The
controversial fictional thriller The Da Vinci Code
represents the best chance Christian clerics will
have this decade to reaffirm the power of the pulpit
in society.
The
film should also spur on those Christian Assembly
members to do a deal on the Executive and introduce
a Northern Ireland Heresy Bill.
This
will allow MLAs to directly combat those sections
of our community who either vehemently ridicule
the Biblical Gospel, or promote blatant heresies
such as the notorious Gospel of Judas.
If
handled badly, especially by fundamentalism, The
Da Vinci Code film, starring Hollywood icon
Tom Hanks, poses the single greatest threat to modern
Christianity since the pagan Roman Emperors who
slaughtered Christians by the thousand.
Unlike
film legend Mel Gibson's The Passion of The Christ,
which was one of the best examples of modern global
Christian evangelism, Dan Brown's novel and the
Da Vinci movie are pieces of fiction which contain
real people and organisations, some of which exist
today.
There
really was Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. There
really are Catholic societies Opus Dei and the Priory
of Sion.
The
central theme of the film is that Christ before
he died fathered children with Mary Magdalene and
that blood line exists today. Such a fictional story
is heresy as, according to the Bible, the only way
to get into heaven is by becoming 'born again'.
If
the Da Vinci Code was gospel truth, then
having a relationship with someone from Christ's
bloodline would guarantee your passage through the
pearly gates.
Such
a theory conjures up the conception of a Master
Race of super Christians – and we all know
where talk of a Master Race ends up ... six million
butchered in the Holocaust.
Indeed,
rumours of a direct bloodline to Christ Himself
are just as dangerously crazy as the view Ulster
Prods are descended from one of the Chosen Tribes
of Israel; a set of beliefs dubbed British Israelism.
But
the big problem which the Christian Church faces
is that Da Vinci Code the movie is so professionally
made and acted, people could be tempted to believe
the fictional as the accurate truth about Jesus
because of the use of real life organisations.
What
the Christian Church must not do is organise world
wide boycotts of the film. Like The Passion of the
Christ, Christian clergy should unite and encourage
their flocks to see the film, and then use the pulpits
to promote discussion about true Biblical Christianity.
The
private lives of many clergy, whether gay or straight,
as well as the perverted practices of convicted
paedophile priests have also served to seriously
undermine the influence of the Christian Church
on this island, and in many cases, have made the
pulpit a laughing stock.
The
Church needs to launch a campaign to find another
Holy Grail, which is to restore people's confidence
and trust in the clergy once more.
This
can be achieved by using the Da Vinci film
as a source of evangelical outreach and Christian
witness rather than confrontations over people's
rights to see the film.
However,
the sad reality will be that ultra conservative
Catholics and hardline Protestant fundamentalists
will simply dismiss the movie as being inspired
by the devil and urge their supporters not to see
it.
Indeed,
many Protestant fundamentalists even consider going
to the cinema as a great sin in itself. Surely,
too, there are enough 'born again' Christians among
the 108 Stormont MLAs to form the Northern version
of the American Moral Majority.
Such
MLAs have a spiritual duty to ensure a power-sharing
Executive is established before the 24 November
deadline, using the Assembly to pass tough-talking,
Puritan-style laws which will hammer those who indulge
in promoting blasphemy and heresies against the
Biblical Christian faith.
Evangelical
Catholics and Protestants who adhere to the 'born
again' doctrine now have a golden opportunity in
the coming weeks as thousands across Ireland flock
to see this Tom Hanks blockbuster to ensure proper
debate takes place on the true meaning of Christ's
role on earth.
This
film could also be used to condemn the sectarian
slogans of For God and Ulster and For Holy Mother
Ireland to the religious dustbin.
If
the clergy fail to take advantage of the huge debates
surrounding the Da Vinci Code, they will have lost
a spiritual opportunity which if not seized could
see the demise of the Christian faith on this island
within a generation.
There
have been other films in the past which deal with
Christ's love life – a subject matter not discussed
in the Bible itself. Christ did talk about love,
lust and relationships, but not about his own feelings
or sexual orientation.
The
Da Vinci Code is not the first movie to deal
with the heresy of a relationship between Christ
and Mary Magdalene. In the late Eighties, there
was a pathetic outcry from the Christian Churches
concerning a blasphemous film entitled The Last
Temptation of Christ.
It
suggested that whilst Christ was dying on the Cross
at Calvary, he had a dream in which he escaped the
crucifixion to have an affair with Mary. There was
an even more controversial film which suggested
Christ was gay.
I
am bitterly disappointed by the Christian Churches'
muted reaction to the equally heretical so-called
Gospel of Judas, supposed penned by his supporters
about three centuries after his death.
If
the clergy lack the spiritual guts to stand up to
such heresies, then maybe the time has come for
a grassroots rebellion lead by the people in the
pews themselves.
Apart
from the usual crop of hardline Puritans and ultra
conservatives who will voice a token opposition
to the Code film's content, this could be
the much-needed spark which ignites the Christian
Churches sleeping giant – the power of the
people in the pews, not the seemingly 'singing dumb'
attitude of the clergy in the pulpit.
