Da Vinci film is 'blasphemous'

2006-05-23 13:51

Nairobi - An influential Kenyan lawmaker and Bible scholar called on Monday for the government to yank the "blasphemous" film The Da Vinci Code from cinemas in the heavily Christian east African nation.

Kihara Mwangi, an member of parliament who is close to Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and known as "the bishop" for his knowledge of scripture, said he would lead a revolt to force the government to pull the movie unless screenings ended immediately.

"It is satanic, this movie is nonsense," he told AFP after sending an open letter of complaint to Information Minister Mutahi Kagwe, whose office is in charge of movie censorship, demanding to know how and why the film was cleared.

"I am outraged, I cannot allow it to be shown in Kenyan theatres," said Mwangi, who called the production "the most blasphemous movie ever screened" in his letter three days after "The Da Vinci Code" opened to large audiences here.

Supporters are 'devils'

"This is the most Christian nation across the region and when we allow such a movie it means something is seriously wrong with our morality," he said. "The people who support this movie are devils."

Religious leaders in Kenya, where at least 75% of the 33 million people identify themselves as Christian, have already weighed in, angrily denouncing the film as a vile mixture of outright fiction and half-truths.

But Mwangi said he and "quite a number of MPs" now had the legislative clout to ban the film that Kenyan theatre managers say has drawn more than 10 '000 viewers since it opened on Friday.

"If the government ignores me, I will move to parliament to table a motion and seek a debate," he said.

The film, based on the best-selling novel of the same name, has sparked outrage among Christians worldwide with its assertion that Jesus Christ married and fathered a child with Mary Magdalene, which was covered up by the church.

Although critics have largely panned the film as dull and disappointing it scored major box office success in its opening weekend.

- AFP