da vinci code and sri lanka's bishops

"the da vinci code" movie has been banned in sri lanka. today's news papers report that the president acted on a request made by the catholic bishops for the censorship. a pal of mine ( catholic) says that some churches are conducting novinas against the harmful effects of the movie. another ( pentecostal) told me that the ban is a good thing.

from all discerning accounts the movie is as bad a piece of cinema as the book is a terrible work of literature. in my book, the decision by the church is an acknowledgement that they are loosing ground and a reflection of muddled and short term thinking. i watched a guy from opus dei being interviewed on tv the other day and he said that all this fuss ( whilst with some merit) was an opportunity for discussion and openness.

by banning the film the reverend authorities give the impression that they have something to hide. i remember reading the other book " holy blood, holy grail" in the 80's, much better writing to which there was not a whisper of protest. here's the thing - i, and no doubt thousands of others in sri lanka, are still going to see what the fuss is all about on dvd / vcd or vcr. and because of the ban some may think that the silly story has merit.

it's a funny thing but on the way to the forum the world turned fundamentalist. watch out sri lanka, madonna is next.