by Duane Dudek

Questions of faith are the last thing Hollywood studios are concerned with.

And when such issues do show up in movies, they are portrayed in a pejorative fashion - or so some religious people believe, none more so than some members of the Roman Catholic Church.

Some Catholics feel Hollywood slights the church gratuitously every chance it gets as part of a cultural war.

Others see such complaints, often made by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, as knee-jerk responses by a fundamentalist special interest group.

A film like "Stigmata," which luridly exploited Catholicism, and the TV show "Nothing Sacred," a flawed but legitimate look at faith and doubt, are tarred with the same brush by the league.

"Dogma," Kevin Smith's comically profane new film, opened Friday in this polarized and potentially combustible atmosphere. To complicate matters, it is as much a theological stick in the eye as it is one Catholic's attempt to better understand the church he loves.

Smith is a film maverick who burst on the scene in 1994 with "Clerks," made on a $28,000 budget, followed by "Mallrats" and "Chasing Amy."

The 29-year-old director's films have sexual themes and vulgar language that - like "South Park" - are second nature to a generation that has abandoned traditional values and institutions and is patching together a belief system.

But what was just shocking in his other films may be offensive to some in "Dogma."

"One of the things people will attack the film for is, 'Well, he's talking about religion and he's cursing,' " Smith said in an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival.

"But where in the Bible does it say, 'Stay away from harsh language'? You're not supposed to take the Lord's name in vain. This movie doesn't do that. Heavens, no. It's a profession of faith. It's pro-God. It doesn't take God to task. It barely takes Catholicism to task."

Smith said he's had a "fruitful dialogue" about the film with his parish priest and that when some parishioners - prodded by the Catholic League - petitioned the priest to condemn the film during a homily, "he refused."

"I've got no qualms wth the church whatsoever," Smith said. "The church hasn't said thing one about this movie and probably won't. The Catholic League, on the other hand, sees a chance to go at Disney hard-core through this movie, as they have in the past."

The Disney subsidiary Miramax initially produced the film. Miramax chairmen Bob and Harvey Weinstein later bought the film from the studio in order to spare Disney from controversy. "Dogma" is now being distributed by Lions Gate Films, a Canadian firm.

Despite that change, the Catholic League is still putting heat on Disney.

It has said it's collected and shipped nearly 300,000 signatures on petitions calling on the studio to sever its ties with Miramax. The Catholic League details its objections to "Dogma" in a report on its Web site (www.catholicleague.org).

"Dogma" stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as fallen angels stuck in Milwaukee - described as hell on earth - who find a way to get back into heaven. But if they succeed, it will cause an apocalypse.

Linda Fiorentino is an abortion-clinic worker and shirt-tail relative of the Virgin Mary who's recruited to stop them by angel Alan Rickman.

Along the way, she meets up with foul-mouthed prophets played by Smith and Jason Mewes; an apostle with an ax to grind, played by Chris Rock; and God Herself, played by Alanis Morissette.

The film is dense with theological double-talk that non-Catholics may find baffling.

"Lord knows, I'm no theologian," Smith said, "but I know enough that I can use it for the setting, the concept and characterizations. People might call it loosey-goosey Catholicism. But faith is a personal thing. It's not the faith of the priest. It's not the faith of the guy in the third row. It's my faith. And if I'm going to live my faith, can't I personalize it?"

Well, yes and no.

"Some people call this a 'moral gap' between what the church presents as dogmatic positions and how the ordinary person in the pews accepts them," said Father John Leise, chairman of the theology department of St. Mary's University in San Antonio.

Leise, who taught at the former Don Bosco High School in Milwaukee for six years, said that some call this "cafeteria Catholicism," where "people pick out the teachings of the church they want to follow.

"But the church's position is that if it's an official position of the church, we don't have a right to say no. You can't just follow nine of the Ten Commandments. But it's done, no question."

"Dogma" is just the latest bit of religious-based art to cause controversy.

The list includes the gay play "Corpus Christi"; "The Holy Virgin Mary," a painting displayed in the Brooklyn Museum of Art of a black Madonna with a clump of elephant dung on one breast; Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ," an image of a crucifix suspended in urine; and the Martin Scorsese film "The Last Temptation of Christ."

Father Patrick Donnelly, a professor of history at Marquette University, believes such works of art are evidence that "a slant of anti-Catholicism is alive and well in the American media."

It occurs, he said, because Catholic teachings "cut against the accepted beliefs of the secular culture" on issues of premarital sex, birth control and homosexuality.

"You also have an anti-Catholic tradition in the mainstream culture that dates back to the Reformation," Donnelly said. Secularist tradition "sees the church as the enemy, and you attack your enemy."

Not every religious thinker sees things so cut and dried.

Brian Smith, a professor of religion and ethics at Ripon College in Ripon, said that while such works of art can be viewed as anti-Catholic, "they're not. They use Catholic symbols to get across a positive point. And when you understand the intentions of the author, you can explain away the (negative) impressons."

Professor Smith, a former priest, said that filmmaker Smith appears to be "a devout Catholic playing with the symbols of the church. He's not being disrespectful. He's trying to wake people up that God continues to work in the world."

Leise agreed that "Dogma" had "many comic elements" and was a "serious attempt to deal with serious questions." But he said the mangled theology and vulgar language may "undermine" its point.

However, Brian Smith said "vulgarty doesn't mean there's Catholic-bashing going on."

Kevin Smith said "Dogma" was intended "for lapsed Catholics, kids raised Catholic who were dragged to church all the time and when it was put into their hands, it was, 'I don't want to wake up early on Sunday morning.' The people who stopped thinking about faith and God and spirituality because they have issues with the church.

"This movie isn't for the choir," he said. "They're already in church. It's for the people who fell out of their faith. Or those who say, 'Why go to church if they're going to rail at me?' When I was a kid, I would sit in church and my eyes would glaze over as the priest stood there and bashed the gay community. I knew full well that there are gay people in church who are devout and sweet. Why were they being demonized? Why hear one more sermon about abortion from a guy who will never have to make that choice?"

Brian Smith compared the film to "Jesus turning over the tables in the temple. That was an act of defiance and irreverence.

"Jesus was pretty radical in his day," Smith continued. "He ate meals with sinners. That was considered sacrilegious, yet he did it. Jesus was a shocker in his time."

Brian Smith said dissent over "Dogma" is as legitimate as the dissent it represents.

"The question is who do you take more seriously? Do you take the fundamentalist position that this is nothing more than Catholic-bashing? Or do you agree with the filmmaker that this is an expression of faith and attempt to reach out to non-believers and show that faith is still viable?" he said. "I think it's great that in our society that both views can be expressed."