UPDATE: Weird New Trend?

I've been scanning the news in my inbox for a reference to Christian responses over The Da Vinci Code to see if this renewed tendency toward violence is for real, or just a coincidence. I found this article from the New York Times: Christian Foes of 'Da Vinci Code' Mull Tactics.

It covers the different strategies that various churches are talking about using against the movie. They are largely non-denominational; the types of strategies run across the various flavours of Christianity. The range of ideas go from the evangelical-educational type like throwing "Da Vinci Code parties" for friends and politely explaining how it's blasphemous [see Constable Visit-The-Ungodly-With-Explanatory-Pamphlets of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch for a practical example], all the way up to suggestive references of how the Muslim community would handle affrontery.

I think this really illustrates the difference between the way a sane person of Western culture would behave and the behaviour of the fanatically religious. The kind of 'uprising' the Western person recommends involves boycotting, writing, and talking as opposed to burning, destroying, and killing. Dr. Brook made a very astute statement to that effect at the Unveiling the Danish Cartoons at USC panel discussions. [Sorry I don't have a quote, the discussion is available free for now online at The Ayn Rand Institute website on the Registered User Page; registration is free].

BTW: I just want to point out one humourously ironic statement by a religious man who proposes that Christians see the movie for sake of debate, "It's very important for some Christians at least to be able to engage in an intelligent discussion." Too true, I don't know how Christians survive without it.