Posted on 04/15/2006 4:45:48 PM PDT by wagglebee
ROME (AP) - The conservative religious group Opus Dei has asked for a disclaimer on the upcoming film based on the best-selling novel "The Da Vinci Code."
Opus Dei, portrayed as a murderous, power-hungry sect in the novel by Dan Brown, wrote in an April 6 letter to Sony Corp. (SNE) that a disclaimer would show respect to Jesus and to the Catholic Church.
"Any such decision by Sony would be a gesture of respect toward the figure of Jesus, to the history of the Church and to the religious beliefs of viewers," Opus Dei wrote in the letter, which was posted on its Italian Web site.
"The Da Vinci Code" contends that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had descendants, and that Opus Dei and the Catholic Church were at the center of a cover up.
A spokesman for Sony Pictures Entertainment declined to say whether the film would bear a disclaimer.
"We have no plans to reveal any details regarding what is or isn't in the film until the release," the spokesman, Jim Kennedy, said in a statement. Kennedy's statement said the film was "a work of fiction, and at its heart, it's a thriller, not a religious tract."
The film starring Tom Hanks is slated for release next month.
Opus Dei, which has close ties to the Vatican, has described "The Da Vinci Code" as offering a deformed image of the Catholic Church.
On Friday, the priest who preaches before the pope in Advent and Lent denounced what he called works that slander the church for profit.
"Christ is still sold, but not any more for 30 coins," the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa said in his Good Friday homily before Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Basilica, referring to Jesus' betrayal by the Apostle Judas before his crucifixion, "but to publishers and booksellers for billions of coins."
Ping.
Ping
Here is a wonderful suggestion from some friends of ours. Hope you may consider it. Please feel free to pass it on to anyone an all. The Amsberry Family. Joe, Marylen, Gianna, Naomi, Katrina.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING MAY 19TH?
May 19th is the date the Da Vinci Code movie opens. A movie based on a book that wears its heresy and blasphemy as a badge of honor.
What can we as Christians do in response to the release of this movie? I'm going to offer you the usual choices -- and a new one.
Here are the usual suspects:
A) We can ignore the movie. ........
The problem with this option: The box office is a ballot box. The only people whose votes are counted are those who buy tickets. And the ballot box closes on the Sunday of opening weekend. If you stay home, you have lost your chance to make your vote heard. You have thrown your vote away, and from Hollywood's point of view, you don't count. By staying home, you do nothing to shape the decision-making process regarding what movies will make it to the big screen.
B) We can protest. ........
The problem with this option: It doesn't work. Any publicity is good publicity. Protests not only fuel the box office, they make all Christians look like idiots. And again, protests and boycotts do nothing to help shape the decisions being made right now about what movies Hollywood will make in the next few years. (Or they convince Hollywood to make *more* movies that will provoke Christians to protest, which will drive the box office up.)
C) We can discuss the movie. We can be rational and be ready with study guides and workshops and point-by-point refutations of the lies promulgated by the movie. ........
The problem with this option: No one's listening. They think they know what we're going to say already. We'll lose most of these discussions anyway, no matter how prepared we are, because the power of story always trumps the power of facts (why do you think Jesus taught in parables?!). And once again: rational discussion of history does nothing to affect Hollywood's choices regarding what movies to make.
But there's a fourth choice.
On May 19th, you should go to the movies.
Just go to another movie.
Save the date now. May 19th, or May 20th. No later than Sunday, May 21st -- that's the day the ballot box closes. You'll get a vote, the only vote >>Hollywood recognizes: The power of cold hard cash laid down on a box office window on opening weekend.
Use your vote. Don't throw it away. Vote for a movie other than DVC. If enough people do it, the powers that be will notice. They won't have a choice.
The major studio movie scheduled for release against DVC is the DreamWorks animated feature Over the Hedge. The trailers look fun, and you can take your kids. And your friends. And their friends. In fact, let's all go see it. Let's rock the box office in a way no one expects -- without protests, without boycotts, without arguments, without rancor. Let's show up at the box office ballot box and cast our votes. And buy some popcorn, too.
May 19th. Mark your calendars now: Over the Hedge's opening weekend. Buy a ticket.
And spread the word. Forward this e-mail to all the Christians in your >>address book. Post it on your blogs. Talk about it to your churches. And >>let's all go to the movies.
I hate movie theaters, but a good friend of mine is involved with Cub Scouts, I think I may offer to pay for a couple dozen kids to go see this animated movie.
Clearly this is the quote of the week for Holy Week 2006.
God bless you, Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, and thankyou (from a non-Catholic Christian).
"Ya done good"
There's some great stuff here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1614872/posts
Another suggestion: boycott Tom Hanks. HE made the movie, knowing how defamatory it was. He's also part of the problem.
"Hollywood will never consider missing a chance to defame Christianity.">>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Opus Dei has many members who network to be placed in our institutions of learning and public office. Those who are in management tend to promote their fellow Opus Die members over non members.
For these reasons Opus Die keeps its membership lists secret and binds its members not to reveal their membership.In many respects they have administrative aspects in common with such secret societies as the KKK. Just because the organisation of Opus Die is Christian does not excuse the fact that they fly in the face of our traditional concepts of freedom, and the pursuit of happiness.
Opus Die is not Christianity, it is a form of subversion of our free society housed by Institutionalized Christianity. They may do good but also cause much evil.Opus Die is essentially un-American.
For these reasons I disagree with your statement that Hollywood is defaming Christianity in this case, it is defaming a secret society which subverts freedom. I am OK with that, regardless of what religion such an organization would be from, just as I would disapprove of the KKK.
So you are supportive of "The DaVinci Code" when it claims the Christ married Mary Magdalene, didn't die on the Cross, wasn't Resurrected, and that Opus Dei has been complicit in a 2000 year conspiracy to hide all of this?
If you want to accuse Opus Dei or any other group of subversion, that is your prerogative, but to do so without a shred of evidence is ridiculous.
A Catholic religious foundation with close ties to the Vatican? Who'da thunkit?
As opposed to some nuts in here who seem to think that Opus Dei is probably guilty of what this ridiculous book accuses.
But ... it's only a novel! (/s)
And my daughter's friend around the corner is a werewolf, and the teachers at our local high school are secretly Death Eaters! If "Da Vinci Code" is believable, so's Harry Potter :-).
The flying monkees in "Wizard of Oz" still scare the crap out of me! :-)
I had nightmares about "The Wizard of Oz" every year, when I was a child. I read a book that said many adults mention that as the scariest movie they saw in their childhood.
Actually, I think it was the part about the child slaves in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" that scared me the most.
Good point. I remember that, too, although it's been many years since I've seen the movie. I think Wizard of Oz made a deep impression because it was on TV every year.
Excellent. In that case I support it....wholeheartedly.
Being "American", whatever that might mean, has nothing to do with obtaining everlasting life. Right now in America, it is illegal to pray to Almighty God in public schools while it is perfectly legal to crush the skulls of newborn children as they emerge from their mothers' birth canals. Something isn't quite right there, I don't think.
So phooey to American "freedom" and the pursuit of happiness. Opus Dei is dedicated to the pursuit of eternal salvation, a much more important and pressing issue. It does so unapologetically and with total commitment.
It does not subvert freedom. At least not true freedom. It struggles to bring about the reign of God, wherein lies true freedom. Of course, in today's world, anything less than unconstrained licence is considered to be an infringement of civil liberties and a threat to "freedom", so I can see why some would consider it to be a threat.
Furthermore, your analogy with the KKK is uttterly inappropriate. Opus Dei wishes to bring all men to Christ. That is the very definition of inclusivity, not exclusivity. Moreover, in that quest, it welcomes people of all walks and races. You will find people of every ethnic grouping in Opus Dei.
Opus Dei has taken the place of the Jesuits in satisfying the need of the popular psyche for a Catholic bogeyman lurking in the shadows.
I agree. That is why you might re-examine why Muslims do not assimilate into the nations in which they are resident and form subversive groups.
Religion does not justify that, nor does the search for life everlasting, whatever that might mean.
Thank goodness our founding fathers put our country before their religion.
Evidence? I thought everybody knew: http://www.odan.org/questionable_practices.htm
http://www.odan.org/forbidden_books.htm
http://www.odan.org/corporal_mortification.htm
http://www.opusdeialert.com/modernistcult.htm
http://www.ianpaisley.org/article.asp?ArtKey=gore
"Opus Dei is an ultra-secret society with clandestine political ambitions. In the United States, where church-state relations are currently being re-examined, the activities of Opus Dei pose a most serious threat to the Constitution and democracy. While many religious organisations lobby openly through licensed organisations, Opus Dei seeks to influence policy-making clandestinely under a vow never to divulge its membership. One of its leading priests, Gianni Baget Bozzo, has arrogantly proclaimed:
Opus Dei is in a position […] to substitute the political party as administrator of (political) carriers in a society in which the Catholic world possesses a potential of power and does not have the organs capable of transforming this power into action, this space into structure.
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http://corrente.blogspot.com/2005/04/wojtila-office-of-inquisition-and-opus.html
Despite Wojtila's external reputation as some sort of "liberal," Catholics know that Wojtila is the close ally of the extremist and highly secretive Catholic movement known as Opus Dei. Wojtila has welcomed and blessed the practices of Opus Dei, which is a kind of "Church within the Church." He has promoted clergy who are affiliated with Opus Dei to the highest of positions within the Church. Opus Dei members congregate in secret in KKK-like costumes and engage in practices which include wearing hairshirts and self-flagellation. They maintain a network of secret monasteries and houses where young Catholics (especially those from wealthy and prominent families) are taken for intensive indoctrination sessions. Opus Dei members have been reliably reported by deprogrammed former members to favor re-ghettoization of Jews and international military crusades against Islam. US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is a key member of Opus Dei in North America. The most likely successor to John Paul II is the ultra reactionary Archbishop of Milan, Dionigi Tettamanzi (known in Italy as the "Beast of Milan") who is reputedly one of the maximum leaders of the secretive cult of Opus Dei.
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http://www.population-security.org/cffc-97-01.htm
Opus Dei pursues the Vatican's agenda through the presence of its members in secular governments and institutions and through a vast array of academic, medical, and grassroots pursuits. Its constant effort to increase its presence in civil institutions of power is supported by growth in the organisation as a whole: . . . . their work in the public sphere breaches the church-state division that is fundamental to modern democracy.
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