The Chosun Ilbo reports that conservative Christians in Korea are teaming up to block the release of Ron Howard's film version of Dan Brown's controversial (but admittedly, highly entertaining) the DaVinci Code.The Christian Council of Korea (CCK) went so far as to formally ask the Seoul District Court for a provisional disposition to bar Sony Pictures, the film's Korean distributor, from releasing the film, which is scheduled for a worldwide release in May. In a press release, they the CCK had this to say:
We cannot help but have deep concern that the film may disparage and insult the divinity of Jesus Christ and the truths told in the Bible...Unlike, I guess, most of the people supporting the ban, I have actually read the book. First off, "the church" that is being criticized is not a Protestant entity but rather the Roman Catholic Church. The Protestants come off squeaky clean. I suppose the Catholic Church might be represented by the CCK, but I suspect it is mostly an evangelical Protestant entity.
The movie will severely infringe on individual's religious beliefs and will be an obstacle to the Christian Church's missionary work...
The film is based on a conspiracy that the church attempted to hide the fact that Jesus Christ's children are alive, and did not hesitate to kill people to protect their disclosure...
The film will incite even greater conflict and chaos than the novel -- to Christians and non-Christians alike -- as it makes people believe that a fictional tale is historical fact.
Second, the divinity of Christ (or anyone sharing his blood) is not called into question. In fact, it is in some ways a celebration of the holiness of Jesus. Certainly no one is going to watch the movie and think they need to resist missionaries bringing medical care, building schools, digging wells, or offering counseling.
Of course, it might be easier for me to accept the movie as a film because I already have unconventional attitudes about my own Christian faith. To be blunt, I reject the teachings of Paul as, at best, mere dictates for the church's of his day, or at worst, an attempt to subvert the holy teachings of Christ about love, forgiveness, and tolerance as a way to understanding the nature of God.
And gosh darnit, you should listen to me, because I'm an ordained minister. I should start my own church or something, focusing on the gospels and the books written by people who knew Jesus in person; none of Paul's letters.
Then again, maybe the problem is also that some of the CCK members are closeted gays. I mean, how could they not just adore Audrey Tautou, who is eminently adorable (when I start my own Girl Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday series, she will probably be the inaugural pin-up). I have it on good authority that Tom Hanks, Alfred Molina, and Ian McKellan just don't do it for homosexual men the way Audrey Tautou does it for heterosexual men.At any rate, I think the freedom of speech (of those who made the film and want to distribute it) should trump the rights not to be offended (by those with a narrow idea of what it means to be Christian). Unless they can prove that Christ did none of the things said in the book (which are not bad things, incidentally, just not things that keep with the Roman Catholic Church's sex-hating theory of His life), the movie about a fictional interpretation of Jesus and the Church should be shown.
If the CCK is as successful as similar groups have been in the past, that means "The DaVinci Code" will hit Korean theaters in 2020: back in 1988 conservative Christians prevented the release of the controversial Martin Scorsese film "The Last Temptation of Christ," but it was eventually rleased fourteen years later, in 2002.
UPDATE:
It appears the attempts to bar release of the film have been unsuccessful. The movie is scheduled to open on the same date as elsewhere in the civilized world. At the COEX, in fact, the movie is being widely promoted, along the lines of the last Star Wars release.
Baduk wrote:
ReplyDeleteI differ. Some trash should not be made into a movie.
I have already heard from one person that this movie PROVES that Bible is a lie.
Baduk, have you actually read the book? It does not prove the Bible is a lie. It does not disprove the holiness of Christ or anything like that. It suggests that Christ later married and propogated children, after His Resurrection.
Before assailing his shallowness, we who call ourselves Christians should re-examine what we really believe.
I belive in the teachings of Christ.
Paul was inspired. If you reject his "Apostleship", how about Peter's and John's.
Paul was not the same as Peter and John. Peter and John were disciples of Jesus, who knew him in person and knew Jesus the man intimately (of course I mean that in a non-sexual way).
Jesus made an unwilling Peter the foundation of His church.
Paul, on the other hand, was a man who was hell-bent on destroying the Christians and their church, for he saw it as a threat to Rome.
What better way to destroy it than to infiltrate it and subvert its message?
Do we have to chop these epistles and leave only the four gospels?
No, there's also the Book of James, written by the brother of Jesus. In fact, it is my favorite book of the Bible. Christians, I feel, should show much more adherence to James 2 than to the teachings of Paul.
What if Jesus, who will meet us in the Heaven's gate, (with Paul?) ask about our attitudes about homosexuality and about this movie?
And what if He asks us if we ate an excess of cheeseburgers, thus causing His Father's creatures to be chopped up unnecessarily?
If you read His words in the Gospels and the Epistles of those who knew Him, do you really think that He would be asking you what your view on homosexuality was when you get to Heaven?
"We felt accepting different teaching would make the Christianity more popular" is the answer? What if Jesus says that is not what He wanted?
Baduk, I am not saying what I am saying because I think it would make Christianity more popular. I am saying this because I believe the teachings of Paul subvert the words and message of Christ.
What if everything written on the Bible is exactly what Jesus wants? For 2000 years, that is what Christians thought and followed.
And what if it wasn't? What if Paul really did succeed at subverting Christianity, as he had been trying to do before his sudden "conversion" and his taking control of the Church?
Maybe Jesus will stand at the Gates of Heaven and ask you, "My child, Baduk, did you not understand what it was I was saying? How could you think that hating, killing, or such things were a part of My vision for the world?"
But you're in luck, though, Baduk, because Jesus will let you in anyway.
These days, however, many homosexuals and feminists want to tear Paul's letters out of the Bible.
Baduk, I am not a homosexual, and feminism has nothing to do with this.
And also, it has nothing to do with "The DaVinci Code."
On what grounds? Convenience? For their lifestyle?
On the grounds that they run contrary to the teachings of Christ, and that it is awfully suspicious that Paul was, at one minute, trying to kill Christians and destroy their religion, and then the next he was not just a convert but a convert who was pushing to be the head of the Church.
If you disregard Paul's writing as personal prejudice, where does it stop? Would Gospels be safe?
I would probably want to remove the Gospels of those who were killing Christians and trying to subvert their faith.
That would mean I would also eliminate...oh, sorry, that only applies to Paul's teachings.
Actually this movie adds on to the gospel and make a mockery out of Christian message(not love, but the Eternal life through Jesus Christ).
No, it does not. You obviously have not read the book. I'm guessing that those with whom you have discussed this have also not read the book.
It's a good read. I like Angels and Demons better, but I think the movie should be enjoyable. One of the things that sets the Christians apart from other religions is their ability to take criticism with a grain of salt. It is something admirable and something that Baduk sadly misses.
ReplyDeleteBaduk is also messed up as he sadly continues the myth that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice. Great choice. Discrimination and persecution, I'd choose that... not.
Where I agree on the banning of this movie is Tom Hanks and that awful haircut. This is bound to give nightmares for many years to come...