The Duh Veenchi Kode

OK, OK
I have been quiet on the Da Vinci thing for a reason……..it is fiction, enough said? I guess not.

Not too long ago I get this phone call from a reporter asking me. “As a pastor what are you going to do with this whole Da Vinci Code in your church? Are you going to use it as a tool for outreach/evangelism?” “What?” I asked. He replies, “The book, the movie…” I responded, “IT IS FICTION!” Enough said. I think he was truly disappointed with the fact that we were not jumping on the Da Vinci bandwagon and thus I made for another lousy story.

All the branding and marketing reminds me of the Purpose Driven or the Passion, and I wonder what really drives the western church? Anyway, I have other thoughts right now that I will keep to myself. It is my blog and I am entitled to that!

Back to Duh Vinchi. For those who need an answer:
There are a number of Christian authors who have released books critiquing The Da Vinci Code. They include:
Lee Strobel, Exploring the Da Vinci Code (co-authored with Gary Poole)
Josh McDowell, The Da Vinci Code: A Quest for Answers
Darrell Bock, Breaking the Da Vinci Code
James Garlow and Peter Jones, Cracking Da Vinci’s Code

Even Sony Pictures found a way to walk the public relations tightrope between not refuting any of Brown’s story and not alienating Christians. They have launched a website (www.thedavincichallenge.com) that allows critics of the book and film to speak freely about their concerns and attempt to correct what they believe are inaccuracies in both. In one sense, I see Sony’s website seems like a meager offering to appease offended Christians who are annoyed by the film with the hope that they will not likely go as nuts as some Muslims recently did over a cartoon. (OH RELAX, I KNOW THE HISTORY)

The Christian establishment worked itself into a frenzy over the book and now the movie. Both the book and the movie are a mess. Sermons have been preached about it and ministries have put out treatises debunking it. All of which is fine - if things are bad, get the alarm bells ringing. But when the movie came out…it came out with a resounding thud. Here was a typical review: “ The Da Vinci Code is a terrible movie. It’s a movie that’s too stupid to appreciate it’s own stupid origins, and so it takes itself completely seriously.” Four out of five reviewers thought it was a bad movie. Just thought you should know: the sky isn’t falling. Everybody can go back to watching all the other nonheretical Hollywood movies in the theatres.

BTW check out Jamie’s review at http://emergentvoyageurs.blog.com/