WHAT ARE YOU DOING around the day
the Da Vinci Code movie opens. A movie based
on a book that wears its heresy and blasphemy as a badge of honor.

What can we as Christians do in response to the release of this
movie? Here are the usual suspects:

A) We can ignore the movie. ........

The problem with this option: The box office is a ballot box. The
only people whose votes are counted are those who buy tickets. And
the ballot box closes on the Sunday of opening weekend. If you stay
home, you have lost your chance to make your vote heard. You have
thrown your vote away, and from Hollywood's point of view, you don't
count. By staying home, you do nothing to shape the decision-making
process regarding what movies will make it to the big screen.

B) We can protest. ........

The problem with this option: It doesn't work. Any publicity is
good publicity. Protests not only fuel the box office, they make
all Christians look like idiots. And again, protests and boycotts do
nothing to help shape the decisions being made right now about what
movies Hollywood will make in the next few years. (Or they convince
Hollywood to make *more* movies that will provoke Christians to
protest, which will drive the box office up.)

But .....
On May 19th, you should go to the movies. Just go to another movie.
Save the date now. May 19th, or May 20th. No later than Sunday,
May 21st -- that's the day the ballot box closes. You'll get a vote,
the only vote Hollywood recognizes: The power of cold hard cash laid
down on a box office window on opening weekend.

Use your vote. Don't throw it away. Vote for a movie other than
DVC. If enough people do it, the powers that be will notice. They
won't have a choice.

The major studio movie scheduled for release against DVC is the
DreamWorks animated feature Over the Hedge. The trailers look fun,
and you can take your kids. And your friends. And their friends.
In fact, let's all go see it.

Let's rock the box office in a way no one expects -- without
protests, without boycotts, without arguments, without rancor. Let's
show up at the box office ballot box and cast our votes. And buy
some popcorn, too.

May 19th. Mark your calendars now: Over the Hedge's opening
weekend. Buy a ticket.

And spread the word. Forward this e-mail to all the Christians in
your address book. ( First, remove all headers please) Post it on
your blogs. Talk about it to your churches.

And let's all go to the movies.
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