According to a 2004 Gallup Poll, of those surveyed in the U.S. 78% believe in angels.

But the devil has been more successful recently: belief in the devil and demons jumped from 55% in 1990 to 70% of the people believing in the devil and demons as of 2004.

But in the coming months, the real question is if the reality of Angels and Demons will make any difference.

The follow-up movie to The DaVinci code, Angels and Demons, debuted in Rome this month.

The Indian Catholic Church is already up in arms trying to ban the movie.

But the Vatican learned its lesson from the first go-round with The DaVinci Code and kept mum about the new movie until this week.

This time, they’ve decided not to let the press use it as fodder and instead issued a boring and bland judgement — the Angels and Demons movie is basically harmless to the Church.

Some questions that arose when I think about these movies are:

• If contemporary Chrisitan music can become such big business, why not Christian films or films affirming Christian values in general?  Has the time come for Christian filmmakers to have a shot on the big screen?
• Does a movie like Angels & Demons really make a difference in the end for people’s own faith? Do the Christians and Catholics who watch DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons have a willing suspension of disbelief that allows them to enjoy the Hollywood movie thrills while ignoring any questions content?
• What about for non-Christians? Does it really make a difference if they aren’t looking at the films to connect with any need on a spiritual basis?
• With so much of the public today being religiously illiterate (as well as plain old culturally illiterate — i.e. see Jay Leno’s “Jaywalking” segments), does it really matter if a movie like Angels and Demons contain misinformation?

What do you think?  Are you going to see this new movie in the theaters or on DVD?

Do you think it makes a difference for the Church, for individual’s faith, or for non-Christians/seekers?