Vatican vs. Dan Brown

Delta · Mar 25, 2009

It seems the vatican is afraid of the new Dan Brown movie being released. They ran their anti-Da Vinci Code campaign and now they aren't sure what to do about this one.

When you think about it - if the people at the top of a religion are afraid that a fictional movie is going to convert their followers to atheism or something else, what does that say for the strength of their faith. Not much.

They obviously feel they have a fragile religion if they're afraid a movie is going to shake its foundations. Pretty pathetic. What are they afraid of? That people will see that religion is a sham? Why so defensive over trivial things?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5962971.ece

DodgeFB · Mar 25, 2009

Delta said:
It seems the vatican is afraid of the new Dan Brown movie being released. They ran their anti-Da Vinci Code campaign and now they aren't sure what to do about this one.

When you think about it - if the people at the top of a religion are afraid that a fictional movie is going to convert their followers to atheism or something else, what does that say for the strength of their faith. Not much.

They obviously feel they have a fragile religion if they're afraid a movie is going to shake its foundations. Pretty pathetic. What are they afraid of? That people will see that religion is a sham? Why so defensive over trivial things?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5962971.ece

What you see as trivial is very important to some people. To them the movie is a "trivial thing". And they know some people spend more time watching movies than in church. They can't understand your point anymore than you can understand theirs. And neither side wants to understand the other.

Delta · Mar 25, 2009

DodgeFB said:
What you see as trivial is very important to some people. To them the movie is a "trivial thing". And they know some people spend more time watching movies than in church. They can't understand your point anymore than you can understand theirs. And neither side wants to understand the other.

I'm not sure if you meant "to them the movie isn't a trivial thing.

I see their point just fine. Their point is they want to control the lives of their followers and others by attempting to boycott films they have no right to. My point is if people want to spend more time watching movies than in church, then let them.

The only thing the vatican is losing out on by people spending more time watching movies than in church is money and power.

DodgeFB · Mar 25, 2009

Delta said:
I'm not sure if you meant "to them the movie isn't a trivial thing.

I see their point just fine. Their point is they want to control the lives of their followers and others by attempting to boycott films they have no right to. My point is if people want to spend more time watching movies than in church, then let them.

The only thing the vatican is losing out on by people spending more time watching movies than in church is money and power.

The people that really want to see the movie will see it. And all this is just more publicity for the movie. I personally never watch any movies about religion. I don't watch more than 6 movies of any kind a year.

As for the money, the church wants money and the movie people want money. And it is really cool these days to trash religion.

In my opinion both sides come off as arrogant. Trying to tell someone else what and how to believe sounds like "I am much smarter than you stupid". to me. But that is just my opinion today.

Delta · Mar 25, 2009

DodgeFB said:
The people that really want to see the movie will see it. And all this is just more publicity for the movie. I personally never watch any movies about religion. I don't watch more than 6 movies of any kind a year.

As for the money, the church wants money and the movie people want money. And it is really cool these days to trash religion. In my opinion both sides come off as arrogant. Trying to tell someone else what and how to believe sounds like "I am much smarter than you stupid". to me. But that is just my opinion today.

Yes the movie people are in it to make money - but they are a business. One of the 7 deadly sins is greed - seems hypocritical of the church to be chasing money and power.

I'm not sure it's cool to trash religion these days, but it is logical to argue against it. There are many examples of the church trying to spread discrimination and I think people are beginning to see the corruption. One reason you see more of it today than in the past is because the church no longer has the power to slaughter you for blasphemy.

I certainly agree with you that telling someone else what and how to believe sounds like "I am much smarter than you stupid". The main culprits of this is religion. Maybe that is another reason opposition to religion is becoming more widespread.

The Parakeet · Mar 25, 2009

The thing that confuses me so much is that Dan Brown didn't speak against the church. Is Ron Howard going that far rogue?

Sorry for Light Spoilers

Angels and Demons ends on a positive note for the church. Langdon and the scientist agree that they should support the church due to the hope that it gives everyone. A central theme was also that religion and science are just two sides of the same coin.

That said, I'm just going to assume that Howard went off the reservation. He pushed Da Vinci Code past what Brown wanted and actually made the Church out to be the villain (it was more of a patsy in the book and he actually portrayed them as modern and forgiving...they excommunicate the Opus Dei guy in the book...the suitcase of Bearer Bonds was a repayment to free the Vatican from the nutty church)

Delta · Mar 26, 2009

The Parakeet said:
Angels and Demons ends on a positive note for the church. Langdon and the scientist agree that they should support the church due to the hope that it gives everyone.

It's been a while since I've watched or read the Da Vinci Code, but I believe it ends in the same way. They decide not to divulge the secret because of the hope it gives everyone. This is fair, religion does give a lot of people hope - I just wish it could do that without the discrimination and hate it breeds.

Glee · Mar 26, 2009

The one thing about Christian groups (all of them) is that they are so stuck in their little box they just can allow any one to say something that might be against what they believe in. It like when you were in school and if you had a hot-head like me. Some girls would tease me that I was short, and I'd just go crazy and start fights. I am short. Why is that an insult? If anything me making a big deal out of it made the situation more seen than I wanted it too. Had I just slyly made a joke or ignored it, no one would have thought anything of it. This is what the Church should do on subject they don't approve. Just re-state "Oh, well of course this is a work of fiction." and that's it. No one will make a fuss and probably less people would go to see it because of this. I've seen this approuch also: By not talking about it, it never happened. The WWE and the US government does this ALL the time. Never mention something you don't want people to remember. By not talking about it, it's out of thought and mind. Thus making it a vague memory or something that could have happened but you're not sure. It works.

Anyway that's my view on things.

The Parakeet · Mar 26, 2009

That's why I'm so confused. Brown usually presents the Church as a modern establishment trying to find its place in a changing world. Why exactly are they freaking out?

Delta · Mar 26, 2009

Glee said:
TThis is what the Church should do on subject they don't approve. Just re-state "Oh, well of course this is a work of fiction." and that's it. No one will make a fuss and probably less people would go to see it because of this.

This is true. They sparked so much controversy over the first film that way more people went to see it than probably would have. People seem to love controversy and everyone wanted to see what the church was so angry about - even people in that religion. If they just left it be, I bet a lot of people wouldn't even bother with it.