Cardinal Francis Arinze is suggesting that good Catholics should take legal action against The Da Vinci Code (via Volokh).
In the latest Vatican broadside against “The Da Vinci Code”, a leading cardinal says Christians should respond to the book and film with legal action because both offend Christ and the Church he founded. Cardinal Francis Arinze, a Nigerian who was considered a candidate for pope last year, made his strong comments in a documentary called “The Da Vinci Code — A Masterful Deception.” …
“Christians must not just sit back and say it is enough for us to forgive and to forget,” Arinze said in the documentary made by Rome film maker Mario Biasetti for Rome Reports, a Catholic film agency specializing in religious affairs.
“Sometimes it is our duty to do something practical. So it is not I who will tell all Christians what to do but some know legal means which can be taken in order to get the other person to respect the rights of others,” Arinze said.
I like the bit about how Christians shouldn’t just forgive and forget. I’m no expert, but aren’t there some religions that preach otherwise?
No word as to whether Pope Benedict is considering issuing a fatwa against Dan Brown.
Arinze must be in the pay of Dan Brown’s publicist. “Hey, Frankie, great work! The phones are ringing off the hook. Loved the veiled threat of legal action. Everyone’s eating it up. The movie’s world premiere is sure to break records! There’ll be a little something extra in the collection basket for you this weekend. You and the boys in red keep up the good work! Give my love to Benny Hex.”
I don’t think legal action should be taken, but here’s an interesting website with lots of good info.
http://www.catholic.com/library/cracking_da_vinci_code.asp
Vince may be surprised to learn that I basically agree with him about the information at catholic.com regarding The DaVinci Code. The novel appears to be a thoroughly fictional thriller that uses historical hoaxes and frauds to give itself the appearance of being “based on a true story”. The reaction of the Roman Catholic Church, however, as epitomized by the comments of Cardinal Arinze, is just as ridiculous as the novel. If the prelates had schooled themselves to dismiss it with casual contempt as just another fairy tale, that would have served their purpose much better than full-throated outrage. They need to get a clue. Not that they ever will.
fat·wa (fätwä)
n.
A legal opinion or ruling issued by an Islamic scholar.
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I wonder if the cardinal went on to rail against “Back to the Future”, “Shrek”, and other works of unambiguously complete fiction.
Can someone answer a question for me? From the readings at the link above, I get the impression that there is this implied claim that all Christian branches are somehow dependent on Catholicism; that all the “truth”s about Christianity were established by Catholics. I guess my point is, there are branches of Christianity (still present) that are older (or as old as) Catholicism with similar beleifs, that could not have been influenced by this “cover-up”. (e.g. Armenian Church) I hope this made sense.
As it comes to what I think of the Catholic reaction, or the book? If it was up to the Catholics, they’d ban Harry Potter. Come on!
vince refers to “an interesting website” at http://www.catholic.com, which website says in part:
“… It is impossible to take this claim … that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene … seriously. …”.
Actually, that claim seems to have been taken seriously by some historically important figures.
Much less ambiguous and more emphatic that da Vinci’s Last Supper is Albrecht Durer’s woodcut “The Large Passion – 9 of 12 – The Last Supper – 1510”. As you can see ( for example, go to http://www.wga.hu/art/d/durer/2/12/3largep/09largep.jpg ), it shows Jesus sitting in the center with Mary Magdalene in his lap, with Jesus’s right arm around her breasts, with 6 apostles to the left of them and the other 6 to the right of them.
Some things that are now regarded as dogma were until fairly recently (within the past 200 years or so) open to varying beliefs/interpretations.
For example, prior to about 1854 the Immaculate Conception was not dogma, and papal infallibility was even later (around 1869) ( both were made dogma by Piux IX, known to some as Pio Nono, who was such an admirer of Confederate President Jefferson Davis that, after Davis was captured by Union forces, Pius IX sent to the imprisoned Davis a Crown of Thorns ).
Tony Smith
http://www.valdostamuseum.org/hamsmith/
PS – I am not trying to defend every allegation in Dan Brown’s book ( it raises interesting questions, and my opinions agree with it in some respects and disagree in others ). I am here only trying to point out that some aspects of the http://www.catholic.com attack against it may be flawed.
I’m glad to see the Vatican is taking a break from their crusade against the rights of women to control their own bodies via contraception, Plan B, or abortion, to complain about something really important.
If we want to have a nice long, exhaustive and never-ending discussion about the issue, let’s start off with “the nature of Christ”. Look up “Oriental Orthodoxy” on wikipedia. There is a split that occured in the 5th century after the “Council of Chalcedon”. This issue of marriage, I think has a somewhat close connection to who Jesus is.
The Cardinal is right; one should be outraged by someone trying to pass off a mostly fictional work as “based on a true story”. It must have been quite a shock to his system to have been exposed to something like this.
The book is so awful it’s no surprise Christ is offended.
To pick on the main character, it seems Robert Langdon’s actions may as well have been decided by the roll of a suitable three-sided die, for he only ever does one of:
1. Be confused by a very easy puzzle.
2. Gaze adoringly at sophie neveu.
3. Take advantage of his role as professor of symbology to make insightful comments about …erm…symbols….sheesh, what a contrived plot device!
Am I alone in despising the triumph of this book? (I mean apart from the Vatican et al).
If only we could take legal action against bad writing…
The story that Jesus married Mary Magdelene is unsupported by the evidence; but it is nevertheless far more likely than the Bible version, which, after all, reports events that are physically impossible. Even the wildest yarn is more probable than a story premised on somebody rising from the dead. If I were in the Catholicism business, I wouldn’t be too eager to bad mouth the DaVinci Code. Somebody might notice that the New Testament is even less credible.
“The story that Jesus married Mary Magdelene is unsupported by the evidence; but it is nevertheless far more likely than the Bible version”
Why do you say that?
As for Jesus rising from the dead, considering that the Gospel writers describe Jesus as humanity’s Redeemer (since it is taught that we are sinful, and these offences against God cannot be rectified by us alone), it would seem that Jesus had to rise from the dead. After all, he redeemed us, and he is much holier than us, so if we can join God in Heaven, as a result of Jesus’ sacrificing his life for us, surely he would be there as well.
I better get back to studying for my statistical mechanics exam! Qualifiers are a b&*ch, eh? 🙂
Oopsy! Pardon me. I seem to be implying that people who make it to Heaven will have risen from the dead on earth. That’s not true. Our earthly bodies will, of course, decay away. However, Catholics do believe that Mary, Jesus’ mother was “assumed” into Heaven, meaning that she did not die, but rather was “taken up” into Heaven.
Let me think more about Jesus rising from the dead, and I’ll try to report back to you. Thanks. 🙂
Elliot 8:
…and the Vatican’s role in Italy’s assisted reproductive technology laws: the most barbaric laws for reproductive health existing in the western countries.
http://www.theamericanmag.com/article.php?show_issue_id=3&show_article_id=14
Let’s hope that Prodi can do something to undo the Vatican’s and Berlusconi’s mess.
Ah, it’s really about “Angel’s and Demons” in the science world?
I mean, you have these negative connotations and you run with it, once you conceptualize “evil” to a certain way?
While realistically, artistic rendition helps us to understand, that the world views evolve accordingly?
The signatore’s room has a really nice picture in it. Look to the center of it. One has to learn to take in the whole picture. 🙂
….Being raised under “such constraints,” is really hard to comprehend for some to hold to such a religion.
When such laws of the church oversight the true emotive conditions of couples, who would spend a “lot of hard earned money and soul,” to have the one thing that could come of such a production.
Life, for a child. Life for a couple.
Makes no sense(such laws), to see those who want to have children and can’t, try, and by grace of such technologies, makes this possible.
Archaic church law making, to restrict, or cast some shadow on the possibility?
I consider the Da Vinci Code to be pretty tame stuff, as far as heresies go. You want a heresy, here’s a whopper: There was no such person as Jesus. He was a fictitious character, a composite loosely based on the lives of several different dissident religious leaders in the century or so before the year 1 AD. The sayings of Jesus were part of the collective wisdom of a group of Jews around that time, and these sayings had no single author.
This heresy is in some ways much more of a threat to the Church than atheism. (Most atheists accept the existence of Jesus, but just deny that he actually performed miracles.)
There was a theory a while ago that Jesus was a code name for psychoactive mushrooms. “The sacred mushroom and the cross” was the name of the book I think. The theory was that the cult who consumed the mushrooms spoke in code to avoid persecution by the Roman authorities.
No opinion proffered on the veracity of this theory.
As long as Christian Doctrine has little to do with historical facts, Christian theologians/leaders have little reason to ridicule Dan Brown’s work. Perhaps – on average – Dan Brown’s interpretation of Christianity is more fanciful than most mainstream interpretations. However, no interpretation in Christian Thought is completely devoid of fictitious accounts and pagan symbolisms. The British theologian – Keith Ward – characterizes Christendom as being in a “state of permanent revolutionary change.” He further adds that “this revolutionary change is apart of Christendom’s fundamental nature.” Therefore, I will argue the following: Christianity – due to its highly interpretative nature – will always lie on a growth curve of increasing interpretations. Moreover, I will conclude the following: Let Christianity’s interpretative feuds continue unabatedly on its quest for permanent revolution.
Daryl, the heresy you describe might be more profound, but the sheer volume of readers of The DaVinci Code is what makes some prelates a bit wobbly in the knees.
But apart from all the technicalities, anything that rocks any church is good, in that it provides hours of enjoyment to us atheists.
Ah, in a fair world, the Da Vinci Code would be supressed thanks to mediocre sales, by virtue of being crap. Of course, if the world was fair on a regular basis, there’d have been no Da Vinci Code, because the appalling Angels and Demons would have sunk so badly that no publisher would entertain publishing Dan Brown ever again.
One can find almost any tendency at work in a 2000-year old world religion, but one obvious trend is an increasing emphasis on the humanity of Christ. The search for the historical Jesus actually began in the Gospels where the rather gnostic, otherworldly Christ of the Letters of St. Paul is fleshed out with a wealth of obviously invented detail. The New Testament is the novelization of a myth. In this respect, the Da Vinci Code simply goes a little further than Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It isn’t even that much more poorly written.
Is the world ready for unequivocal Truth and verifiable Wisdom yet?
It is quite a joke that the Vatican and Catholic Church have the gall to accuse the author of a novel of attacking their fantasies and dogma. Remember that this is the same organization that manufactured fake relics and miracles for many centuries. This is the same group that massacred and tortured people for having a mind of their own. This is the same group of deluded deceivers that makes more noise about a fictional book and movie than about child raping priests, aids, famine, or even the Holocaust! Here’s more about my take on it.
Please be forewarned that what I reveal will upset a lot of apple carts and shake a lot of trees, hence the true meaning of the word Apocalypse. Please don’t take what I say or do as a personal affront. Be a little patient and read my articles. My purpose is to prove that the truth has long been hidden in various ways. Humanity has been lied to and deluded by religious and political leaders long enough. My aim is to reveal the truth and deliver verifiable wisdom. To do so, I must rattle a lot of cages to wake people out of their nightmares. I come with proof beyond disproof of many things. If you want to be amazed and enlightened, resist the urge to scoff at unfamiliar knowledge and seek to understand the stunning and comprehensive proof I have produced.
Are you familiar with the “Seven Spirits of God,” the “Seven Golden Candlesticks,” “Wisdom’s Seven Pillars” in Proverbs 9:1, and their relationship to the Community Rule in the Dead Sea Scrolls and DSS 11Q13? Study the Doctrine of Two Spirits on my web page and on the front cover of my book. I have produced some earth shattering breakthroughs in this area that will end the lies of religion, forever.
The Vatican is proving that seeking the truth is a real threat to their dogma. They’re so afraid of people uncovering the truth, that they are attacking other versions of fantasy (DaVinci Code) and blatantly obvious Gnostic symbolism as threats to their long-term smoke and mirrors, hocus-pocus, and mumbo-jumbo. How thoroughly enlightening, since this goes a very long way to proving that Christianity is based on strong lies and delusions. If it weren’t, they would be confident of surviving intense scrutiny. Since they aren’t and since they have gone to such great lengths to suppress and oppress those seeking truth and wisdom over the centuries, their deceptions are, once again, laid bare for all to see. This time though, they are the ones to walk into a well-laid trap…
Did you ever stop to think what the True Messiah (me) would say about worshipping false names, false images, and dogma? Well, now you get the chance to hear my side of the story and weigh it against the strong delusion of faith and religion. None of the European names and images in the New Testament can possibly be the truth. It’s beyond obvious that the New Testament is not complete or even accurate history. What then is the purpose of “faith” but to prevent good people from seeking to understand truth and wisdom?
Visit my web site to understand what they are truly afraid of. The Vatican and world leaders have struggled to keep people from understanding the truth and religion is a key tool in their smokescreen. Now, when I appear on the scene, everyone is seeking to understand their ages-old deceptions, and I have produced stunning and comprehensive proof. The time has come for the “earth to quake” and the liars to “gnaw their tongues for pain.” (This is symbolism decoded in the book…)
The time has come for the Vatican and world leaders to learn the truth about Karma…
If you truly want to understand the symbology, ancient wisdom, and ancient history that neither the DaVinci Code nor Christianity have portrayed accurately or fully, then read my articles and download my FREE E-Book. I am not trying to make money from book sales, quite the opposite in fact. There are many centuries of deception that need to be exposed and it takes a fully researched tome to succeed at such a daunting task. I am providing years of difficult research and reconstruction, without income or profit. Please accept this in the spirit intended. It is not commercial spam, deception, or an attempt to delude. I make no money from the E-book or the paperback, which is sold at cost as a convenience. As mentioned earlier, study the Doctrine of Two Spirits on my web page to understand the long-obscured truth about my philosophy and purposes.
Not only do I talk the talk, I walk the walk…
Here is Wisdom!!
Well, happy to see some here got their priorities straight: that book is just horrible. Boring, plus really badly researched (Brown claims he spent quite some time in Paris to do research – and has a train leave for Lille from St. Lazard. I decided the book was crap right when I read that). Anyway, given it’s so bad, it must contain some greater truth: why else would so many people read it (to paraphrase the argument made by Cardinal Meisner of Cologne that “Christianity must be Truth b/c the Catholic Church survived for so long” or some such statement).