Re: Don't do us any favors

[from the SKEPTIC list]

> >>There's a story on the Today show about the
> >>issue we've been discussing, the historical
> >>accuracy of the DaVinci Code. One "historical
> >>scholar" asserted the absolute, literal historical
> >>authority of the New Testament, and the other
> >>commentators (one was a Catholic priest) were
> >>basically trying to undercut the historicity of
> >>the DaVinci code on the basis of Scriptural authority.
> >
> >So let me get this straight.  The Da Vinci Code says the bible
> >account is false.  These folks got together on TV to rebutt it
> >by citing the bible account?
>
>  That's about it.
>
>  Except, of course, the Da Vinci Code is fiction -- and admits it -- so
> it's actually saying "what if this is true?", not "this is true".

No, Brown goes farther than that--the book begins:

   FACT:

   The Priory of Sion--a European secret society founded in 1099--is a
   real organization.  In 1975, Paris's Bibliotheque Nationale discovered
   parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets, identifying numerous
   members of the Priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli,
   Victor Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci.

   The Vatican prelature known as Opus Dei is a deeply devout Catholic
   group that has been the topic of recent controversy due to reports of
   brain-washing, coercion, and a practice known as "corporal mortification."
   Opus Dei has just completed construction of a $47 million National
   Headquarters at 243 Lexington Avenue in New York City.

   All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals
   in this novel are accurate.

What Brown doesn't tell you is that the Priory of Sion was not founded
in 1099, was a hoax by Pierre Plantard, and the 1975 documents were
planted in the Bibliotheque Nationale by Plantard (similar to the
MJ-12 documents being planted in the National Archives).

It would be interesting if Brown-style reform Christianity caught
on--it wouldn't be much different from other religions founded on
falsehoods (which is all of them, I think).

--
Jim Lippard        lippard-skeptic@xxxxxxxxxxx       http://www.discord.org/
GPG Key ID: 0xF8D42CFE