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09 May 2006 04:38 A Catholic group on Tuesday called on Christians to starve themselves to death in protest at the release of The Da Vinci Code at cinemas in India, as others burned copies of the novel. The Catholic Secular Forum said it hoped thousand of people would attend a protest on Wednesday in Mumbai to burn effigies of Dan Brown, the author of the best-selling novel. "It's to show the extent that our feelings have been hurt," said the group's general secretary, Joseph Dias, speaking of the "fast-unto-death" call if the government fails to take action. He denied...

MUMBAI: A Catholic group on Tuesday called on Christians to starve themselves to death in protest at the release of the “The Da Vinci Code” at cinemas in India. The Catholic Secular Forum said it hoped thousand of people would attend a protest Wednesday in Mumbai to burn effigies of Dan Brown, the author of the best-selling novel. “It’s to show the extent that our feelings have been hurt,” said the group’s general secretary Joseph Dias. He denied the hunger strike was irresponsible. “It’s a more Christian way of doing things rather than pulling down things and tearing them up,”...

We are all entitled to our own opinions, but we are not entitled to our own facts. It is OK for a novelist to create a fictional story and even a fictional setting if he wishes. What you can't do with impunity is create a fictional foreground and fictional background, the latter of which you claim is based on fact. That is precisely what Dan Brown has done. His novel, "The Da Vinci Code," claims to be based on facts, but his "facts" are just as much fiction as his fiction. Upon examination, "The Da Vinci Code" is chock full...

The Forum: Gnostics' favorite scholar gets a free pass from critics by Phil Lawler special to CWNews.com May. 09 (CWNews.com) - Novelist Dan Brown has been rightly criticized for the many outlandish claims advanced as "historical background" for his sensational novel The Da Vinci Code. While Brown poses as a writer who researchs his subject carefully, his critics have exposed him as a novelist who builds his popular appeal on sloppy scholarship, conspiracy theory, and a hyperactive imagination. Still, the best-selling novelist can call upon a few scholars with impressive academic credentials to support the theories that underlie his book....

On May 19, the film "The Da Vinci Code" will open nationwide. I do not wish to repeat the number of blasphemous and heretical statements suggested by this abomination, for this is not the reason why I post. I am writing because knowing these falsehoods, we have to say that we do NOT want to make this type of film to become dominant in America as our entertainment. I am aware of boycotts planned against "The Da Vinci Code". And while we think that such tactics are effective, we know the opposite is true. By creating controversy, we are just...

With less than three weeks before the May 19 release of the Sony Pictures version of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, worries continue to mount among Christians about both the book’s and the movie’s impact. But should non-Christians be concerned, too? Absolutely. Jews in particular need to be aware of the gift mega-selling Dan Brown has given, in all innocence, to anti-Semites. As everyone knows by now, Brown uses a gripping suspense story set in the present to inform us that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, and that he has descendants living in Europe today. Furthermore, the members...

The Da Vinci Cod – by Don Brine – (Book Review) Don Brine ( Adam Roberts) is a Professor of 19th Century Literature at London University , and author of The Da Vinci Cod : billed as a “Fishy Parody” – NOT the #1 New York Times Bestseller." On the back cover of the book there is a prominently displayed “Fishclaimer” : “ This book has not been authorized or endorsed by Dan Brown or his publishers,but it is much,much funnier.” Here is a short quote: “But then it turned out that the Cunning Theory was Not So Cunning After...

Girls, girls, girls: Reviving religious sexDan Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci Code is on solid historical ground when it claims that the Judeo-Christian tradition suppressed goddess worship and sexual mysticism. When St. Paul embarked on his missionary journeys in the first century, many of the West’s pagan temples were filled with prostitutes. At one time, for example, Corinth’s temple to goddess Aphrodite employed as many as a thousand prostitutes. Prostitution was considered socially respectable and religiously purifying. Adultery, on the other hand, was punishable because it was an economic offense ― taking someone else’s property (wife). Today, red light districts...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - In the latest Vatican broadside against "The Da Vinci Code", a leading cardinal says Christians should respond to the book and film with legal action because both offend Christ and the Church he founded.Cardinal Francis Arinze, a Nigerian who was considered a candidate for pope last year, made his strong comments in a documentary called "The Da Vinci Code-A Masterful Deception."Arinze's appeal came some 10 days after another Vatican cardinal called for a boycott of the film. Both cardinals asserted that other religions would never stand for offences against their beliefs and that Christians should get...

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...

I was on the road a lot during Lent. And from sea to shining sea, nary an airport bookstore was without a Da Vinci Code display, in anticipation of the May release of Ron Howard’s film. One tries to ignore the hype — “the greatest cover-up in history!” — but there’s something depressing going on here. Why do intelligent people think that The Da Vinci Code has some basis in historical fact? Why do Catholics imagine that a novel which suggests (and not so subtly) that the entire structure of faith is a lie is, well, no big deal? The...

With the release of the Sony Pictures version of Dan Brown’s mega-selling “The Da Vinci Code” in two weeks, worries continue to mount among traditional Christians about both the book’s and the movie’s impact. Should non-Christians be concerned? Yes, we should. Jews in particular need to be aware of the gift Brown has given, in all innocence, to anti-Semites. As everyone knows by now, Brown uses a gripping suspense story set in the present to inform us that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and that he has descendants living in Europe today. Furthermore, the members of this surviving Jesus...

Introduction There is little doubt that the Da Vinci Code has hit a cultural nerve. It has been on the best seller list in the USA for two years, it also has hit equal heights in various countries overseas. Sales estimates run at forty-three million, while reader estimates reach as high as one hundred million. And a major movie by Ron Howard with Tom Hanks in a lead role is on the way in May. The novel's combination of mystery, history, conspiracy and the use of romantic locations and figures have made it a popular piece of fiction. Its plot...

This is satire. If you have a problem with satire, STOP READING NOW. If you have a problem with literacy, i.e. you can't read, I'd tell you to STOP READING NOW but I doubt you'd understand me. ============================ Dear Theological Duo: As both a big Jesus fan and Tom Hanks fan, I can?t decide whether to see The Da Vinci Code or not. Can you give me a good theological argument for boycotting this film? --- Jim Wainscott, Tempe, AZMaurice: I hear you, Jimbo. You can hardly go wrong with a Tom Hanks movie, even when it's questioning the validity...

Virtually every British daily has featured a major story on the trial that has just begun in London accusing Dan Brown, the author of the controversial best-seller The Da Vinci Code, of plagiarizing his work from a previous book entitled The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. Two of the authors of that book have sued, claiming that the "central theme" of their book was used by Brown to concoct his story; or, as the Daily Mail puts it more bluntly, "You ripped us off, authors accuse Da Vinci Code man." da_vinci_code_Cover.gifBrown’s fictional work has sold more than 40 million...

The former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez, is calling on Christians not to contribute to the box office success of “The Da Vinci Code,” as the movie presents a “distorted, falsified and blasphemous image of Jesus Christ.” “Christians”, the cardinal said during an interview with a Chilean television program, “should not see this film” and “should not contribute to the colossal profits that the person who invented this thing is going to receive.” Referring to the book that has inspired the movie, set to debut in May, Cardinal...

Serbia must choose between its past and its present How hard can it be to arrest a man recognised wherever he goes, in a country roughly the size of Scotland? Vojislav Kostunica, the Serbian Prime Minister, has asked the international community to believe that if the man in question does not want to be found, the answer is, effectively, “impossible”. This answer is not acceptable. It is entirely appropriate that Belgrade’s failure to surrender Ratko Mladic to the UN war crimes tribunal as promised led yesterday to the suspension of talks with the EU on possible Serbian membership. Mr Kostunica...

SERBIA was plunged into a political crisis last night after Brussels suspended talks leading to EU membership as punishment for failing to arrest one of the most wanted war criminals in Europe. The European Commission said that it was halting negotiations on closer links with Serbia after the deadline to deliver Ratko Mladic to the Hague war crimes tribunal passed on April 30 with the fugitive still in hiding. Relations between Belgrade and the international community plunged to new lows as Carla del Ponte, the chief war crimes prosecutor at the UN, declared that she had been misled by the...

Self-Destruction is a Choice by Mychal Massie America is in a downward spiral, plummeting toward destruction – not because of depleted ozone, global warming, over population, mineral-resource depletion or any other silly pluripotent argument that is wheeled out daily. We are self destructing because of our choices. And while there was a time our choices appeared to be slowing down the inevitable, it now appears that all that is possible is being done to hasten same. America is collapsing because, as a people, we have chosen to embrace lies over the truth. We have cursed that which is good and...

td img {display: block;}body,td,th { font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #000000; } body { background: url('/lib/images/bg.gif') repeat-x ; background-color: #133458; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; } .style1 {font-size: 12px} .style2 {font-size: 12} .style3 {color: #FFFFFF} .style19 {font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #2B2C77; }     Online Petition   To: Sony Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Ron Howard, and Tom Hanks: SHAME ON YOU! We the undersigned denounce the release of The Da Vinci Code, which is fraught with misconceptions and blatantly false claims about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the history of Christianity, and the Catholic Church. We the...