Our main weapon is surprise...

jjohn on 2005-03-16T00:45:27

«The archbishop told Il Giornale: "The book is everywhere. There is a very real risk that many people who read it will believe that the fables it contains are true."»

--Church fights Da Vinci Code novel

For a minute there, I though he was talking about the Bible! Of course, he was talking about something much worse.

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Belief

pudge on 2005-03-16T03:28:12

When I first heard people arguing against The Da Vinci Code, I thought it was crazy too. This is a fictional novel. But it turns out a lot of people believes the crap in that thing, and as such, it seems worthwhile to point out it is what it is.

Not that I am gonna spend *my* time doing it. I have more important things to do, like play video games and watch movies.

Rebutting Fiction

n1vux on 2005-03-16T19:59:01

I thought Dan Quayle looked (or was made to look) silly when he attacked (the fictional) Murphy Brown's morals, too. But his point was well taken, it was a sign of a change in culture that a profesional character would be portrayed as intentionally becoming a single mom. If he wasn't known for sticking his foot in it, he might have been allowed a cultural allusion without being made to look foolish for it.

In the instant case, though it is filed and sold as fiction, Dan Brown claims the book to be a thin novelization of history, and his book has made this modern anti-papist conspiracy theory (or the several that are shoveled together) more accessible and popular than the nominally nonfiction heresies and calumnies that he borrowed from. Thus it makes sense for the church to rebut it directly now.

Art experts and historians are also up in arms.

The row over the real-world Opus Dei is bad enough.

It's amazing what some people will believe; given the range of conspiracy theories, this is just one more.

Cardinal Fang of the Pythonic Inquisition would perhaps do a better job of debunking this farce than the serious minded ex-Curia member(s) appointed. Perhaps application of the dread Soft Cushions and the Comfy Chair would bring some sense to this lot. At least the Art Historians are helping.