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Most Da Vinci Code readers believe Jesus fathered a child, poll finds
The Daily Telegraph ^ | May 17, 2006 | Jonathan Petre

Posted on 05/17/2006 2:01:05 AM PDT by MadIvan

The best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code has seriously damaged people's faith in the Christian Church, a survey has found.

Two thirds of Britons who have read Dan Brown's thriller believe that Jesus fathered a child with Mary Magdalene, a claim rejected as baseless by historians and Bible scholars.

Those who have read it are also four times as likely to think that the conservative Roman Catholic organisation Opus Dei, whose members include the Cabinet minister Ruth Kelly, is a murderous sect.

Seventeen per cent of readers are convinced that the lay group, whose founder was canonised by the late Pope John Paul II, has ordered or carried out a murder, compared with four per cent of those who have not read the book.

The poll has shocked Church leaders who have mounted a massive campaign to debunk The Da Vinci Code in advance of the release of the Hollywood film version this week. The findings suggest that the book has significantly shifted attitudes towards traditional Christianity and will fuel fears that people increasingly prefer to believe in conspiracy theories that taint the Church rather than historical evidence.

The poll found that more than one in five British adults has read the book, which has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, and that a large proportion believe its central claims.

Sixty per cent of the adults polled said after reading the book that they believed there was truth in the suggestion that Jesus had children and that his bloodline survives, compared with 30 per cent of those who have not read it.

Just under a third, 27 per cent, think that the Catholic Church is covering up the truth about Jesus, and the figure rises to 36 per cent among those who have read Brown's novel.

Austin Ivereigh, the director for public affairs for Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, accused Brown of dishonest marketing and said the film should carry a "health warning".

He complained that Brown and Sony Pictures, the film's distributors "have encouraged people to take it seriously while hiding behind the claim that it is fiction.

"Our poll shows that they should take responsibility for their dishonesty."

The poll was conducted by Opinion Research Business among a representative sample of 1,005 adults between May 12 and 14.


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: britons; davincicode; europeanchristians; fantasy; fiction; ignorantsuckers; itsanovel; myth
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To: MadIvan

Proof that people are stupid. They base their spiritual beliefs on a fictional novel. Whatever tickles their ear I guess.


41 posted on 05/17/2006 4:19:31 AM PDT by AppyPappy (If you aren't part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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To: kenth

Yes,Satan must be pleased.Seems like a lot of people are desperate to believe anything BUT the truth.


42 posted on 05/17/2006 4:20:55 AM PDT by Farmer Dean (Every time a toilet flushes,another liberal gets his brains.)
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To: MadIvan

"It's a novel!".

Do you ever tell that to those who recommend "State of Fear" as a refutation of Climate Change?


43 posted on 05/17/2006 4:21:42 AM PDT by Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit (No one cares if the muzzies are free. It really is about their oil.)
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To: Larry Lucido
communism is peachy.

Hey, communism, if it worked, would be great for the vast majority of people.

The whole concept is that people are happy at work and at home living in bliss and harmony with their neighbors.

That sounds great to most. Thing is, in practice it doesn't work and just leads to a brutal dictatorship and mass poverty

44 posted on 05/17/2006 4:24:12 AM PDT by Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit (No one cares if the muzzies are free. It really is about their oil.)
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To: MadIvan

Apparently there's a lack of intelligemce among Da Vinci Code readers -- and not just in Britain.

It's fiction - want truth, call Art Bell!!


45 posted on 05/17/2006 4:29:59 AM PDT by KosmicKitty (WARNING: Hormonally crazed woman ahead!!)
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To: KosmicKitty

intelligemce = intelligence

There's also a lack of coffee here as well.


46 posted on 05/17/2006 4:35:01 AM PDT by KosmicKitty (WARNING: Hormonally crazed woman ahead!!)
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To: MadIvan

exactly!


47 posted on 05/17/2006 4:36:43 AM PDT by cyborg (I just love that man.)
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To: MadIvan
True - it is a work of fiction that many, with anti-Christ agendas, are trying to turn into a defacto "truth" in order to harm Christianity. I find it amazing that they will consider a painting that can be interpreted as showing Paul as a woman, by an artists who wasn't around to see the truth, as some kind of "proof". It would also, in my opinion, be impossible to have hidden any "descendant" line that might have began with Jesus.
48 posted on 05/17/2006 4:38:09 AM PDT by trebb ("I am the way... no one comes to the Father, but by me..." - Jesus in John 14:6 (RSV))
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To: MadIvan

There are a lot of weak-minded people in the world.


49 posted on 05/17/2006 4:47:11 AM PDT by Brilliant
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To: MadIvan
Two thirds of Britons who have read Dan Brown's thriller believe that Jesus fathered a child with Mary Magdalene, a claim rejected as baseless by historians and Bible scholars.

Those who have read it are also four times as likely to think that the conservative Roman Catholic organisation Opus Dei, whose members include the Cabinet minister Ruth Kelly, is a murderous sect.

As feared and predicted. Brown, with willing accomplices in the media, has promoted this book as historical fiction.

I heard CNN reporting on this yesterday, and the host noted that TDVC has "opened a dialogue" regarding Jesus' celibacy. Ah yes, give me that old time Hegelian dialectic.

50 posted on 05/17/2006 4:50:32 AM PDT by Aquinasfan (When you find "Sola Scriptura" in the Bible, let me know)
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To: danamco
What about the rest of britons who have NOT read the garbage??? Hmmmm!!!

I don't know about the UK, but in the US, 1 in 5 people have read the book. That's a lot of people. I've heard a couple of people at work reverently mention Brownisms like Jesus being married and Constantine inventing Jesus' divinity.

51 posted on 05/17/2006 4:56:04 AM PDT by Aquinasfan (When you find "Sola Scriptura" in the Bible, let me know)
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To: hubno
Wouldn't bother me a bit if He was married and had a dozen kids.

Mission accomplished.

52 posted on 05/17/2006 4:57:55 AM PDT by Aquinasfan (When you find "Sola Scriptura" in the Bible, let me know)
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To: ArGee; VOYAGER
Less than 1% of those surveyed (Britons) have ever attended church (except for weddings or funerals). They'll believe anything they read because theological education in the UK is virtually nonexistent.

This may be the first time many folks in the UK have ever been exposed to theology at any level. Perhaps some will quest for the truth as a result.
53 posted on 05/17/2006 4:58:44 AM PDT by TaxRelief (Wal-Mart: Keeping my family on-budget since 1993.)
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To: exhaustguy
Also, albinos are also upset about the movie. I suspect the PC crowd may get behind protesting that insult (wait a second they are white so never mind).

CNN was reporting albino outrage yesterday. The host also mentioned the importance of TDVC in "opening a dialogue" regarding Jesus' celibacy.

54 posted on 05/17/2006 4:59:45 AM PDT by Aquinasfan (When you find "Sola Scriptura" in the Bible, let me know)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

I have a friend, 72 year old woman, ex RC, who believes Brown's novel is true. I asked her how she could believe God revealed all this to Brown for his novel, but she couldn't believe He guided the early Christians who chose the canon of the Bible? Still waiting for an answer.
She believes the Gospels of Thomas and Judas as well.


55 posted on 05/17/2006 5:01:31 AM PDT by kalee
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To: Brilliant
There are a lot of weak-minded people in the world.

...and weak-minded people change their minds with every new book they read.

Fortunately, the substance of the bible is solid and continues consistently through the ages.

56 posted on 05/17/2006 5:04:29 AM PDT by TaxRelief (Wal-Mart: Keeping my family on-budget since 1993.)
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To: kalee
I have a friend...who believes Brown's novel...[and the] Gospels of Thomas and Judas as well.

Perhaps you can buy her a copy of C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters"?

57 posted on 05/17/2006 5:08:20 AM PDT by TaxRelief (Wal-Mart: Keeping my family on-budget since 1993.)
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To: kenth

Satan's goal is being achieved through Brown's work as planned.




Holy crap! Satan is turning people into complete morons! Now we can't blame Hollywood anymore!


58 posted on 05/17/2006 5:08:31 AM PDT by durasell (!)
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To: durasell

...or government schools!


59 posted on 05/17/2006 5:09:20 AM PDT by durasell (!)
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To: Nathan Zachary

How would you like that done to your family because you read the Bible? It happens in Muslim countries.


60 posted on 05/17/2006 5:12:22 AM PDT by wolfcreek
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