*Edit: I was gonna link to it, but the page it is on has music playing that can't be stopped. I'll just paste it here, as I'm sure you hate that as much as I do.
- The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Abso-fucking-lutely incredible book. Dan Brown is fucking brilliant. The book makes several brave but well-researched and informed accusations toward the Catholic Church. It claims that the Bible is missing books, taken out by the early leaders of the church for various reasons, including texts written by Jesus himself. This, to me, is incredibly easy to believe. We've been making well-documented and accepted revisions to the Bible for hundreds of years. You read the King James version of the Bible in church. Or perhaps you read the Modern Man's Bible - rewritten entirely in today's language. It's fact that there were originally over 400 gospels. Why is it hard to believe that the Church might pick the ones that best served themselves?
Church groups are holding meetings where they use the Bible to disprove The Da Vinci Code. That's hilarious to me, because the Bible is incomplete. Also, I'm certain that at least %80 of the people teaching these lessons haven't read a single word from The Da Vinci Code, except for the short misleading quotes found in the lesson manuals handed down from their church leaders.
I read the Bible. I found it to be untrue. I didn't go to a seminar where someone TOLD me it was untrue, and listed to me hundreds of reasons WHY, I fucking read it for myself, so I could form a fucking educated opinion. I challenge every Christian in America to read the fucking book. If you read it with an open mind, like I did the Bible, and still think it's untrue, then I'll respect your opinion. Otherwise, you are a fascist.
One thing I find amusing is how most Christians, when reading Greek mythology, will laugh and say "how silly they were!" So... Having Apollo, the Sun god, race across the sky in his chariot of fire is silly, but Moses turning a stick into a snake, nevermind parting the Red fucking Sea, is perfectly logical?
Religion is, and always has been, man's attempt to rationalize and explain natural phenomenon he cannot understand. Every religion has a creation story (most are strikingly similar to the Christian story), every religion has stories that explain natural phenomenon (the Christian rainbow story, the Greek echo story, the Native American wind story), and every religion has an afterlife story (most religions are pretty uniform on this one - good people go to a good place, bad people go to a bad place, etc.).
Beyond explaining natural phenomenon, religion is a method of record keeping, as well as a way to shape the socially acceptable actions in a culture. Stories of rewards coming to those who are virtuous are abundant in every religion's scripture. The only thing that really changes from faith to faith is what is considered a valuable personality trait: The Greeks valued cleverness and strength - Oddyseus possesed both. Christians (supposedly) value chastity, charity, and obedience. Wits and strength were valuable assets to the dominantly warlike culture of Greece, and therefore exalting these charictaristics in a hero would be beneficial to the nation as a whole. Obedience and charity are valuable traits in today's society, and are thus highly visible charictaristics of people in religious texts.
Women, take a look at yourselves. Take a look at your role in history. Even today, the glass ceiling is VERY real, and every single one of you know it. Original sin was pinned on YOU. YOU tempted Adam. YOU can't be a priest. YOU came from Adam's rib, he created you, you owe your life to MAN.
The fact that there are women who are fighting this book proves that the Catholic Church's ongoing deception has worked. The Church is responsible for every single inequality you face.
The book also talks about the Church's extensive smear campaign against the old religions, specifically paganism. I knew little about the pagans before reading the book, besides the fact that they worshipped nature.
Historically, the pentacle is a symbol of perfection, with strong ties to femininity and what the pagans called the goddess. Today, the first thing that comes to mind when people see a pentacle is devil-worship. Womanhood.... devil-worship... coincidence? Many other pagan symbols and traditions were recast as evil. Nature itself was considered evil, most notably by the Puritans. Dancing is still considered "un-Christian" by many religions. The act of sex, once revered as a sacred miracle, became a shameful and wicked act.
The Da Vinci Code is the first Dan Brown book for me to read, and it certainly won't be the last. His style, his wit, and his creativity are nothing short of inspiring to me. Not only is The Da Vince Code filled with refreshing insight into our own history, it's also a great story. It's not historical fiction per se, but it's something like that.
My review here skimmed over many of the issues discussed in the book, but I am 1,500 miles from home right now, so this is all I care to write at the moment. Perhaps I'll write a more in-depth analysis of the book at some point.
I used to entertain thoughts of writing a book. This has inspired me to reconsider the task.
