The Pitt Program Council (PPC) showed ‘The Da Vinci Code’ for free to more than 100 students who came to sit on the Cathedral of Learning lawn on the night of Friday, Sept 08, 2006. It is an offensive picture to many followers of Christ.

The ‘Student Government Board (SGB) allocation committee usually funds all student organizations based on certain guidelines using the student activities fee from all students. In a way, it is like a tax on the tuition to help fund programs.

According to SGB President Joe Pasqualichio, PPC receives about 700,000 in funding based on the student activities fee alone.

Usually everything SGB directly approves which is based on recommendations from the Allocations Committee, follow certain guidelines. They can reject any program that fails to follow through the guidelines. However, PPC is exempt from certain guidelines including letting SGB specifically know who and what programs they are going to put on in advance because sometimes things are done in the last minute.

Now a movie was shown on campus that directly defamed Jesus Christ who I believe in. They showed it using a percentage of money from the student activities fee and all the activities fees of every follower and non-follower of Christ that goes to Pitt.

The argument was made that they showed a fictional movie so there should be no big fuss about it as people have fussed about! Yet, when the movie was released in May 2006 in the theaters there was a big fuss and controversy about it because of the things portrayed in the action-adventure movie.

It was Dan Brown’s goal to make people believe what was portrayed in the movie and his novel. That is why his novel starts with, “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are ACCURATE.”

It is these artworks, architecture, documents, and secret rituals that he presents as accurate that he uses to defame Jesus Christ, the Bible, and the Catholic Church that are shown in the movie.

Yes, there are a lot of facts in this fictional movie that can be verified but within those descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals there is more DECEPTION AND LIES than facts!

I read through the entire Da Vinci Code novel of 484 pages and also saw the movie before it was shown by PPC. In the novel alone, there are a minimum of 108 deceptive lies presented as fact which I started to debunk at www.pittsburghstandard.com. The movie shows the most important deceptive lies mentioned above. I have debunked three of the most controversial lies from the movie under the EXPRESSIONS section of the newspaper.

This movie confuses people who are not grounded in their faith to know between fact and fiction. I know because I have already worked with students who have been confused about what was portrayed so deceptively about Jesus and the Bible.

To counter what PPC has done, they should show ‘the Passion of the Christ’ during lent season or before Christmas. It would be unfair of PPC to have shown ‘the Da Vinci Code’ which blasphemed Jesus Christ and not show ‘Passion of the Christ’ which shows what Jesus went through for humanity.

'Passion of the Christ' being controversial should not be an excuse since the controversial Da Vinci Code was shown!

Imagine yourself going to watch what is deemed a fictional movie at the Cathedral Lawn. Now imagine someone who you personally know and love depicted as a real character within the fictional movie. Now imagine this person being your own Father’s Son who is being defamed, lied about, and denigrated including His Words even though they say it is just supposed to be fiction! How would that make you feel?

I love Jesus who is my Lord and Personal Savior and my God and believe in His Words which are in the Bible! PPC showed this movie using a percentage of my activities fee to denigrate Jesus and the Bible in what they call a fictional movie. Or imagine these characters being your brothers and sisters who are being defamed, lied about, and denigrated! How would that make you feel even though they say it is just a fictional movie?

You all have a wonderful ‘Student Government Board’ which wants to represent you in the best way they can. They know it is members of the student body that put them into office by voting them into office. This also means they are responsible for the issues that concern you because you all are their constituents whether you are followers of Christ or not.

Whether or not SGB had a direct say in the showing of the movie, they have a lot of influence on campus issues and can make a stand to show even segments of the student population, who are followers of Christ, can get their representation from the board too!

One of the ways to do that even now is for SGB to pass a resolution on Thursday, Sept 21, 2006 during the Public board meeting that starts at 8:30 p.m. The resolution could read something like this: “The SGB board believes that equal representation to Christian students should also be given on campus. It is only fair for PPC to show ‘the Passion of the Christ’ since the Da Vinci Code was shown.

I believe in the long run, every resolution any SGB board has made, made a difference. A classic example is what a particular board decided to do when it came to same-sex benefits for same-sex couple. That particular SGB board passed a resolution stating that it was wrong for the University of Pittsburgh, Board of Trustees not to grant same-sex benefits to couples. SGB could not decide whether same-sex benefits could be granted and yet they took a stand against the Board of Trustees and passed a resolution during their board meeting. So, in the same manner even if they do not have a say in how PPC uses their money, they can pass a resolution.

This SGB board should take a stand against what PPC did on the night of Friday Sept 08, 06 and pass a unanimous resolution asking for equal representation. They promoted the Da Vinci Code so they should also promote the Passion of the Christ

With elections coming in November, whether this board plans to run for reelection or new board candidates run for election, followers of Christ who study on this campus should know that SGB is there to represent their needs too and speak out on their issues too!

If followers of Christ do not feel SGB can represent them in any way, why should they bother to go to the polls to vote and this is for any segment of the student population whose vote is coveted during election time. If I were voting, I would want to know if SGB cares for the issues of Christians too! Each board member should vote in favor of this resolution and have their vote on record. My hope is that SGB really takes this issue seriously and addresses it at the Public board meeting.

Ramesh C. Reddy is a Pitt Alumni with degrees in Psychology (3.12) and Administration of Justice (3.85) with a major in Legal Studies (4.0) and minors in Computer Science (3.0), Mathematics (3.0), and Business (3.85).  He loves to do ministry, work, and address issues.

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