Triple play

Whether or not it's coming from the candidate directly, or coming from another source, you've got to agree that this is pretty disgusting:





This is coming from a race for a State Assembly position in California. I know that I'm always more prone to vote for someone when part of the literature surrounding their campaign is "Vote of me, because the other guy's about to die."

Moving on from disgusting to bizarre. Pat Robertson, that lovable old kook, has just come out and said that God has given him some new insights as to disasters coming up in the future. Apparently, we can expect severe storms hitting the coastlines, if God's message to Robertson can be believed. There's also the threat that "there well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest." This from the same guy who called for an assassination, and then proceeded to deny it a short time later. And people across the country look to him as a beacon of religious light.

Finally, in light of things religious, "The DaVinci Code" movie, starring Tom Hanks, Ian McKellan, and Audrey Tautou is facing its share of troubles. Not only are critics panning it, but a number of cities are banning it, with other locations being threatened by various and sundry religious groups, citing the potential confusion between "fact" and "fiction" as being blasphemous. Let's see... movie based on a novel, which is itself a work of fiction, and carries messages (in a fictional way) that the church may not be happy with. Take out the novel portion and you find yourself with a list of other films that the Church and associated groups had problems with. A quick rundown of a few of them:

- "Last Temptation of Christ"; There were problems because Jesus was portrayed as having carnal desires. Wait a minute... wasn't the whole point of the film that it was portraying what Satan may have shown Jesus during his final moments on the cross? And didn't the film also show Jesus coming out and denying Satan? Should seem to me like the Church might want to support Jesus triumphing over Big Evil.

- "Stigmata"; Aside from the fact that this really isn't the greatest of films (it ties into a few too many different genres without settling strongly into one), the biggest controversy around this film seems to have been the references to the Gospel of St. Thomas. You know, worship wherever you want, because the Lord will alway be there. Given that the Church needs people to worship in specific locations, I can see how they might've been peeved. Bigger question. Why would any message of religious importance decide to channel itself through a member of Clan Arquette?

- "Dogma"; A comical look at things, and one of the biggest complaints was that Jesus was portrayed as having had brothers and sisters. Written by a former altar boy, if he can't have a sense of humor over it, then who can? Biggest sin this film committed? Forcing us to watch Affleck and Damon in another buddy pic, even if they were buddies as avenging angels.

In light of all that, maybe the biggest sin that "The DaVinci Code" is guilty of is being your typical Ron Howard film... overblown, talky, and ultimately boring. Not that I've seen it. Just going by word of mouth, like so many of the protesters out there. And the vehemence used by these people attacking the film is fairly disgusting.

And with that, we've come full circle.