The Da Vinci Hoax: A Tour de Distortion

Breakpoint with Charles Colson ^ | March 8, 2006 | Charles Colson

[Arkinsaw]

Many people do not know that the history is made up unless they are told it is. People expect the period information in period pieces to be reasonably correct. They should be told when the history described in a book is wholly invented.

If someone were to read "The Lord of the Rings" and think that this was an accurate history of some long ago time because Tolkien modeled The Shire after stereotypical rural England.....despite the word "fiction" on the spine....I wouldn't waste my breath trying to convince them otherwise. This because they would in fact be too dumb to live, much less worth spending time worrying about.

Is it somehow your job to bust a gut trying to convince mo-rons that a fiction book is fiction? Have fun with that.

The fact is that 99% of reasonable people know darn well what the word "fiction" means. The other 1% need lithium anyway and are not worth freaking out over.

This book is a momentary pop-culture geegaw with a book and a movie for entertainment. Those 99% will be entertained momentarily, toss the DVD in the back of the tv cabinet, and move on to the next thing. The same as all pop fiction.

This thing has had its 15 minutes of fame hyper-extended partially by people crusading to prove that it's untrue and being offended and giving it additional press that it otherwise would not have gotten. Yawn. It's a momentary pop fiction soap bubble and some are treating it as if it undermines the entire foundations of Western Civilization and Christianity and has them tottering on the edge of collapse. Yeah, right. I think Christianity can withstand Mr. Brown.

Back to the militant Islamists please.

[flaglady47]

"This thing has had its 15 minutes of fame hyper-extended partially by people crusading to prove that it's untrue and being offended and giving it additional press that it otherwise would not have gotten. Yawn. It's a momentary pop fiction soap bubble and some are treating it as if it undermines the entire foundations of Western Civilization and Christianity and has them tottering on the edge of collapse. Yeah, right. I think Christianity can withstand Mr. Brown.

Back to the militant Islamists please."

Hear ye, hear ye. My sentiments precisely.

[Arkinsaw]

It's kind of a lousy detective story, frankly, but I read it, just like a whole bunch of other people did. Then I moved on to other books.

If every Christian had closed his mouth and totally ignored "The Last Temptation of Christ" do you know how many people would have seen it? About five.

But thousands and thousands spoke out, rallied, protested, railed, foamed at the mouth, and hyperventilated. This got the movie studio an unbelievable amount of press. They got so much free promotion...millions and millions of dollars worth of free promotion for that movie.

But the protestors felt better....the movie producers got to take extra millions to the bank and got a good laugh at those who made the millions possible....and the press got to show a bunch of screaming Christians and make them look crazy.....so everybody came out ahead in that deal (except the movie-goer who got suckered into paying to see a crappy movie).

Same thing here.

[Miss Marple]

I am going to take the time to explain to you the importance of this book, and why it is important Christians speak out about it. My mother passed away yesterday, so please believe me when I say that I take this issue seriously enough to post an explanation before going to bed this evening. I will not reply for a while, because I will be involved with the funeral.

Yes, the Da Vinci Code is fiction, and if it had been left as a work of fiction by the author, the whole matter would be unimportant. Several people in my family read this book as fiction, and since it has been out for a few years I have paid no attention to it.

THEN, I discovered that one of my sisters, who is not an expert in history, had seen the author explaining the TRUTH of this book on a talk show. She bought into the whole thing, and as a result now believes that the Church lied about Christ, and has lost her faith. I have tried explaining the truth to her, but I am simply her sister and not a published author and "historian", you see.

So, I take this book very seriously because the author has made repeated appearances claiming that even though the publisher said the book was fiction, it really is the truth. Look at the listing of the places on that Dav Vinci Code tour. People aren't going on that tour because of a work of fiction. They think they are going to see the places where the stuff in the book actually happened.

I am not advocating protests against the book, nor am I advocating censorship. What I DO think is that the Church, in all its forms (Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant) step forward and debunk the many inaccuracies and lies in this book. The author needs to be engaged in debate by church historians and experts in archaeology. Oprah needs to have on people who explain the truth about this book.

To those who don't have historical knowledge and do not have a strong faith, this book is very dangerous.

I hope you will seriously consider what I have said. Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

[185JHP]

BTTT

[Victoria Delsoul]

Thanks for the link. I bookmarked it.

[Arkinsaw]

I am sorry that your sister lost her faith because of a book that has "Fiction" printed on the side. Its sad to say, but a faith that can be lost due to a work of pop fiction is fairly shallow in the first place.

Nonetheless, the fact that a few people have this problem does not require that all of Christianity rise up on this little piece of momentary effluvia, bringing it fame and attention far exceeding what it otherwise would have received.

What I said in another post about the "Last Temptation of Christ" still stands. If that movie had been ignored by Christians, as it should have been, then it would have been seen by a few people in a few art house theaters in New York. Instead, a stink was raised and we spent months giving free advertisement to it and increasing the income of its creators ten-fold at least.

I am sorry for your sister's loss of faith, but that loss of face does not change the macro situation. And that is that its a piece of money-making pop drivel that will make its way out of the limelight if we let it.

[tang-soo]

His novel may be fictional, but he states early on that the novel is woven around "accetpted truths". He goes on to state items such as tge council of Nicea passed in a very narrow vote a decision on the divinity of Christ. In reality the vote was on the accepted literature of scripture (the divinity of Christ was already well accepted). Oh, and by the way, the "narrow" vote wa something like 298 to 2. These types of things make up the danger in Browns book.

[tang-soo]

A friend and his wife wnt to a movie a couple of weeks ago. During the previews, they showed clips from the DVC. My friend said the end included a web site name inferring "The Son of Man" but actually said "The Con of Man". No way this is no a direct attack on Christ.

[Antoninus]

I think the problem is more with believers getting off track by reading this book than non-believers.

Very true. Given the weak state of catechesis in the Catholic Church--particularly in America--huge numbers of Catholics fall victim to this cr@p. My cousin's wife thought the book was fascinating--until I debunked it for her.

Just last night, a nurse asked my wife what she thought of the Da Vinci Code. My wife replied that she didn't read it but heard it was junk. The nurse replied that she thought it was good because, "it made you think."

A book like the Da Vinci Code only makes the grotesquely ignorant think. For anyone with a modicum of historical savvy, it's very obvious that the book was written by a hack to intrigue the gullible.

[Antoninus]

T'S A NOVEL! For Pete's sake!

Leave St. Pete out of it.

If it's "just a novel", how do you explain the fact that many people have told me that it "made them think." This "just a novel" argument makes about as much sense as calling "Triumph of the Will" just a movie. It's not "just a novel." It's a false and vicious attack on my Church.

Of course, as an evangelical atheist, I wouldn't expect you to do anything but applaud an attack on the Catholic Church.

[Antoninus]

I have not hear such excitement for a movie in awhile (maybe Star Wars, King Kong, Naria).

Soooo, considering all three of those movies came out within the past two years, I guess it's safe to assume that "a while" for you means about 8 months?

[Antoninus]

The Gnostic Gospels, one of the sources for these oddball theories about Jesus, are contemporaneous with the writings that became the Christian Canon. The Gospel of Mary is especially interesting, in my opinion. So, one set of old writings becomes "true" while the other is "false"

Uh, yeah. What do you think they did to decide? Flip a coin? Scriptural scholars who were conversant with the original documents and languages on a level unmatched even by the most acclaimed modern linguists went through every writing with a claim to cannonical status with a fine-toothed comb. Those which were rejected usually were for a very strong reason, ie., they contained error, falsehood, or were not actually written by one of the Apostolic fathers.

In truth, the core of the Christian Canon--the 4 Gospels and the letters of St. Paul--were settled very early on. If you actually read the non-canonical books, it's fairly obvious why they were excluded. Jesus most likely didn't turn a bully into a toad, no matter what Anne Rice seems to think.

[napscoordinator]

LOL. Maybe. The only thing is that in regards to movies that is pretty true with the public also.

[Boiler Plate]

Fiction seems to sell pretty good around here

ROCKVILLE, Md. Dec 24, 2005 (AP)— In the brisk Washington real estate market, the white colonial was an easy sale three bedrooms, easy access to a major commuting route and an acre of land, a rarity in the tightly packed suburbs. However, the 18th-century house had one thing the McMansions could never claim the original Uncle Tom's cabin.

Attached to the side is a small, one-room building, its walls made of graying split oak beams. A massive stone chimney rises at the back, above the large hearth where slaves once tended meals for a plantation owner.

Among the farm's slaves was Josiah Henson, the man whom Harriet Beecher Stowe used as a model for the Uncle Tom character in her 1852 novel on slavery, "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

Less than a month after being put on the market for about $1 million, the cabin and the house are being purchased by Montgomery County.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=1439859&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[Antoninus]

The advertising and publicity were brilliant.

100% correct. The ad and publicity industry, particularly in the NY publishing world, also loves a good Catholic-basher. This book was tailor-made for them. I'm sure a lot of extra work was done gratis for this one.

[Antoninus]

Plenty of material to debunk what...fiction? Get a grip, do we need to debunk Winnie the Poo as well?

When was the last time someone told you that Winnie the Pooh "opened their mind to new ideas?"

[Antoninus]

This thing has had its 15 minutes of fame hyper-extended partially by people crusading to prove that it's untrue and being offended and giving it additional press that it otherwise would not have gotten.

If you knew anything about the publishing/entertainment industry, you probably wouldn't make such a stupid statement. Anti-Catholicism is a pre-requisite for getting into the upper echelons of either of those industries. The media elites created the Duh Vinci Code phenomenon because it's a Catholic-basher. They love those with a passion.

It is imperative for Catholics to use the Duh Vinci Code's popularity as a teaching opportunity for the rest of the world. People need to know why it's pernicious and if they're willing to listen, it becomes an opportunity to evangelize as well.

If we are silent in the hopes that it will "just go away", we are fools.

[Antoninus]

But thousands and thousands spoke out, rallied, protested, railed, foamed at the mouth, and hyperventilated. This got the movie studio an unbelievable amount of press. They got so much free promotion...millions and millions of dollars worth of free promotion for that movie.

Yeah? And it was still a stinkeroo box office bomb.

The Duh Vinci Code will be a big hit whether we come out against it or not. If we do not speak out against it, we are cowards and weaklings, worthy of every bit of derision that the Catholic haters out there heap upon us.

[Arkinsaw]

No, its foolish to get bent out of shape and help promote these things for them. They want controversy. They want controversy. They want controversy. Give them what they want if you want. I will not.