An Ottawa pub has refused to host an Anglican church group’s film night, fearing the movie’s debate over the existence of God may offend religious pub-goers. The Heart & Crown pub says it decided to pull the plug on St. Alban’s Anglican Church’s showing this week of the movie Collision — a documentary featuring well-known atheist Christopher Hitchens and evangelical theologian Douglas Wilson — after seeing a pamphlet advertising the film.
“We made the decision to cancel the reservation because, bottom line is, we just think that our business isn’t the forum or the environment for that type of movie,” said Heart & Crown Pubs spokesman Alex Munroe, who admitted he hadn’t actually watched the film.
“We certainly don’t want to get into the debate of religion. It’s not good for our kind of business environment.”
Collision follows Mr. Hitchens and Mr. Wilson during a 2008 tour along the east coast of the United States in 2008 promoting a book compiled from their written debates entitled, Is Christianity Good for the World? The film chronicles the two outspoken authors as they confide and debate, in private and public — including at many pubs.
Reverend David Robinson, a minister at St. Alban’s who organized the 50-person event and who hosts a regular book discussion called Theology on Tap at another local pub, said pubs are neutral spaces ideal for such discussions.
“It’s hard to imagine a place where calling Christianity a ‘wicked cult’ would be more likely to cause offence than in a church. But if a public house won’t allow these views to be aired, our church will gladly reserve space for reasoned discourse, however impassioned.’’
Mr. Munroe said he was “shocked” when he read a flyer advertising the film on the day the pub was set to host the church group, and immediately decided to cancel the reservation.
The flyer featured two quotes from the film’s stars. The first quote, from Mr. Hitchens, reads: “[Christianity] is a wicked cult, and it’s high time we left it behind.”
Mr. Douglas is then quoted as saying, “There are two tenets of atheism. One, there is no God. Two, I hate him.”
Mr. Munroe insisted the group provided no information about the nature of the film when they booked the Preston Street pub a month before.
“We would certainly ban this kind of thing in our pub had we known about it ahead of time,” he said.
Rev. Robinson said he and his assistant told the pub’s booking manager the premise of the documentary when the room was reserved in August. He says they also directed her to a synopsis on the film’s website and even offered to provide a copy of the DVD to view in advance — an offer that was declined. He said management “seemed fine” with the event at the time.
He says when he asked the manager for an explanation as to why his event was being cancelled at the last minute, he was told several times it was because the pub was an “Irish Catholic institution.”
“I guess we were supposed to interpret that in some way,” he said, adding that it was “humiliating” to have to stand outside the pub as the group arrived and tell them they weren’t allowed inside. The event was later moved to the church.
“The content of the film dealt with a number of issues that pertain to the public good, including Hitchens’ charge that religion poisons everything,” said Rev. Robinson. “If that view and a reasoned response can’t occur in a pub, then where do we hold these discussions? ”
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