HOW CATHOLICS CAN COMBAT THE DA VINCI CODE
By Rev. Ted Pike
Under "anti-hate" laws in Canada, Australia, and most European
countries, the public contempt which The Da Vinci Code hurls
against the Catholic Church is considered a hate crime. Certainly,
if such derision was cast upon Jews, Muslims, or homosexuals, those
guilty of such hate speech would face prosecution, harsh fines, and
possible imprisonment.
Under hate laws, the issue is not whether the charges are true but
whether those belonging to a federally protected group, including a
religion, feel emotionally battered by such verbal attack. Clearly,
such is the case with millions of Catholics living under hate bureaucracies.
Aggrieved Catholics have every right to file hate crimes charges and
lawsuits against those who distribute, publicize, or exhibit The
Da Vinci Code in their countries.
ATTACK AGAINST CHRIST AND CATHOLICISM
The Da Vinci Code is an unprecedented attack on the New
Testament record that Jesus was divine and unmarried. Author Dan Brown
is even more brutal to Catholics, whom he portrays as sympathetically
as Hollywood portrays Nazis. His Catholic police captain is a sexist
maniac, and Opus Dei Catholics are represented by a murderous albino
Frankenstein whose masochistic prayers sound more like schizophrenia
than devotion. Brown often pauses his plot to lecture on the "violent
and deceitful history" of the Church at large, including the outrageous
claim that the Church killed five million women as witches. The
Da Vinci Code portrays Catholic leadership throughout the centuries
as suppressing vital truth. It suggests such leaders, up to the present,
are capable of murderous actions against those who oppose them. In
the movie Brown gives the impression that Catholic hierarchy can command
hidden laity in academia, government, and the police. Such is an organization
fully as extensive and dangerous to those who oppose it as is the Mafia.
In
America, the Code is free to blacken the names of Christ and Catholicism.
Brown's attack is not a “hate crime” under any federal
or state definition of the term.
But
under hate crime bureaucracies, free speech is not protected. Instead,
anyone who incites contempt for an identifiable group is guilty of
a speech crime.
If
Brown's target were Jews instead of Catholics, there would be no question
that his book would be considered speech crime. If in Canada or Sweden
today a book or movie claimed evil leaders of Judaism through the centuries
have conspired to control others through a religious myth and murdered
those who oppose them, the promoters of such works would be immediately
charged and prosecuted.
In
fact, if a pastor in Holland or Germany just publicly states the historical
facts that Jewish leaders masterminded Christ's crucifixion and persecuted
His followers even to death, it is considered the crime of “anti-Semitism.” Such
a hate crime in Canada is punishable by up to $10,000 and five years
in prison. If someone questions the accuracy of the six-million figure
of Holocaust dead, then any Jew may claim anguish and press hate crimes
charges. A Jew can also file charges if he hears any public speech
critical of Jewish leaders for masterminding the crucifixion, or criticism
of the Jewish religion.
Since
ADL’s hate crimes law was enacted in Canada in 1971, many Jews,
homosexuals, and even some Muslims have received favorable judgments
after charging that they felt intimidated or held up for contempt.
Yet though there have been many white or Christian victims of hate
crimes, I know of none who has ever been upheld in court as a victim
of a hate crime. The general rule of enforcement under ADL hate laws
is that only the alleged historic victims of Western male oppression
- homosexuals, Jews, racial minorities, women - deserve shelter from “verbal
violence.” Christians are left out in the cold, pilloried in
media and unprotected from hate.
PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT FOR JUDAISM
Why
are Jews and homosexuals protected from the slightest criticism while
Christians are exposed to blistering and lie-riddled attacks?
For
the past 40 years, the Anti-Defamation League and its parent organization,
B'nai B'rith International, have been persuading governments worldwide
to enact so-called anti-hate laws. B'nai B'rith is an international
Jewish religious, educational, fraternal, and charitable organization
with 2100 lodges and chapters in more than 50 nations. B'nai B'rith
claims a half million Jewish members, constituting "organized
world Jewry." Such Jews tend to be progressive leftists who favor
gay rights, abortion, and militant anti-Christianity. Many moderate
Jews vehemently oppose ADL/B'nai B'rith's anti-Christian activism.
They deplore ADL's demands that symbols and public expression of Christian
values be restricted.
In
order to persuade governments to enact thought crimes legislation,
ADL/B'nai B'rith reluctantly conceded that not just Jews but members
of other religions be granted equal protection. Of course, ADL, being
in control of such bureaucracies, never intended that Christian victims
of hate crimes receive justice.
But
despite the intent of its framers, hate laws technically offer protection
to Christians as well as Jews. If Christians are publicly held
up for "hatred and contempt," they have the same right as
a homosexual or Jew to go to the local police and file charges as victims
of religious intimidation.
This
simple fact presents a tremendous opportunity for Catholics to help
neutralize not only anti-Christian hate laws but restrain further outrages
against Christianity such as The Da Vinci Code.
MILLIONS OF DA VINCI CODE VICTIMS
Every
Catholic living under hate laws who feels held in contempt, intimidated,
or emotionally distressed by The Da Vinci Code should file charges
or lawsuits against publishers, movie theaters, distributors, and promoters
of The Da Vinci Code in their nation. It is not even necessary under
most hate law justice systems to prove The Da Vinci Code contains
lies. Truth is not admitted in most hate crimes courts. The only criterion
for a hate crime is whether the defendant feels emotionally bruised
or intimidated.
Yes, police may be baffled, having never experienced demands for
equal hate law protection. They may even try to deny that Christians
are so protected. Yet all hate law ordinances, readily available on
the internet, affirm such protection. It is vital that a tidal wave
of Catholic protest, demanding equal enforcement, inundate police and
hate crimes bureaucracies, forcing them to honor Catholic rights.
If
the police or the courts refuse to honor your suit, charges of obstruction
of justice may be filed against them. All freedom-loving attorneys,
religious or not, should offer their services to pursue equal enforcement
of hate laws.
POSSIBLE OBJECTION
Some
may object: "Isn't it wrong to benefit from bad laws? Hate laws
should be repealed, not exploited by Christians!"
Unfortunately,
with over 55 hate law bureaucracies either in place or under construction
by ADL/B'nai B'rith, hate laws are now a fact of life for millions
worldwide. It is virtually impossible to dismantle them. But impartial
enforcement of hate laws would be a disaster for evil Jewish leaders;
they would then be attacked by the very legal python they thought would
only strangle Christians. If hate laws victimize Jewish activists
as well as Christians, they will no longer be useful. ADL will have
to devise some other way to persecute Christians.
A TIME FOR CATHOLIC ACTION
It's
time for all Catholics living under hate laws to see The Da Vinci Code
movie, peruse the book, and then file hate crimes charges. This is
a time to fight fire with fire. Freedom-loving Catholics as well
as all lovers of freedom should email this alert to as many Catholic
leaders and institutions as possible, including the Vatican. (Catholic
directories are available at your library and on the internet.) The
Pope must be urged to support this Catholic offensive. He must
decry hate law bias against Christians. A barrage of Catholic activism
could well result in favorable legal precedents, protecting Christianity
from future media attacks by Jewish activists. Such activism could
cause hate laws to go without enforcement, restoring free speech to
those who love Christ as well as those who hate Him.
