DaVinci is Laughing At You
While on a business trip, I picked up “The DaVinci Code” to keep me occupied on the plane. I was raised Catholic, so I was wondering what the big hoopla was all about, anyway. About six chapters in, I was interrupted by a woman.
“Are you a Christian?”
I was rather taken aback at the abruptness with which she asked.
“Um, I grew up Catholic. Does that count?” I answered with a feeble smile.
“You can’t read that garbage and call yourself a Christian.”
Hmmm. Meanwhile, she’s got a Danielle Steele novel poking out of her bag. Not that I don’t like Danielle Steele, but I found it amusing that Dan Brown is GARBAGE while Danielle Steele is not.
Which brings me to my point. I loved “The DaVinci Code.” It was a well-crafted mystery drenched in religious icons that reminded me of my childhood. My mother was Catholic. My father was a Mason. It was a really great STORY. A work of FICTION. Did everybody else miss that? FICTION. If I write a story and use Catholic history as a backdrop, that doesn’t mean I’m attacking the entire religion. I’m writing about something I know, and dressing it up to make an interesting story. I liked it so much that I bought a couple of other Dan Brown books. Numerologists aren’t in a tizzy because he used a mathematical genius in “Angels & Demons.”
I understand people stand behind their religion, but can we take this issue at face value? Dan Brown presents a sacrilegious idea in his book. But he’s not putting it out there as a reference manual to the Catholic religion. And if you actually read it all the way through, you might be surprised.
FICTION, people. Get a life.