Week of 13 June 2022 – Religion on Film
This week Rabbi Romain spoke out in the media (including The Times Letters page in photo) about the furore over the new film, The Lady of Heaven about Islam after the death of Mohammed, with protesters forcing cinemas to withdraw the film, saying:
There is no right not to be religiously offended. It may be regrettable, but it is part of living in a society that allows free speech, and the value of the latter far outweighs the downside of the former.
In the past, Christians have endured The Life of Brian, while we suffered the misrepresentation of Jews in The Passion of the Christ. If some Muslims object to The Lady of Heaven, then the answer is to avoid the film or to peacefully hand out corrective leaflets to those attending, but not to threaten the cinema or prevent others from seeing it.
When Mormons were very displeased by the musical The Book of Mormon, they took out a full page advert in the programme and invited theatre-goers to come to a Mormon service themselves and make their own mind up. What a mature response!”