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Friday, May 19, 2006
Balingit: The Da Vinci Code (II)
By Allan Balingit
On a High Note
THE "turn the other cheek" and "the meek shall inherit the earth" maxims, which for some time have been the fundamental tenets impressed among members of the Christian faith, have probably become an outdated doctrine with dangerous implications for the future of the religion.
A grievous effect that came out of it was the absence of spontaneous, vocal and aggressive outbursts of aversion among Christian leaders and followers of the faith worldwide against the controversial book The Da Vinci Code and the cinema adaptation of the same book.
"Faith is stronger than any book or movie" is the ambiguous response commonly heard from church leaders here in the country, while most church members noticeably have grown nonchalant regarding the whole issue.
Does the outward lack of reaction reflect the increasing disconnection between the established church and the people? Or has the church impressed meekness and tolerance so much so that churchgoers have become overtly passive in both politics and religion? Or has Christianity lost its relevance in the ultra-modern, information driven, and pop cultured world to covet emphatic backing from even within its people?
Imagine a nation of more than 80 million people with more than 70 percent of whom to boot are registered Christians in some form or another, and yet not even a meager portion of which rose up to protest the lack of sensitivity of all those involved with the production of the book and movie towards Christians -- whose faith lie in the divinity of Jesus who they believed died on the cross, resurrected, and rose again to heaven -- which the author bluntly disputes.
Nothing in the Bible suggests that Christ married Mary Magdalene and had a baby, as what Dan Brown claims. The book might be fiction as what the book and the movie publicists would like to relay to the public to downplay the historical assertion regarding Jesus and Mary, but that does not hide the fact that the author's motive behind its conception and printing is to come out with a shattering expose that would rock the whole Christendom.
It did rock is and still rocking, as shown by the amount of controversy it is generating all throughout the world, mostly in favor of the author as book sales surpassed the 25 million mark.
The "Da Vinci Code" also has spawned progeny, that book publishers have noted the demand for religious books with emphasis on the emerging growth and popularity of books under new age, occult, yoga, neo-paganism, and inter-faith dialogue.
On the other hand, in the country, suddenly speaking up against Brown's book and movie could provoke critical reactions from "enlightened individuals" who rationalize the situation by invoking intelligent analysis regarding the controversial claim of the author as the most sensible response.
Although it would be quite hard to be sensible when you're talking about an emotional issue like your faith, religion or your belief, because not only does it involve you and your loved ones' past and present but also your future, as Christians believe through Jesus Christ that there is something beyond this life that awaits the faithful.
Meanwhile, the increasing number of open-minded individuals who would be quite grateful to know that some 100 theaters are expected to show the movie eagerly anticipate the film here.
(May 19, 2006 issue)
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