Don't they realize every time they say anything at all about The Da Vinci Code, they're just promoting it more?

The Catholic Church, under the pen of William Donahue, President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, has written an open letter to director Ron Howard, whose film The Da Vinci Code opens in May, demanding a disclaimer saying "This movie is fictional" be placed at the beginning of the film.

He writes:

OPEN LETTER TO RON HOWARD: LABEL "THE DA VINCI CODE" FICTION

When "The Da Vinci Code" opens on May 19, most of the controversy will end provided the audience learns the truth: the movie, like the book, is a fable. As the director, you have a moral obligation not to mislead the public the way the book’s author, Dan 19, has. Putting a disclaimer at the beginning of the film noting that this is a fictional account would resolve the issue.

Brown has been trying to have it both ways for years: at times he says his book "is a work of fiction," and at other times he says it is based on "historical fact." Indeed, his novel opens with three "facts," all of which are demonstrably false.

• He says that an age-old secret society, the Priory of Sion, kept alive the untold story about Jesus and Mary Magdalene, when the fact is this tale has been exposed as a hoax concocted in the 1950s by an anti-Semitic Frenchman who was sent to prison for fraud.
• He calls Opus Dei a "religious sect," and portrays it as an evil force, when the truth is it is a Catholic organization founded to help lay people (not monks) seek holiness in their daily lives.
• Most disturbing of all, he says his book is based on documents that are factual. Really? The truth is there is not a scintilla of historical evidence to support his malicious claim that the divinity of Jesus was made up in the 4th century.

You are in a position to correct the record. If, as one survey discloses, a third of Canadians think the book is authentic, then more than mischief has been done. When credence is given to hoaxes, whether it be the notoriously anti-Semitic “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” or the invidiously anti-Catholic "Da Vinci Code," the consequences are real.

It is too late, Mr. Howard, to say that the movie is not anti-Catholic: John Calley, the film’s co-producer, has been quoted in the newspaper admitting that it is "conservatively anti-Catholic." But it is not too late for you to make it unmistakably clear that the movie is a fable. After all, if the film is remembered for the vicious lies it tells about Catholicism, it will not be John Calley’s reputation that will be sullied.

William A. Donohue, President
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

The Catholics have been putting spin on their message for nearly 2,000 years; they're good at it. Note how Donahue uses the same tactic as hater-of-everything Cathlolic priest John Trigilio, whom we wrote about in February, by attempting to tie together known "Bad Thing," in this case the anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion with a subject he's trying to demonize, in this case, The Da Vinci Code. These guys have studied their psychology, but then, they had 1,700 years of the Inquisition to hone their skills.

Hey! I did it too... tied the known Bad Thing, the Inquisition, with panicky modern-day Catholics who are demanding something obviously fictional — a movie made from a novel — be labeled as such.

The photo of Opie and Miss Crump appears on the Catholic website with the caption: "If you'll sleep with me now, I promise to destroy the Catholic church when I grow up."

Dan Brown | Da Vinci Code | Movies | Tom Hanks | Jesus | Ron Howard | Mary Magdalene | Catholic Church | Protocols of the Elders of Zion | Holy Grail | William Donahue | Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights