Monday, March 27, 2006

The DVC in the State

Mystery for the Masses: 'The Da Vinci Code' comes out in paperback.

What a friggin' depressing story. This is the kicker:
“That book is responsible for getting people to think about what happened to the role of women in the Catholic Church,” he says.

A USC political science and international studies professor, Rosati adds, “It blew me away — and I consider myself relatively well educated — because it was so against the conventions of the church.

Um. Do what? "What happened to the role of women in the Catholic Church?" So, being so, relatively well educated, you just buy into the absurd claims of a mystery novel? And what pray are the "conventions" of the church? This is a poli-sci prof? They did do their own research ...
He and a friend conducted their own research to “check up” on Brown’s esoterica; that included Rosati’s reading up on Leonardo DaVinci.
What they found is not mentioned in the article though.

Then there's this:

“I just took it as a novel,” she says, “but I also sort of believed some of that stuff all along. I think it’s quite likely Jesus had a family.
Uh. Yeah. He did. A mother. A foster father. And cousins (the "brothers and sisters" the New Testament mentions). And anyone who did the will of his Father (the one in heaven). Oh, you mean he was married? And just why is it "quite likely" that he was? Cause you want it to be that way? Well, I want the Germans to have won the War. So, hey, who cares. It's all fiction anyway, right?

Amy Welborn's upcoming talk is mentioned. She's the "debunker" though. And that, right there, pegs her as the maverick, the wide-eyed zealot who's challenging established truth. Which is, of course, the exact opposite of what's really the case.

Or maybe not. Maybe the DVC's phenomenal success just shows that we really don't give a frac (thanks BSG!) about things like history. And truth. And just want to cocoon ourselves with silly fairy tales that makes us feel alright.

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