The Da Vinci Code

I guess this is the big week that the Da Vinci Code movie comes out.  I'm looking forward to seeing it.  I've heard that the movie stays pretty true to the book.  Personally, if I were making this movie, I would find it hard to leave out ANY part of the book.  The story builds on itself very well and leaving out just one minor piece may leave a big hole in the story.

I'm sure most everyone has read the book, so I probably don't need to worry about "spoiling" the movie with my comments here.  Basically, the premise of the story is that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.  Mary was indeed not a prostitute and served a significant role in Jesus' ministry.  The main thrust of the Da Vinci Code story is that there are two historical entities involved.  One entity wishes to keep this "truth" about Jesus concealed while the other has interest in revealing this secret as to shake up the foundation of Christianity as we know it.

It's a fascinating read, yet, it is fiction.  However, there are some very important thought-provoking ideas in this story.

The first thing that comes to my mind is the length that individuals have gone to ensure their version of history is passed down through generations.  As the old saying goes..."history is but a series of lies agreed upon by man".  This could not be more true.  As I grow older, I find myself more attuned to the motivations of other people in attempting to convince me of their way of thinking.  I was fortunate enough to escape the brainwashing of the church about six years ago.  While caught up in that life, I cannot tell you how many times I heard leaders of the church make the comment..."we must correct their thinking"...when referring to people whom they believed were "straying".  I sincerely believe that the last 2000 years of Christianity ( and really all religions ) have been proliferated due to the motivation of a select elite to control the masses.

I have also found it intriquing how today we are so fanatically convinced we know the "truth" of what occurred 2000+ years ago.  A perfect example...it is so common today for Christians to make the claim that Eve ate an apple in the garden.  The scriptures today simply states that she ate a fruit, not an apple specifically.  This is obviously a trivial example, but my point is that through thousands of years human beings make statements of truth that simply are not.  It's all about who can convince the masses of their "version" of the story such that they can control them and more importantly make claim to that all important 10% tithing amount.