Meet my friend, Mr. Bigot
Mood:  loud
Now Playing: Radio Margaritaville
Topic: The Bigotry of Da Vinci

“Bigot”---it’s not a pleasant word, but Roman Catholics better learn to get acquainted with it. Why? Because the forthcoming release of The Da Vinci Code reveals that a great many anti-Catholic bigots are bankrolling, producing, and starring in films that are as bigoted against Roman Catholicism as D. W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation was bigoted towards black Americans. You don’t have to take my word for it either, as John Calley, co-producer of The Da Vinci Code, has himself referred to the movie as "conservatively anti-Catholic."

Just think about that for a second….

Could you imagine a major studio producer ever stating that movie X is “conservatively anti-black?” Or “conservatively anti-Semitic?” Even “conservatively anti-Islamic?” For that matter, could you imagine any film that was so openly bigoted ever even making it into production?

What a great hypocrisy we have here! The Hollywood Left, who never waste an opportunity to tell us how “tolerant,” “sensitive,” and “compassionate” they are, feel absolutely no tolerance, sensitivity, or compassion when it comes to their industry’s habitually hateful treatment of Christians in general, or Roman Catholics specifically.

All things considered, this should be no surprise, as Leftists, be they Hollywood Leftists or the Leftists of worldly communism, have always displayed a tremendous antipathy towards Roman Catholics. Why? Because Roman Catholicism has forever presented an incredible stumbling block to socialist schemes that treat the individual as little more than a plaything for big, secular government. The Church, with its firm, 2000 year old belief in the “God-given” (i.e., not “government-given”) rights of mankind, the dignity of the individual, and the repudiation of moral relativism, is diametrically opposed to every idea ever generated by the Left and their “counter-cultural” allies. It is for this reason that wherever thugs and tyrants rise to power, their first target is always the Church. For example, Hitler, Lenin, Ho Chi Min, and Mao, to name but a few, all attempted to neuter and/or eliminate, the Church shortly after coming to power.

Hollywood has become the new torchbearer for this mentality in recent times. Who can forgot the despicable portrayals of Catholicism in recently bigoted films such as King Arthur and Kingdom of Heaven (please see my review entitled “Kingdom of Political Correctness”)? Who has forgotten the vicious attacks upon Mel Gibson because he had the audacity to make a film faithful to the Gospels? Or the countless instances of anti-Catholic AND anti-Christian bigotry slipped into television programming (such as NBC’s The Book of Daniel, a show so horribly bigoted that it was debuted and cancelled all in the same month! Makes you wonder how production was approved in the first place….).

Now, here we are again, with another bigoted broadside on the Roman Catholic Church. The Da Vinci Code pulls no punches in its open bigotry---as originally crafted by novelist Dan Brown. Nothing is sacred for this film: not the divinity of Christ, not the Papacy, not even the heretofore unassuming Catholic lay-organization Opus Dei. No, it’s all fair game for this film.

Needless to say, Sony Pictures, along with director Ron Howard, have been buried under an avalanche of letters and emails protesting this blatant attack upon Catholicism. Bill Donohue, of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, added his voice to the fray by demanding that, at a minimum, the picture contain a disclaimer testifying to the fact that The Da Vinci Code is simply a work of fiction. Bill Donohue notes that such a disclaimer is not unheard of as:

“When Sony released ‘The Merchant of Venice,’ the movie opened with a disclaimer noting that ‘Intolerance of the Jews was a fact of 16th Century life even in Venice, the most powerful and liberal city state in Europe.’ And in ‘A Beautiful Mind,’ a Ron Howard film, the movie ended with a disclaimer noting that it differs from the book (of the same name) that inspired the film: Howard, and screen writer Akiva Goldman, admitted that they ‘fictionalized a number of the incidents.”

So this request is actually quite reasonable and keeping with the past practices of Sony. However, the reaction of Ron Howard and Sony has been anything but conciliatory. In fact, according to Mr. Donohue, “that request has since been denounced as an ‘arrogant’ demand, suggesting it is an infringement on the artistic rights of Sony, the company that is releasing the film, and Ron Howard, the director.” Clearly, in the mind of Sony and Howard, Roman Catholics do not deserve the same respect as other aggrieved groups….

And what do you call this? Bigotry.

That is why Roman Catholics need to start incorporating the term “bigotry” and “bigot” in their everyday speech. So, for example, henceforth when you refer to the film, you don’t say “The Da Vinci Code,” but you DO say “that bigoted film, The Da Vinci Code.” Or, when referring to Ron Howard, you don’t say “director Ron Howard,” but you DO say “that bigot, Ron Howard.” Get it? It’s not “John Calley,” but “that bigot, John Calley.” See how easy it is?

I know, I know: this rubs some of you the wrong way. After all, Catholics are forgiving, tolerant people (although, you wouldn’t know that from the movie). But this is something that needs to be done and is a perfectly legitimate form of expressing you displeasure. Indeed, Hollywood, as champions of free speech, would probably encourage your courageous self-expression (yeah, right)! We are dealing with bigots, plain and simple. And, as they say, ‘if the shoe fits, wear it.’

But this exercise isn’t just about name-calling. No, not at all. This exercise is all about holding Hollywood accountable for its actions. We can no longer “be big about it” and move on. No. If real change is to take place, action must be taken. And believe me, nothing will make Hollywood more uncomfortable than when people begin to openly refer to studios, producers, directors, and actors as bigots. That is when the displeasure of Christian / Catholic America will really hit home. Sure, you can bet that there will be denials from all concerned; Howard and Co. will swear up and down that The Da Vinci Code is just innocent film-making---but that is when we retort that even Griffith claimed not to be a racist when he made Birth of a Nation. The trick is just to constantly associate “bigot” with those involved, and not just with this film, but with all anti-Catholic material that is constantly jammed down our throats in books, the cinema, and on television.

So get comfortable with calling many (but not all!) of the entertainment elite anti-Catholic bigots. For, unless we speak up, we will forever be subject to a religious apartheid, right here in the good ol’ US of A. It is time people of faith---all faith---lecture Hollywood on their faults. It is time we speak up.

For more information, please visit:

Opus Dei for actual facts (not Dan Brown "facts") concerning this Roman Catholic lay organization.

The American Society for Tradition, Family, and Property for an excellent site devoted to dispelling the many falsehoods of the Da Vinci Code.

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights for the lastest news concerning all manners of anti-Catholic bigotry.