fett on 22/5/2006 at 19:07
Quote:
Originally Posted by MalygrisI don't think the author has ever purported his book to be anything more than a story about some shit he made up, so why are the Catholic church and various other religious groups around the world reacting in such a wholly spaztastic manner?
Right.
"“One of the many qualities that makes The Da Vinci Code unique is the factual nature of the story. All the history, artwork, ancient documents, and secret rituals in the novel are accurate--as are the hidden codes revealed in some of Da Vinci's most famous paintings.” - Dan Brown
From the Introduction:
"All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate."
Not true - the 'documents' he refers to were long ago declared a hoax by leading scholars, and the 'secret rituals' perfomed by the 'Priory of Scion' can't possibly take place because no such group does or ever has existed - at least no group performing or functioning as portrayed in the novel.
IMO the big stink over the whole thing is Brown's revisionism of church history. If someone were to rewrite U.S. history in such a way as to villianize the slaves, it would be right and fitting to react with indignation. The same is true for church history. Brown has slandered revered church fathers and portrayed the early church as a power hungry, secretive, and manipulative group of people, when in fact, they were recovering from the vicious persecution of the Romans by the time the council of Nicene took place. He speaks of them 'voting' on issues such as the diety of Christ, the cannon of scripture, and other vitally important issues (to christians), when it is common knowledge that early church councils didn't 'vote' on anything. It casts a light of suspicion on a group of people who were horribly wronged at that point in history. Slag on the medieval Catholic church all you want - they deserve it, but the early church is an organism near and dear to the hearts of historians, both mainstream and christian.
Scots Taffer on 22/5/2006 at 23:16
Quote Posted by Malygris
I have a pretty basic question about all this, which maybe has been addressed elsewhere and I just haven't been paying enough attention. Since the Da Vinci Code is a novel - a work of fiction - what the fuck is the big deal?
Okay, bear in mind that
I don't agree or jive with anything that goes in these religious fundie groups, here's what I think are the main problems given Brown's megamarketing disclaimer spiel that opens the book:
For Catholics:
- The so-called "voting" of Nicea, which is a strong bind of the Catholic theology
- The idea of a sect of the Catholic Church, Opus Dei, being murderous plotters
For Others:
- The concept that Jesus either had illegitimate sex, or covered up his marriage to Mary Magdelene on general principle
dvrabel on 22/5/2006 at 23:33
Quote Posted by Scots_Taffer
- The idea of a sect of the Catholic Church, Opus Dei, being murderous plotters
Given certain historical events (like the Albigensian Crusade and the related inquisition) the
whole of the Catholic Church from the Pope downwards have been murderous plotters.
(As an aside, has the Catholic Church ever apologized for these (and other similar) events?)
Scots Taffer on 22/5/2006 at 23:45
Oh, come on. Stop being so fucking myopic. That was CENTURIES ago. Get with the program, we hide kiddie-fiddling priests now.
Naartjie on 23/5/2006 at 01:44
Quote:
Originally posted by dvrabel:Given certain historical events (like the Albigensian Crusade and the related inquisition) the whole of the Catholic Church from the Pope downwards have been murderous plotters.
Care to have a stab at justifying that? Or are you just hitching a ride on the bandwagon?
Stitch on 23/5/2006 at 01:48
Quote Posted by Scots_Taffer
Oh, come on. Stop being so fucking myopic.
Heard that.
The basic problem isn't that Dan Brown wrote a book featuring a murderous and plotting Christian sect. No, the issue is he created a murderous and plotting Christian sect and named them Opus Dei, a very real and possibly neither murderous nor plotting Christian sect. It would be like me writing a book about a guy who goes on a killing spree at Microsoft to protest the fact that they're dropping support of an eight year old operating system, and then calling the main chatracter ZylonBane.
Also, Dan Brown and company playing the fiction card as a get out of jail free is pretty disingenuous, as the entire success of the book hinges on the illusion that it grants us a peek under the skirt of the world's largest religion. Strip away the "history lessons" and you're left with dudes standing around solving puzzles. Most of us can get that for free via public transport.
Scots Taffer on 23/5/2006 at 02:08
Quote Posted by Stitch
It would be like me writing a book about a guy who goes on a killing spree at Microsoft to protest the fact that they're dropping support of an eight year old operating system, and then calling the main chatracter ZylonBane.
Totally lollin'.
And good on you, spix, it seems dvrabel can't do a search in google beyond CHURCH CONTROVERSY LOL. >
:(
Shoshin on 23/5/2006 at 05:52
Quote Posted by Stitch
It would be like me writing a book about a guy who goes on a killing spree at Microsoft to protest the fact that they're dropping support of an eight year old operating system, and then calling the main chatracter ZylonBane.
I'd actually read that. It would have to be better than Angels & Demons, which was so bad that I refuse to read The Davinci Code. Plus I've already read Holy Blood, Holy Grail and Foucault's Pendulum, not to mention all the Robert Anton Wilson Illuminati books, so I'm really rather burned out on that whole subject.
dvrabel on 23/5/2006 at 06:00
Quote Posted by dvrabel
olol. Chuch bad.
It wasn't my intention to push an anti-Church agenda here, and I apologize for doing so as it is inappropriate for the thread.
What I meant to ask (which Sitch answered) was, given the Catholic Church's history why are Catholics particularly annoyed by the fictionalization of the the Opus Dei sect.
