie, so what are you worried about," also be saying that "Anne Frank: Prostitute," is "Just a movie, no big deal"? I would hope not. Slurring a figure who is beloved and honored by Jews would be a vile thing - and I would be the first to protest. Likewise, slurring Jesus and His Church is vile - and people who scoff at the protestors are either hypocrites, not very bright - or secret despisers of Christianity who are cheering this blasphemous film.

Of course, Christ has been mocked and spat upon since the time of His Passion - and it will continue until His return. But I don't have to like it - or remain silent as the low-lifes engage in their perennial mocking of the Holy. They can mock God, but it's at their own eternal peril -- and no matter what they do, they can't destroy Christ or Christianity, because Christ is God and Christianity is ordained by God.

12 posted on 05/05/2006 10:24:24 PM PDT by churchillbuff
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To: churchillbuff
Brown is just making sure you spell his name right.

The Catholic Church, prior to 1965, had something called the Legion of Decency that would rank movies.

The worst ranking was an X, which meant the movie was "condemned."

I remember that "Lolita" was an X when it was released, and it went on to be a blockbuster.

The Church no longer rates movies; perhaps someone figured out that giving a movie an "X" rating guaranteed its success.

13 posted on 05/05/2006 10:25:01 PM PDT by sinkspur ( I didn't know until just now that it was Barzini all along.)
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To: churchillbuff
"...the secret the "code" supposedly obscures, that Christ was not crucified but instead survived, married, and sired progeny."

Um. No. I just reread the book and the legend cited in the it does not say that Christ was not crucified, it says that his wife and child were spirited out of the empire and hidden in Gaul after he was executed. Maybe this is just ME, but if you are going to critique a book you should at least know what it says. Otherwise you look like you don't what the hell you are talking about. It kind of undercuts your authority as a critic.

I thought the book was a fun read and good action novel. I didn't buy the lore at all, but that's true of almost every action/suspense/thriller on the market anyway. It's really not worth taking this seriously, IMHO.
14 posted on 05/05/2006 10:27:10 PM PDT by Mongeaux (''I would sooner be governed by the first 2,000 names in the Boston phone directory," W.F. Buckley)
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To: sinkspur
Brown is just making sure you spell his name right."""

You didn't answer me. If the movie was called, "Anne Frank: Prostitute," would you also be lecturing and belittling people who protested, the way you belittle Christians who protest a movie that blasphemes the Lord?

15 posted on 05/05/2006 10:27:42 PM PDT by churchillbuff
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To: churchillbuff

You reminded me of a famous theater story. When Anne Frank first came to Broadway as a play there was one performance in which the Nazis are questioning the family harboring the Franks et al and asking, "Where are they?" A kid in the audience called out spontaneously, "They're in the attic!"

Apparently it took a full ten minutes for everyone in the theater, including the actors on stage, to stop laughing.


16 posted on 05/05/2006 10:32:05 PM PDT by durasell (!)
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To: churchillbuff
I'm beginning to feel a need for a shower even being on the same thread with you churchill.

You Saddam appeaser, you.

I don't go to movies, ever, so I really don't care about this controversy and I care even less for a work of fiction like the DaVinci Code.

But you just go on shouting out to the world how hard you work for the Lord, churchill.

You have your reward.

17 posted on 05/05/2006 10:32:45 PM PDT by sinkspur ( I didn't know until just now that it was Barzini all along.)
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To: Das Outsider

"The overwhelming popularity of The Da Vinci Code is proof that the "It's just a..." attitude has gotten us nowhere."

RIGHT.

"It's just a ..." is the slouching that takes us down the slippery slope.


18 posted on 05/05/2006 10:36:05 PM PDT by WOSG (Faith & Reason)
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To: coconutt2000
...and the people likely to believe it probably aren't Christians to begin with.

Some are. Others are people who might go to see the movie and then pick up the book. I've done that with a few particularly good movies. In any case, the reader who does not do their research will buy into Dan Brown's false, historically revisionist claims Enter the book.

Have you read The Da Vinci Code? Brown includes the disclaimer that the novel is fiction; however, he also has a section titled 'FACT' in which he lays out the alleged historical basis for the novel. People who tend to think of all belief as relative sort of disregard it. The others, however, have been (and will be) impressed by what appears to be an appeal to factual research regarding the early church.

Instead of a boycott, I would rather see leaders inviting the public to examine the claims of The Da Vinci Code based upon what evidence we do have. Just telling someone that it's bogus, immoral, and blasphemous (it is all three) is not exposition, and that is what's required for both groups.
19 posted on 05/05/2006 10:37:26 PM PDT by Das Outsider (Are Marxist academics and apostate bishops trustworthy enough to tell you who the "real" Jesus is?)
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To: churchillbuff
no matter what they do, they can't destroy Christ or Christianity, because Christ is God and Christianity is ordained by God.

Amen.

The only good thing is that Ron Howard is directing, so the film will be simplistic and boring.

20 posted on 05/05/2006 10:37:50 PM PDT by Dr. Eckleburg ("I don't think they want my respect; I think they want my submission." - Flemming Rose)
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