Da Vinci Code

The movie's coming out in mid-May and most of you have probably read the book. We aren't doing religion now and I don't think I have time to discuss it in class so here are some thoughts.

I think Dan Brown is a good writer, so good that many people truly believe that he based his book on facts and real-life events. But he himself has stated that his work is fiction, and though the names are of real people and organisations, the events and ideas are made up. He exaggerated many conspiracy theories and spun a very exciting tale.

Dan Brown has twisted many foundation beliefs of the Christian faith, that is why it has been criticised so greatly. It's a great piece of writing but do use it to differentiate between fact and fiction. A good place to start may be http://www.syfc.org.sg/events/dvc/cinema.html

His work has received both bouquets and brickbats, but it has made many think about the Christian religion and what is the truth. Even the controversial group, the Opus Dei, has used Da Vinci Code to publicise and correct misconceptions about their group's practices (see Time Magazine for April 24).

It's interesting when you compare reactions to Da Vinci Code (or even Passion of the Christ) with the reactions to the Danish cartoons about Prophet Mohammed. Why are the reactions to a rather sacrilegious work like DVC so much more low key? Is it because people are so used to caricatures and defamations against Christianity/Catholicism? Are they less religious?