I'm not sure what the Atlantic Monthly's fascination is with conservative editors.  Maybe they hoped to replace Michael Kelly, who was killed during the Iraq War.  But Kelly was at least witty, while Ross Douthat's recent Op-Ed on Dan Brown in the New York Times makes him look like a cultural blowhard.

First, a little background.  I was hoping to write a blog on Brown's most recent film, Angels and Demons.  Not on the movie itself, mind you, but on the Christian uproar over it.  As both a Christian and a novelist, I'm not so much a fan of Brown as a writer, as I'm fascinated at the overreaction he elicits from the pulpit.

With that in mind, I sat, poison keyboard at the ready, for Focus on the Family's review of the movie, which came out the Thursday night before the film's debut last week.

 Only to be denied. 

Focus on the Family's reviewer didn't find Angels and Demons particularly offensive.  He perceived the movie as more of an attack on the Illuminati than the Catholic Church.  FOTF's reviews are always good for a laugh, tallying how many times each four-letter word is used, and detailing the position and exposure of each sex scene in such a tantalizing way as to make the actual scene a let down.  Considering Brown's stories aren't sex- or obscenity-laden, this element wasn't all that provocative.

Thank God for Douthat, who was not only personally offended by Brown, but sees Brown's conception of Christ as  the cause of every societal ill in this country, including, but not limited to, Eckhart Tolle, goddess worship and declining church attendance.

This is clearly an overreaction.  In a 2006 survey, Christian researcher George Barna found that only 5 percent of Americans reported a change in religious views as a result of The Da Vinci Code.  In response to survey results, Barna wrote:

"Upon reading the book, many people encountered information that confirmed what they already believed. Many readers found information that served to connect some of their beliefs in new ways. But few people changed their pre-existing beliefs because of what they read in the novel. And even fewer people approached the book with a truly open mind regarding the controversial matters in question, and emerged with a new theological perspective. The book generates controversy and discussions, but it has not revolutionized the way that Americans think about Jesus, the Church or the Bible." 

In media studies, Douthat's overreaction is so commonly observed it has a name: the Third Person Effect, the belief that a media message won't effect people like you or me, but will have a negative effect on those "other" people, the third person.  TPE is of concern because of its potential to lead to censorship.  That a minister might experience Third Person Effect might suggest insecurity about the efficacy of his own message, but shouldn't have an effect beyond his congregation.  That an editor of a prominent American magazine would experience Third Person Effect is disturbing.

Also disturbing was Douthat's concept of the Christ America should be worshipping, which he described as "jealous, demanding, apocalyptic." Apparently, Douthat overlooked the part where Christ described himself:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."