Per Christum

I am not for censoring the Da Vinci Code, and I never have been. Read it if you want, and see the movie if you feel like it. However, I have stood up for Christianity’s right to defend itself against the book’s claims. Of course, I have been reminded that”everybody knows knows this book is just fiction,” and “don’t take it too seriously,” and so forth. My response has been, “yes, everybody should know this, but a historically illiterate population such as ours may not respond exactly as they should.” Plus, humans love a good conspiracy theory!

Apparently, I am right. This article suggests that of those who have read the Da Vinci Code, 60% believe that Jesus had children by Mary Magdalene, compared with only 30% who have not read the book. Additionally, 17% of Da Vinci Code readers believe that Opus Dei has carried out a murder, as opposed to 4% of non-readers. In other words, reading this work of fiction has convinced some people to believe the claims of the book as historical facts. This poll was a scientific poll of 1,000 people conduced by a major polling firm. Why is this? Probably because a lot of people, including Dan Brown himself, have hinted around that all of this stuff may indeed be true. In fact, the book that Brown stole most of his ideas from, Holy Blood, Holy Grail, suggests a lot of the Da Vinci Code claims are true-blue historical facts.

I guess I feel a little vindicated here, and hope that Christians do their best, in a sane manner, to rebut the claims of the Da Vinci Code, and to provide a lesson in basic history, as opposed to lessons in wild conspiracy theories that truly are fiction.