[kevin fortuna]

though the cardinal might go overboard with his recommendation that people boycot the novel, he does raise some interesting points about the implications of the books popularity. thoughts?

[BipolarBob]

It was lightweight fiction. I don't really see why it became popular. OK plot, but from a theological view I considered it blasphemous.

[Huntress]

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, once a top dogma enforcer in Vatican City and currently archbishop of Genoa, broke the Vatican's virtual silence on the book this week and told Vatican Radio that nobody should read it and certainly Catholic bookstores should stop selling it.

The Cardinal could not have made a better sales pitch FOR the book if he had tried.

[PennsylvaniaMom]

I am surprised by the longevity of the popularity of The DaVinci Code. Its a good read...not a great one (imo). Umberto Eco's 'Foucault's Pendulum' (written in Italian and translated into English by Wm. Weaver) has a somewhat similar plot, but an extremely good read. Eco weaves a plot around the Holy Grail much better than did Dan Brown.

We need a book club here on FR :)

[Diddle E. Squat]

Note that his strongest response was to asking Catholic bookstores to stop carry the book.

Far different from declaring that the author must be hunted down and brutally murdered.

[sarasmom]

Popular to who?
I won't read the book, as I am old, educated and experienced enough to understand that twisted religious conspiracy theories are, well to put it bluntly, twisted.
But I am not an anti-organised religion zealot.
I am not a member of any of them, but that does not mean I am against all of them.

[BradyLS]

I couldn't even get through it. The whole thing read like a treatment for a movie (but a LOT of fiction written in the last 30 or so years does, too). And the Catholic bashing is just so... so... "Sinead O'Connor." The rest of it is all just pop-psych psycho-babble.

[bubman]

We live in a society where we treat our adherence to church doctrine like cafeteria selections during lunch! Justice Robert Bork called them cafeteria liberals. You pick and choose which dictates appeal to you and discard those that may not agree with your prevailing moral compass.

Any theory that may discredit the orthodoxy of the church (especially the Catholic Church) is applauded and encouraged. Most of us who were born into our respective faiths (I am Catholic) are really living out of the depleting reservoir of the efforts of those generations before ours. Like the dying days of the Roman empire, customs that reflected Roman culture and tradition in government and society at large were through the years turned into pomp and symbolism, losing in the end their inherent social/cultural values and purpose. As a result of these lost cultural anchors of the Roman Empire, we (Europeans) slowly slipped into the inevitability of the Dark Ages.

Younger generations have lost their connection the teachings of their faith and were replaced with a pseudo/secular view of religion in general. You see alot of good documentaries about religion and faith on TV however you feel a disconnect, as if a scientific inquiry was made with no disscussion of pure faith. The Da Vinci codes plays out like a X-File for religion. Conspiracy,lies orthodoxy,etc. What I find interesting is why would the author go out hisr way to discredit the church but at the same time make legitimate the arguement that Jesus Christ did exist and was an actual historical figure (without the deferencial aspect of course!)

[Avenger]

Regardless of the book (which I have not read), would it make any difference if Jesus was married or not? Most men marry and it seems to me that we could use a good example.

[aroostook war]

I read Angels & Demons. About a month's worth of narrative packed into 24 hours. Entertaining, as was the Nicolas Cage film National Treasure. (BenFranklin Code)