Ron Howard Versus The Catholic League

Ron Howard Defends His 'Demons' From Catholic League
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Angels & Demons' director Ron Howard has taken the fight back to Catholic League head honcho William "Bill" Donohue, who is accusing the Hollywood star and author Dan Brown of "smearing" the Vatican "with fabulously bogus tales" in the upcoming 'Da Vinci Code' prequel. In recent weeks, Donohue has released a series of Op-Eds and press releases slamming Howard and the film, which follows Robert Langdon (played by Tom Hanks) as he teams up with the Church to thwart an attack against the Vatican. In a piece for the Huffington Post, Howard asks "What, exactly, is anti-Catholic about that?" Donohue attacks Brown for incorporating well-known conspiracy theories in his books, such as in 'Demons' where it is said the Catholic Church massacred members of the Illuminati -- a short-lived secret society composed of the power elite -- in the 1600s. In reality, the group did not exist until 1776. "It would be a lie if we had ever suggested our movie is anything other than a work of fiction (if it were a documentary, our talk of massacres would have referenced the Inquisition or the Crusades)," Howard responds.
"And if fictional movies could never take liberties with reality, then there would have been no 'Ben-Hur,' no 'Barabbas,' 'The Robe,' 'Gone With The Wind,' or 'Titanic.' Not to mention 'Splash!'" In a press release on the Catholic League's Web site, Donohue takes a bite out of Hanks as well. "Were it not for savaging Catholicism, few would care about the duplicity of Brown and Hanks. But they are obviously not content to spin mysterious tales absent an anti-Catholic animus." Howard finds one thing that he and Donohue have in common: "we both like to create fictional tales, as he has done with his silly and mean-spirited work of propaganda." "Since Mr. Donohue has, in effect, smeared me by claiming I am smearing his Church, I want him to know this: I have respect for Catholics and their Church, and know they accomplish many good works throughout the world." "And I believe Angels & Demons treats the Church with respect -- even a degree of reverence -- for its traditions and beliefs." The film hits theaters on May 15.

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2009-04-21 09:13:42

And we should get this worked up over a work of fiction because? Granted anti-Catholic bigotry exists in the world---mostly in the thoughts and ideas of Reformed Fundamentalist Protestants and Independent Fundamentalist Baptists and other fundamentalist groups because of their anti-ecumenical stance and/or what early Protestants said. Shouldn't we as Christians be more concerned with these more real and concrete examples of anti-Catholicism then? Examples such as by: King James Onlyists like Jack Chick, Peter Ruckman, Gail Riplinger, etc. And Fungelicals like John MacArthur and John Hagee, etc.