I have to laugh- don't these churches have anything better to do with $50,000? Are they SO threatened by a movie (!!) that they have to go on a crusade to "combat" it? Couldn't they have used that $50,000 to, I dunno, maybe feed some homeless people?
[hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"]
[table valign="top" align="right" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="10"] [tbody][tr][td] [table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"] [tbody][tr] [td align="center"][img]vny!://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,1658,5149898,00.jpg" alt="Da Vinci Code" height="220" width="300"][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td align="left"] [font color="black" face="Verdana" size="1"]Conspiracy claims: Audrey Tatou and Tom Hanks star in the film.
[/font] [/td] [/tr] [/tbody][/table] [/td][/tr] [/tbody][/table] [span style="font-weight: bold;" class="headline"] Churches target Code[/span]
[span class="byline"] By BRYAN PATTERSON[/span]
[span class="byline"]07may06[/span]
[span class="bodytext"] AUSTRALIA'S leading churches are launching big campaigns to combat claims made in The Da Vinci Code, the blockbuster film that hits our cinemas this month.
[/span] [span class="bodytext"] The Anglican Church is spending $50,000 to blitz cinemas with advertisements debunking claims that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene and had a child. Meanwhile, some Catholic leaders are calling for boycotts, promoting websites that challenge author Dan Brown's conspiracy claims and urging priests to speak out from the pulpit. [/p]The Da Vinci Code depicts the Catholic Church as having suppressed the alternate version of Christianity the movie presents. [/p]Leading Catholic scholars are gathering in Rome this weekend to discuss how the church worldwide should best handle the film's release. The Vatican has already called on Catholics to boycott it. [/p]Conservative Catholic group Opus Dei, portrayed as a conspirator, has asked distributor Sony Corp to issue a disclaimer. [/p]Sony has declined to reveal whether it would carry a disclaimer, but said the work was not a religious one and was not meant to criticise any group. [/p]The film opens in Australian cinemas on May 18. Sony is believed to be spending $10 million on promotion campaigns. [/p]The film will be shown on the largest number of screens in Australia, eclipsing the 552-screen record set by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. [/p]Dr Ross Clifford, president of the Baptist Union of Australia, said The Da Vinci Code was "heretical" because it denied the resurrection, the heart of the Christian message. [/p]The Uniting Church in Victoria is also planning seminars to counter the film's claims. The Da Vinci Code tells of a conspiracy to suppress Christ's marriage and fathering of a royal bloodline. [/p][/span]
