The Da Vinci Crisis
Yes, crisis.* According to many men of the cloth, The Da Vinci Code has plunged countless Christians into doubt over their beliefs. The whole religion is under the thralls of the wrong book, even though that book is entirely fictional. That is to say, neither Mr. Langdon, nor Prof. Teabing, nor any of the other characters existed.
This raises the question of how The Da Vinci Code gained such a following. One obvious influence is its popularity, though of course that can't be the whole explanation, as it became popular mainly by throwing Christian beliefs into doubt.
I'm proposing the theory that the particular Christians being duped are the suggestible ones. It's easier to show that suggestible Christians exist than to show how big that crowd is, but bear with me. These people I'm calling "suggestible Christians" are characterized by two traits (it's critical to my conjecture that these traits be taken together): they accepted the Holy Bible without question, and they questioned the Bible when they read The Da Vinci Code.**
Do you see what I'm getting at? First they accepted one long-winded book as gospel... then they tried to accept another long-winded book as gospel. Such people are prone to make attachments based on little more than a few pages! No wonder the holy men are distressed.
*Let me point out right here that I have tagged this as a "rant." My fledgling definition for a rant is that the author makes certain claims and purposely supports them weakly or with little effort to convince. For example, the third paragraph contains a claim about a group selected almost specifically so that the claim will be true.
**You can't see me formatting this, but every time I italicize "The Da Vinci Code," it's as if I'm taking a deep breath in order to say it dramatically.
This raises the question of how The Da Vinci Code gained such a following. One obvious influence is its popularity, though of course that can't be the whole explanation, as it became popular mainly by throwing Christian beliefs into doubt.
I'm proposing the theory that the particular Christians being duped are the suggestible ones. It's easier to show that suggestible Christians exist than to show how big that crowd is, but bear with me. These people I'm calling "suggestible Christians" are characterized by two traits (it's critical to my conjecture that these traits be taken together): they accepted the Holy Bible without question, and they questioned the Bible when they read The Da Vinci Code.**
Do you see what I'm getting at? First they accepted one long-winded book as gospel... then they tried to accept another long-winded book as gospel. Such people are prone to make attachments based on little more than a few pages! No wonder the holy men are distressed.
*Let me point out right here that I have tagged this as a "rant." My fledgling definition for a rant is that the author makes certain claims and purposely supports them weakly or with little effort to convince. For example, the third paragraph contains a claim about a group selected almost specifically so that the claim will be true.
**You can't see me formatting this, but every time I italicize "The Da Vinci Code," it's as if I'm taking a deep breath in order to say it dramatically.