The Da Vinci Code: Do You Have The Antidote?

[Axion]

St.Eric:

Biggest antidote: always remember that it is a work of FICTION and always remind people that it is a work of FICTION. End of story. I don’t get too worked up about works of FICTION that are not in line with the church, mainly because they are FICTION and nothing more.

The problem is that this work of FICTION claims to be teaching FACTS.

And what it does is spout a lot of anti-Catholic lies and misinformation that WILL damage people’s faith and turn them against catholicism if not counteracted. Besides the main allegation that Jesus had a daughter by Mary magdalene - which few sane people will believe. Other allegations include…

1. The Da Vinci Code says that Catholic beliefs in the divinity of Jesus, the Resurrection, and the Eucharist are “vestiges of pagan religion” taken from ancient pagans. This faulty idea first originated in the 1800s, was thoroughly debunked in the early-to-mid-1900s, but lives on in anti-Christian pseudo-scholarship.
2. The book says that the world was feminist-friendly until the evil patriarchic Catholic Church imposed a male dominated society and began to systematically oppress women. The fact is that the opposite is the truth, and Christianity has been the religion that has most raised the status of women.
3. The catholic Church has opposed science and huiman advancement down the ages. Again this is the opposite of the truth, most of the great historic advances in education, music, philosophy, science, art, literature before the 19th century came through the Church
4. .The novel also claims that “the Church burned at the stake an astounding five million women” (p. 125). Actually, the number of people (both men and women) executed between 1400-1800 for suspected witchcraft was about 30,000 to 80,000. Not all were women, most were executed by the State, and around half were killed by Protestants.
5. The book says that the Pope killed all the Templars, when this was done by King Philip the Fair of France.

6> The book alleges that the Church was nothing less than a murderous conspiracy of evil men who suppressed the truth and taught lies in order to gather wealth and power. This is an allegation made by fanatical anti-catholics and is comparable to the lie that Judaisim exists as a conspiracy against other races and to sacrifice their children.

Anyone who is happy to see this pack of vicious lies circulated without challenge and believed by millions, has little care for the reputation, and growth of the Church.

Really the Church or Opus Dei should have sued Brown well before this. But at the very least there has to be a credible information campaign to reveal and expose the many lies in this book.

 

[Mercurius]

thedavincicodedemolished.com/Angels-Demons-1.html

“Angels & Demons” and “The Da Vinci Code” are a virulent attack on our True God Jesus Christ, Christianity, and the Catholic Church imbedded in a novel. It is so deceptive that good Catholics will proclaim that the two books are very “good” and “smart”; even though they, personally, do not hold to any of their allegations.

This ONLY serves to highlight the danger and true evil of these books. They seem to be so convincing, honest and true that they could “deceive even the elect” (Matthew 24, 24)

People will claim that they are just works of fiction. That is true to a certain extent but they are not JUST works of fiction. They are works of theology [heresy actually], especially “The Da Vinci Code”, disguised as works of fiction. Both books are an unrelenting attack on Chrsitianity.

thedavincicodedemolished.com/Angels-Demons-1.html

“Brown purports to be a “real” historian and claims that his novel is based upon “proven” facts. He admits that he is trying to create a new theology. On ABC’s “20/20,” Brown spoke of “conversion to a new Christianity,” and he saw himself as on a mission to bring his religious message to America.”

It is due to the loss of the sense of the Sacred and the honor due to our Divine Lord that has allowed the allegations in these books to go virtually unchallenged. We have lost the sense of what it is to blaspheme God and the Truth He revealed.

thedavincicodedemolished.com/Angels-Demons-1.html

 

[Contarini]

I’d like to suggest a different line.

I agree with the poster who said that it’s ridiculous to “refute” something you haven’t bothered to read. At the same time, I also understand why people might not want to waste time and money on trash.

Furthermore, why give the book/movie that kind of prominence? That’s just playing into the hands of its promoters.

So I have another suggestion–instead of doing a study on the *Code *(something Mr. Brown and his mildly entertaining thriller do not deserve), do a study on the origins of Christianity. Teach your fellow parishioners the real story of early Christianity. Study the Church Fathers to whom we owe so much. Study the early martyrs.

The best antidote for falsehood is truth.

I did a two-part study of this kind at my parish several months ago–St. Ignatius of Antioch the first week and SS. Perpetua and Felicitas (and companions) the second.

I think that kind of thing is far more effective than going after Brown directly. People don’t know much about the origins of Christianity, and they are hungry. They’ll lap up all sorts of nonsense if that’s all they are offered.

That being said, I do make occasional references to Brown in my Western Civ survey when I discuss the origins of Christianity. (I pointed out the other day, for instance, that only a few Jewish Christians ever believed Jesus was just a man–something Brown claims all Christians believed until Nicea.)

Edwin

 

[Donald45]

Della:

Well, I don’t think we have to read every bit of tripe that comes down the pike. We can easily refute it because it’s a load of nonsense.

I saw a really good program about the Da Vinci Code on the Discovery Channel in which they proved, quite conclusively, that it is nothing but nonsense. I have no doubt it’s for sale already.

This really begs the question: How can one rightly claim that a novel is “tripe” and “nonsense,” and that it requires “refuting,” when one has not in fact read the novel for oneself? How is one to know that the Discovery Channel program is an accurate critique if one has no first-hand knowledge of the work in question? The answer is rhetorical: One cannot know these things, and therefore one’s opinion at that point is nothing more than an uninformed assumption. No, we don’t have to read every book that comes along, though one as influential as this—one which, without having read it, prompts one to express an opinion in a public forum—should certainly be read and understood in its own right. I stand by my statements in Post #3.

Truly,
Don

 

[JimG]

Well, I just finished reading it, having borrowed a copy from a friend. In the end, it does seem to me that there is less to it than the hype surrounding it might suggest. While the tone of the book suggests a sort of nostalgia for lost paganism, Jack Chick or dozens of others could do much worse when it comes to anti-Catholicism.

The plot bogs down when the main characters get sidetracked into explaining their conspiracy theory speculations, and the plot is none too substantial to begin with.
But I didn’t finish it with some great sense of outrage, any more than I am outraged at those who believe that Apollo 11 was faked. It’s just bad history in either case. And there’s plenty of that to go around.

 

[Dolores49]

Catholic Initiative Supports Disclaimer for Controversial Film Catholic League’s Open Letter to Ron Howard is a Just and Right Request

ENCINITAS, Calif., Mar. 9 /Christian Wire Service/ – Da Vinci Outreach, a national initiative to expose the anti-Catholic lies in the upcoming movie The Da Vinci Code, is joining the request made by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights for director Ron Howard to clearly state that his film is a work of fiction.

This week, the Catholic League ran an ad in the New York Times (catholicleague.org/linked%20docs/Da_Vinci_ad.htm) calling on Ron Howard to have the decency to do what Dan Brown, author of the novel, did not do: declare up front and in no uncertain terms that the movie is fiction. The letter written by William A. Donohue, President of the Catholic League states: “As the director, you have a moral obligation not to mislead the public the way the book’s author, Dan Brown, has. Putting a disclaimer at the beginning of the film noting that this is a fictional account would resolve the issue.”

Da Vinci Outreach, a coalition of Catholic organizations, is also requesting that Ron Howard include what many books and movies contain—a simple disclaimer that his film is a work of fiction.

“When there are references that could be confusing for moviegoers the customary way to deal with the confusion and eliminate offense is to clearly state that the people and events depicted are fictional,” said Matthew Pinto coalition member and president of Ascension Press. “Disclaimers are commonly used in books and movies.”

Da Vinci Outreach (www.DaVinciOutreach.com) was established to help readers and moviegoers do what the movie’s trailer hypocritically urges viewers to do: “Seek the Truth.” It offers resources to help viewers navigate between fact and fiction, including the book The Da Vinci Deception: 100 Questions and Answers about the Facts and Fiction of The Da Vinci Code.

“Dan Brown weaves a story around so-called ‘facts’ most of which can easily be disproved with a quick Google search. He does all of this under the umbrella of free speech and completely disregards the fact that with this right comes responsibility as well. But he had to rely on a lot of untruths because, in his case, they make more money than the truth,” said Da Vinci Outreach spokesperson Dr. Pia de Solenni, formerly director of Life and Women’s Issues at the Family Research Council.

The numerous factual errors in The Da Vinci Code include:

• That a secret society, the Priory of Sion, kept the “untold truth” about Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The fact is, this tale has been exposed as a hoax concocted in the 1950s by an anti-Semitic Frenchman who was sent to prison for fraud.

• That Opus Dei is an evil “religious sect.” In actuality, it is an official Catholic organization founded to help laypeople (it has no monks) seek holiness in their daily lives.

• References to “the Vatican” eleven centuries before it even existed.

• That the book (and hence the movie) is based on documents that are factual. The truth is there is not a hint of historical evidence for its claims.

What Davinci Outreach and the Catholic League are requesting of Ron Howard is merely a customary statement such as this: “This is a work of fiction. All information is the creation of the author’s imagination. All persons, alive or dead, or events portrayed or depicted in this story are fictional and any resemblance to real people, organizations or incidents is purely coincidental.”

Now, that would be the truth.
end of press release.