The one thing you do come away with after reading this book is the question,
what do you believe? That I believe is the one question the Roman Catholic Church fears the most in seeing the answer. And many more will ask that question after May 19.
More below.
UPDATED: For those who think the hierarchy of the Church has not called for a boycott of this movie.
Vatican Calls For Boycott Of The Da Vinci Code
Quote from Monsignor Amato from link above:
"If such lies and errors had been directed at the Koran or the Holocaust they would have justly provoked a world uprising," he said. "Instead, if they are directed against the Church and Christians, they remain unpunished."
End of quote.
Unpunished? What does he suggest as "punishment?" That all who dare go see this movie be burned at the stake for being heretics? What century is this again? He even intimated that the kind of violent reaction Muslims gave to those cartoons would be justifiable in this case. A Monsignor of the Vatican condoning violence over a movie?Don't tell me these people aren't scared.
UPDATED: Added the word "hierarchy" to avoid anymore unsubstantiated attacks that I am "anti-Catholic" simply for asking a question. Thank you.
Italian Government To Remove DaVinci Code Ad
Again, it's a movie about a fictional story.
As a Christian I actually find it amazing that the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church would go to so much expense and trouble to boycott a movie that is based on FICTION. They say Dan Brown's book is full of lies. About what? In his book, "The Da Vinci Code", Mr. Brown makes no reference that anything he writes in it is true (except for the Priory of Sion and the locations.) He makes no statement that he actually believes anything he writes, or that we are bound to it either.
It is the story of a fictional professor, a fictional murder, and the plot that unfolds in solving it in a fictional story interwoven with actual landmarks. It is entertaining, suspenseful, and makes you think. Oh wait, those last four words actually answered my question... it makes you think. And of course, if you think, you then open your mind to other avenues which then may or may not lead you to research them to come to your own conclusions. Oh yes, that would then not be good for a Church that makes billions upon billions of dollars off of so many people not thinking for themselves.
As a teen in church I attended confirmation class (I was Lutheran.) I remember asking my minister if Jesus was ever married. I asked that question because I thought it was normal for a human man to meet a woman, fall in love, get married, and have children. You know, "the holy bonds of matrimony?" I also thought that was the way the Church wanted it to happen. Well, you would have thought I had asked this minister something horrible. "Don't ask that question again" was his response to me, and it baffled me.
What is it about churches that seem to find sexuality so taboo? Especially where it concerns Jesus Christ? He was human, was he not? Did he not eat? Sleep? Feel pain? Feel joy? Is there any physical proof to show he was not born with the physical attributes required to have sex? If not, then would it not follow that if he felt every other human emotion that he would feel sexual lust or love for a woman or whoever? "Be fruitful and multiply" the Bible tells us. Would it be so bad if he had taken that advice? To me, the answer is no, but then I'm not hung up regarding my own sexuality, and even if Jesus had done so in his life (which again was never stated as fact in the book,) it wouldn't change one iota the love I feel for him and his teachings. So is that what the Catholic Church is then saying? That it would change it for them?
I have tried to understand the obsessiveness of the Catholic Church in trying to boycott this book, and in now telling their parishioners to not see this movie, but I just don't get it. In my view, you only take drastic measures like that when something threatens your own existence or ideology. So what is the Catholic Church really then hiding in regards to their obsession with stopping the success of this book and movie? They would praise a movie like "Passion of The Christ" that shows him being brutally tortured, but not condone a movie that actually brings forth an idea that he loved? But then, is it really that which bothers the church, or the fact that the "Divine Feminine" is so prominently displayed in this book and movie?
For me, I surely do see that the Catholic Church is a mysogynistic hierarchy that places women below men, and I find that disturbing. They also do seem to be very upset with the notion in this book (again not presented as fact) that Mary Magdalene may have held a higher position in Jesus' circle than first thought. It has already been suggested that she was not a prostitute at all either, and that she was actually Jesus's most trusted advisor (as accounts in the Gnostic Gospels seem to indicate.) And what if that were true? Why would the Catholic Church be so up in arms over that unless they felt that women should hold no place in the Church?
Of course, another bone of contention in the movie is Opus Dei, a Conservative Catholic organization tied to the Church (and government) whose practices of cilice wearing, mortification, (and reports of abuse and brainwashing) are to me bizarre. TIME did an article on this entitled, "The Opus Dei" Code, which explores this in much more detail giving both sides to this story. I find it to be quite mysterious. You can make of it what you will.
The DaVinci Code is set to be released worldwide this May 19, and I will be there to see it. I loved the book, and I look forward to the movie. I loved the intensity, the suspense, the entertainment, reading about all of the historical landmarks, and most of all, I loved reading a book that brought forth an idea that made me think... an idea I had even put in the form of a question as a teen on my own.
However, we know that organizations such as church hierarchies, governments, corporate conglomerates, and all of those types of organizations that look down upon the masses ever having a chance to actually see another side ro an issue or to think for themselves, see those who present those viewpoints as enemies rather than using it as an opportunity for intelligent debate. It is so obvious in this case, and that intrigues me even more and makes me want to go see this movie even more, as I believe it will many others who didn't read the book.
The one thing you do come away with after reading this book is the question, what do you believe? That I believe is the one question the Catholic Church hierarchy fears the most in seeing the answer.