The news story de jour: "Report: 'Da Vinci' Boycott Urged"

Dozens upon dozens of media sources are picking up on this story:

Report: 'Da Vinci' Boycott Urged

ROME -- A Vatican official reportedly called for a boycott of the upcoming "The Da Vinci Code" film Friday, saying it contained "slanderous" offenses against Christianity that would have provoked a worldwide revolt had they been directed against Islam or the Holocaust.

Monsignor Angelo Amato _ Pope Benedict XVI's former No. 2 when Benedict was head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith _ made the comments in a speech at the Pontifical Holy Cross University, which is run by the conservative Catholic movement Opus Dei, the ANSA news agency reported.

"I hope all of you boycott this film," the Italian agency quoted Amato as saying. He said the film, based on the best-selling novel by Dan Brown, was full of "offenses, slander, historical and theological errors concerning Jesus, the gospel and the church."

"Slander, offenses and errors that if they were directed toward the Quran or the Shoah would have justifiably provoked a worldwide revolt," he said, referring to Islam's holy book and the Hebrew word for Holocaust.

"Yet because they were directed toward the Catholic Church, they remain 'unpunished,'" he said. [More]

Three things strike me:

• First, it's interesting how readily Church officials are now making the comparison between overblown Islamic responses to the desecration of their beliefs vs. the Christians' track record of playing fair... I don't know what it means, but I think it should be noted.
• Second, I don't think I'm going to see this film in the theaters. I simply don't feel like giving my money to the project, at all. The "othercott" idea - going to see another movie instead, sounds very appealing, however.

Third: I wonder if it would be a nice little service to sit outside a local theater on opening weekend and hand out pamphlets (such as this one by Amy Welborn - sold in packs of 50) that disprove the historical claims made in the Da Vinci Code.

You wouldn't even have to get into debates with people necessarily - just invite them to read the pamphlet. You could say something like, "Okay, you've been entertained - now learn the truth."

Of course, If you chose to get into (charitable) discussions with people - and it would be hard not to - I would in that case recommend seeing the movie because you should always be well-informed about what you are talking about...

Any comments? Has someone else already suggested this?