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<p class=MsoNormal><span class=EmailStyle18><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Art,<o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=EmailStyle18><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=EmailStyle18><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>If you
feel certain that there is going to be a big shake-up over the movie, why don’t
you put together the pamphlet?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=EmailStyle18><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=EmailStyle18><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Marty<o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=EmailStyle18><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=black
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:black'>-----Original
Message-----<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>From:</span></b>
apologetics-admin@gathman.org [mailto:apologetics-admin@gathman.org]<b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Art Kelly<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, May 16, 2006 5:50
PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> apologetics@gathman.org;
jmurf80@bellsouth.net; I.like.dragonz@gmail.com; arochaallen@juno.com<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> [Apologetics] FW: Da
Vinci Code- Blasphemy Hits The Big Screen<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Importance:</span></b> High</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=blue face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>This message states in
part:</span></font><font color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:
windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'> </span></font><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=blue
face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue;
font-weight:bold'>
But why all the fuss? After all, it's only a movie, right?</span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'> </span></font><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2
color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:blue;font-weight:bold'>The novelist/philosopher Ayn Rand was once asked
why she primarily wrote fiction, instead of works of philosophy. Rand explained
that it's far easier to convey ideas through fiction than non-fiction --
witness Dante's <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The Divine Comedy</span></i>,
witness <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Uncle Tom's Cabin</span></i>,
witness <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Ben-Hur, </span></i> <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>The Screwtape Letters </span></i>and <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>To Kill a Mockingbird .</span></i></span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:.5in'><font size=3
color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:blue'> </span></font><font color=black><span style='color:black;
mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2
color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:blue;font-weight:bold'>Novels and films aren't footnoted. The author or
screenwriter can create a thoroughly convincing universe that powerfully
projects his message. From <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The Birth of a
Nation</span></i> and <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Triumph of The Will </span></i>to
<i><span style='font-style:italic'>Thelma and Louise </span></i>and <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>Brokeback Mountain</span></i>, films have told us how
to think about the world around us...</span></font></b><font color=black><span
style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;
font-weight:bold'> </span></font></b><b><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;
mso-color-alt:windowtext;font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2
color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:blue;font-weight:bold'>Debunking Christianity -- which is <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>The Da Vinci Code'</span></i>s mission --
advances this worldview.</span></font></b><b><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;
mso-color-alt:windowtext;font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2
color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black;font-weight:bold'> </span></font></b><b><font size=2
color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext;font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><b><font size=4 color=blue
face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue;
font-weight:bold'>Art</span></font></b><font color=black><span
style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'> </span></font><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
12.0pt;margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=black face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:black'>-----Original
Message-----<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>From:</span></b> GrassTops USA
[mailto:Christopher@grasstopsusa.org]<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, May 16, 2006 4:13
PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> GrassTopsUSA Member
akelly@americantarget.com<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Don Feder Exclusive - Da
Vinci Code – Blasphemy Hits The Big Screen: 05-16-06</span></font><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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width=640 height=80 id="_x0000_i1025" src="http://www.grasstopsusa.com/g1.jpg"
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face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt;color:red;font-weight:
bold'><a
href="https://fs8.formsite.com/GrassTopsUSA/form745992344/secure_index.html"
target="_blank"><span style='text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'><img
border=0 width=100 height=20 id=img1
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fp-title="Sign Me Up" NOSEND=1></span></a></span></font></b><font
color="#820606" face="Cooper Black"><span style='font-family:"Cooper Black";
color:#820606'>Wage Web Warfare Against The Liberal Establishment<br>
Subscribe To The GrassTopsUSA Action Alert</span></font><font color=black><span
style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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NOSEND=1 v:shapes="_x0000_s1026"><![endif]><b><i><font size=5
color="#820606" face=Arial><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:#820606;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic'>THE DA VINCI CODE</span></font></i></b><b><font
size=5 color="#820606" face=Arial><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:#820606;font-weight:bold'> -- BLASPHEMY HITS THE BIG
SCREEN</span></font></b><b><font size=2 color="#820606" face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#820606;font-weight:bold'><br>
GrassTopsUSA Exclusive Commentary<br>
By Don Feder<br>
05-16-06</span></font></b><font color=black><span style='color:black;
mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto'><b><font size=5 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:16.0pt;color:black;font-weight:bold'>
</span></font></b><b><i><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold;
font-style:italic'>The Da Vinci Code</span></font></i></b><b><font size=2
color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black;font-weight:bold'> -- which opens in the U.S. on May 19 --
might be subtitled "Religion for Morons" or "Gnosticism
Meets The New Age."</span></font></b><font color=black><span
style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'> It's
fantasy posing as reality. The Sony Pictures film is blasphemous, defames
the Catholic Church, and promotes neo-pagan Goddess worship.</span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>I
find it offensive, and I'm not even a Christian.</span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>Director
Ron Howard (who specializes in visual candy) assures us that Opie's opus
will be true to the novel -- a pretentious, overwritten piece of trash
that makes <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Bridget Jones's Diary </span></i>look
like one of the 100 Greatest Books Ever Written.</span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>The
plot of Dan Brown's mega-best seller (45 million copies sold) goes like
this: Jesus married Mary Magdalene, who bore his children, who became the
Merovingian monarchs of France, whose descendants are running around Europe
today -- being chased by Opus Dei or Mormon missionaries or Martians
or someone.</span></font></b><font color=black><span style='color:black;
mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>Again,
according to <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The Code, </span></i>The
Catholic Church has for centuries concealed the truth about Jesus to
maintain its power. Mary Magdalene represents the "sacred
feminine" -- which supposedly predates monotheism -- and
which wicked patriarchalists have spent millennia trying to suppress, the
better to deny man's sexual nature and subjugate women.</span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>The
book (and presumably the film) even has a ritualistic orgy, where
communicants dance with orbs and the grand master of the book's mysterious
order gets frisky with a plump, middle-aged lady. The scene is described on
page 311: "'The woman you behold is love!' The women called, raising
their orbs again. The men responded, 'She has her dwelling place in
eternity.'" (All I want is lovin' you, and music, music, music?)</span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>Brown
may have achieved the impossible -- devised a type of mumbo-jumbo that
makes "healing" crystals seem serious.</span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>Orthodox
Christians are rightly offended by <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The
Code's </span></i>plot, denying as it does the divinity of Jesus and his
mission. </span></font></b><font color=black><span style='color:black;
mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>People
are free to believe, or not believe, in Jesus. Jews and Christians have
been debating the identity of the Messiah, what God requires of us and how
salvation may be achieved for almost 2,000 years. But to turn the life of a
man almost a billion people on this planet worship into a soap opera
beggars the term insensitive.</span></font></b><font color=black><span
style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>At
least Christians can take comfort in the fact that their's isn't the only
faith maligned and misrepresented by Brown's book. </span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>On
page 309, Brown writes of his protagonist: "Langdon's Jewish students
always looked flabbergasted when he first told them that the early Jewish
tradition involved ritualistic sex. In the Temple, no less. Early
Jews believed that the Holy of Holies in Solomon's Temple housed not only
God but also His powerful female equal, Shekinah. Men seeking spiritual
wholeness came to the Temple to visit priestesses -- or
hierodules -- with whom they made love and experienced the divine
through physical union."</span></font></b><font color=black><span
style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>This
would be amusing, were it not so disgusting. Jews daily pray for the
rebuilding of the Holy Temple. For what -- so men can "experience
the divine" by getting a little nookie?</span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>In
Judaism, "Shekinah" refers to the Divine presence, at one time
said to reside at the Temple. Because the Hebrew word is feminine, in
Brown's fevered imagining, it has morphed into a female deity. </span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>There
were no "priestesses" in the Temple. The Torah condemns the
ritual prostitution practiced by the Canaanites as "an
abomination" -- its most severe censure.</span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>It
was Judaism that first related sexuality to morality. (Christian sexual
ethics come from the Jewish Bible.) Where did Brown get his understanding
of ancient Judaism -- from that noted Kabbalist, Madonna? Did he
discover Jewish polytheism among the documents hidden away in the Templars'
secret crypt, along with Jesus' marriage license?</span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>In
an article on nationalreview.com, David Klinghoffer argues that Jews also
should be concerned about <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The Da Vinci
Code</span></i> because of its disturbing parallels to "The Protocols
of The Elders of Zion."</span></font></b><font color=black><span
style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>"The
Protocols," a forged document, postulates a conspiracy of Jewish
leaders to conceal the truth about their alleged control of humanity
through various political movements. <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The
Da Vinci Code</span></i> claims the Catholic Church is involved in a
massive cover-up to hide the real history of Jesus, in order to maintain
its control of the faithful. In both cases, the public is invited to scorn
the sinister conspirators -- Jews or Catholics. </span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>As
a Goddess-worshipping, neo-pagan, Brown seeks to reverse the Bible's
process of taming man's erotic nature (by channeling it to fidelity and
family), once again divorcing the sexual from the spiritual -- freeing
man's hedonistic urges from Judeo-Christian constraints. That Brown has so
many admirers among Hollywood libertines is unsurprising.</span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>But
why all the fuss? After all, it's only a movie, right?</span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>The
novelist/philosopher Ayn Rand was once asked why she primarily wrote
fiction, instead of works of philosophy. Rand explained that it's far
easier to convey ideas through fiction than non-fiction -- witness
Dante's <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The Divine Comedy</span></i>,
witness <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Uncle Tom's Cabin</span></i>,
witness <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Ben-Hur, </span></i> <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>The Screwtape Letters </span></i>and <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>To Kill a Mockingbird .</span></i></span></font></b><font
color=black face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:black'> </span></font><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>Novels
and films aren't footnoted. The author or screenwriter can create a
thoroughly convincing universe that powerfully projects his message.