It's baaaaccckkk...The Da Vinci Code

I stumbled onto an interesting blog called Church of the Masses by Barbara Nicolosi. If you've been living off the planet for a while, you may not have noticed that The Da Vinci Code is back in the arena of big news... and big controversy. The book was popular, but the movie, which comes out in July, will reach more people. At Easter National Geographic's controversial Gospel of Judas got minimal exposure compared to Dan Brown's somewhat sophmoric tale of sex, lies and intrigue. Barbara gives a thoughtful and interesting critique: her call for why we should dismiss the movie and watch something else.

I personally enjoyed the book. (probably for all the wrong reasons) and I love Tom Hanks and Ron Howard. I'll definitely see the movie anyway, no matter what anybody says, If I end up hating it, I'll have wasted a little time and money, but my curiosity will be satisfied.

The book was actually good for me. It led me to question not only my traditional Christian conditioning, but to explore more deeply who Jesus would be for me if any part (or all) of the story were actually true. My son, who is a professed agnostic, added fuel to the fire by sending the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail and my faith crisis deepened. In that book there are scraps of evidence in some of those Gnostic gospels that say Jesus let someone else die on the cross for him and stood in the shadows watching and laughing... because the officials had been so easily duped. Now wait just a cotton-picking minute! No way could that be true. Could it?

So... as I always do when faced with any crisis, I ran worst case scenario and worked backwards. The process was messy and painful but it meant enough to me to keep at it and (I believe) was well worth the effort. My faith is stronger and my own purpose clearer. But that's another story.

In her critique, Barbara states: "If you are going to risk your eternal soul, it should at least be over something noble and romantic and big. If you are bound to damn yourself, then at least let it be over a torrid and star-crossed love affair, or out of tragic hubris that sought know What Man Was Not Meant to Know, or over some insane and violent of country, or out of desire for titanic powers to manipulate nature or some Byronic despair over a cold world's rejection of a Great Artiste."

Wow... that's a lot of ways to lose your soul. (And I have run the risk of losing mine over some of the ones she mentions.) But for me the difference between being a sheep and a thinking human being is a willingness to take the risk. Maybe nothing is worth losing your soul over, so it doesn't matter whether the reason is large or small, noble or foolish. But to never dare, never to question, never to think is totally out of the question.