It’s FICTION!

I feel like saying it in one of those “Valley Girl” accents. It is a work of fiction. “Like, DUH!” It is a story, and a darn good one I might note. That’s why it is so appalling to see the Catholic Church get their miters, tiaras, chasubles and crosiers all in a knot about “The Da Vinci Code” movie. They quickly lower themselves to the same appalling level as the Muslim extremists who are so offended by a series of not really very offensive cartoons that they feel compelled to burn embassies, overturn cars and assassinate perfectly innocent infidels who have no connection to the affront to the Prophet. Where was this guy when forty million copies of the hardcover edition were being sold and read and the Catholic Church was still surviving the heresy?

Cardinal urges legal action against Da Vinci Code�|�Reuters.com

Here’s a guy who was almost selected as pope last year now telling Catholics that they need to litigate, be deeply offended and possibly even emulate the violence of the jihadists. Can he really be serious? Can he not distinguish between fact and rousing good fiction? Doesn’t he know that he’s merely hyping the movie at no cost to the producers and making it all the more enticing to the masses? Would he willingly sacrifice freedom of speech for this questionable cause? Isn’t there something more important in the world for him to be disgruntled about? Gosh, he’s a Nigerian—maybe there are some problems in his homeland regarding tribes chopping each other to pieces which he could devote his energies to. Or, possibly some positive strokes to encourage a meaningful battle against AIDS? Or, a bit of constructive dialog regarding corruption, leadership, democracy and good public policy could keep him busy for a while.

Is it my prejudice against religion, or is it really an example of religious leaders of so many faiths displaying their irrelevance to the moral issues of the world?