Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Tom: Careful now. The Saturday Night Live skit was great fun, and the ""It's only a movie," works.

[...]

It is difficult to use the "it is only a movie" argument when mixed up with "dialogue is good" and "creepy censors want to shut us down" arguments.

The almost universally liked Hanks doesn't need to get into the theological debate that Dan browns likes to fan. Stick to the obvious --it is an absurd piece of invention that makes for a fun thriller-- and all will be well.


Hanks should read the Roberts' series if he wants to understand why some very centrist, learned Christians are concerned about the book's posturings.

"The movie will come and go. It's the book, with its bizzaro Christianity, that's more troubling," says radio talk-show host Hugh Hewitt, author of several books on conservative religion and politics.

"In an era of almost pre-literacy when it comes to theology, a lot of lousy ideas and bad history smuggle themselves in and then get repeated endlessly.

"It's not the devil at work," Hewitt says. "It's capitalism's way of enriching fraud."