Code of the Wounded Heart

“I can relate to a Jesus who was a husband and father . . .
I’ve never experienced feeling God’s father love toward me.” - a Da Vinci Code reader

I first heard about Da Vinci Code (the book) a couple of years ago when someone I love was reading it and shared excitedly with me. I don’t know if I even realized then that the book purports to be fiction, because my friend’s passion was deep. It touched a chord. I distinctly got the impression it was received- and embraced - as revisionist history.

Every time a movie comes out which is blasphemous or disrespectful to the Christian faith, I usually get several e-mails suggesting a response of various kinds from people of faith. I received two excellent suggestions and will pass along both ideas for your interest.

My friend Jim, who attends far more movies than I and is my movie information source, tells me “Da Vinci Code” bombed at the Cannes film festival, an intriguing bit of news. Someone who studies such things please tell me why you think this is.

Whether you choose to go see the movie, Othercott it as suggested below, or get a discussion guide from Focus on the Family, above all else, please - in the midst of the cynical, the caustic, the iconoclasts - please listen for those around you who are wounded hearts, to whom this book and movie appeals.

Focus on the Family has opened a new web site just to talk about Da Vinci Code: Know the Truth . . . Share the Truth

And here’s a great suggestion: The Othercott. I received the following indirectly from Barbara Nicolosi, Executive Director of Act One, although I don't know if it originated with her or elsewhere.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING MAY 19TH?

May 19th is the date the Da Vinci Code movie opens. A movie based on a book that wears its heresy and blasphemy as a badge of honor.

What can we as Christians do in response to the release of this movie?
I'm going to offer you the usual choices -- and a new one.

Here are the usual suspects:

A) We can ignore the movie.
........The problem with this option: The box office is a ballot box. The only people whose votes are counted are those who buy tickets. And the ballot box closes on the Sunday of opening weekend. If you stay home, you have lost your chance to make your vote heard. You have thrown your vote away, and from Hollywood's point of view, you don't count. By staying home, you do nothing to shape the decision-making process regarding what movies will make it to the big screen.

B) We can protest.
........The problem with this option: It doesn't work. Any publicity is good publicity. Protests not only fuel the box office, they make all Christians look like idiots (emphasis mine - AMEN TO THAT!). And again, protests and boycotts do nothing to help shape the decisions being made right now about what movies Hollywood will make in the next few years. (Or they convince Hollywood to make *more* movies that will provoke Christians to protest, which will drive the box office up.)

C) We can discuss the movie. We can be rational and be ready with study guides and workshops and point-by-point refutations of the lies promulgated by the movie.
........The problem with this option: No one's listening. They think they know what we're going to say already. We'll lose most of these discussions anyway, no matter how prepared we are, because

the power of story always trumps the power of facts (emphasis mine- this is now one of my life quotes as a writer)

(why do you think Jesus taught in parables?!). And once again: rational discussion of history does nothing to affect Hollywood's choices regarding what movies to make.

But there's a fourth choice. On May 19th, you should go to the movies. Just go to another movie. Save the date now. May 19th, or May 20th. No later than Sunday, May 21st -- that's the day the ballot box closes. You'll get a vote, the only vote Hollywood recognizes: The power of cold hard cash laid down on a box office window on opening weekend.

Use your vote. Don't throw it away. Vote for a movie other than DVC. If enough people do it, the powers that be will notice. They won't have a choice.

The major studio movie scheduled for release against DVC is the DreamWorks animated feature Over the Hedge. The trailers look fun, and you can take your kids. And your friends. And their friends. In fact, let's all go see it. Let's rock the box office in a way no one expects -- without protests, without boycotts, without arguments, without rancor. Let's show up at the box office ballot box and cast our votes. And buy some popcorn, too. May 19th. Mark your calendars now: Over the Hedge's opening weekend. Buy a ticket.And spread the word. Forward this e-mail to all the Christians in your address book. Post it on your blogs. Talk about it to your churches. And let's all go to the movies.