Posted on 05/17/2006 2:01:05 AM PDT by MadIvan
The best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code has seriously damaged people's faith in the Christian Church, a survey has found.
Two thirds of Britons who have read Dan Brown's thriller believe that Jesus fathered a child with Mary Magdalene, a claim rejected as baseless by historians and Bible scholars.
Those who have read it are also four times as likely to think that the conservative Roman Catholic organisation Opus Dei, whose members include the Cabinet minister Ruth Kelly, is a murderous sect.
Seventeen per cent of readers are convinced that the lay group, whose founder was canonised by the late Pope John Paul II, has ordered or carried out a murder, compared with four per cent of those who have not read the book.
The poll has shocked Church leaders who have mounted a massive campaign to debunk The Da Vinci Code in advance of the release of the Hollywood film version this week. The findings suggest that the book has significantly shifted attitudes towards traditional Christianity and will fuel fears that people increasingly prefer to believe in conspiracy theories that taint the Church rather than historical evidence.
The poll found that more than one in five British adults has read the book, which has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, and that a large proportion believe its central claims.
Sixty per cent of the adults polled said after reading the book that they believed there was truth in the suggestion that Jesus had children and that his bloodline survives, compared with 30 per cent of those who have not read it.
Just under a third, 27 per cent, think that the Catholic Church is covering up the truth about Jesus, and the figure rises to 36 per cent among those who have read Brown's novel.
Austin Ivereigh, the director for public affairs for Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, accused Brown of dishonest marketing and said the film should carry a "health warning".
He complained that Brown and Sony Pictures, the film's distributors "have encouraged people to take it seriously while hiding behind the claim that it is fiction.
"Our poll shows that they should take responsibility for their dishonesty."
The poll was conducted by Opinion Research Business among a representative sample of 1,005 adults between May 12 and 14.
Whenever the audience would object, the comic would shout at them, "It's a puppet!"
I feel like shouting at these people, "It's a novel!". It's fiction, fantasy, myth, in short, it's not true, nor is it even close to being true. Dan Brown is a literary con-man who is covering his lack of talent by wrapping it up in manufactured controversy. We play his game by believing him over JC.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
I'm sure most readers of Das Kapital would believe that communism is peachy. Doesn't mean it would have the same effect on me.
I know this is not true, because the book is clearly labeled as fiction, and everyone knows that you don't believe anything you read in a work of fiction.
I've read that any number of times here on FR.
Shalom.
Satan's goal is being achieved through Brown's work as planned.
So thats where it came from.
When I was out in Bosnia our QMS (Quarter Master Sergeant) used to shout that all the time. Thought it was some form of Northern Humour, he was a Yorkshire Man I a East End Cockney.
"Satan's goal is being achieved through Brown's work as planned."
Yes, but they play a futile game. The world may pass away but God's Word will never be destroyed. Brown and people like him hate the Christian God which should tell the world something. Why have they chosen our God to hate? Could it be because he is real..Why try to destroy something which does not exist? The main tool of the enemy, Satan, is deception. This is a prime example of it. I personally believe that people, like Brown, will come to no good end. They may be jealous of the power of the Christian God in this world but, as long as people pray, those who hate God are walking on dangerous ground. I am convinced that Mr. Brown and the others who have participated in this will receive justice, either here or in the hereafter.
Fools, it is idiotic claptrap and is to be avoided!
I now declare a fatwa on Dan Brown. This is a special fatwa, a christian one. Since killing is bad and all that, and you can leave forgiving until a few days before death, I say everyone trow their dog crap on his lawn, tag his house, spike his car tires at least once a week. Seduce his wife, (take pics) and just make his life so missurable he'll wish he was dead.
IIRC, the Christian way to heap burning coals on your enemy's head is to bless him.
Shalom.
Didn't read the article.
Headline only.
MadIvan Europe is going to hell in a handbasket in regards to Christianity if a poll finds this true.
What utter heresy.
But wait. Hanks is just an actor. He's just playing a part. Let's attack Howard.
But wait. Howard's just a director. He's just making the movie that the Producer asked him to make. Let's attack Sony.
But wait. Sony's just in the business of making money. They wanted to make a movie of a best selling novel. Let's attack the public.
At what point does somebody have the responsibility to look at the project and say "This is a bunch of hateful lies and I'm not going to play a part in it."? If the Dutch were supposed to be courteous and not print pictures of Mohammed with a bomb in his turban, couldn't Hanks, Howard, Sony, et. al. have considered courtesy and left this project on the cuting room floor?
Nah. Christians don't riot when you insult their G-d. They let Him handle it His way.
Shalom.
Just think back to Hanks in his early work of "Big"
Remember the Saks Fifth Ave Toy Dept Scene?
Too bad... It is FICTION! And I understand it's a good work--son enjoyed it a lot, but he knows it's a work of fiction. Geeze. For some to take stuff out of it to believe is the same as believing there's a Harry Potter. :) Geeze. (Mine on the other hand is a novel filled with actuals).
Regards, Ivan
Amen!
I see a gold mine in your prayer life.
"is the same as believing"
Uneducated people will believe anything that is fed to them. It's not surprising.
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