[Goanet] The Da Vinci Code= - Some thoughts

[Basilio G Monteiro]

The Da Vinci Code – some thoughts   Every now and then there comes a fortuitous opportunity to engage in a public discourse which can be illuminative, informative and simply educative. Unfortunately, we squander these opportunities because we are fearful that prevailing order, both social and personal, may be disrupted, or perhaps we may be closely tied to social or religious institutions, and thus respond as typical “company people.”   Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code provides a once in a lifetime grand opportunity to engage, from a Christian perspective, in an “evangelizing moment.” Almost 70 million across the globe read the book. That means 70 million plus people are talking about Jesus. Jesus as a historical figure has fulminated people’s imagination and passion for over two millennia. Whether we like it or not Jesus remains the central figure of human history, thus the fascination with this mysterious, and for some may be mythical, figure is understandable.   Dan Brown (I read it about three years ago) is in some ways a gripping novel, and it has captured people’s imagination. The genre of novel has a capacity to insidiously challenge the prevailing mindset and assumptions. Dan Brown has succeeded in doing that. When existing order, religious or otherwise, may be seen as threatened, the adherents of this order, understandably, go into a defensive mode.   Banning a product worked well in medieval ages; boycotting products/people worked well during the days of Charles Boycott in 1880s. Today banning and boycotting is obsolete and counterproductive. A call for ban or boycott, particularly an article with religious connotation, is a failure to recognize that people have moved on from the medieval thinking. Today’s times call for engagement, civil and respectful public conversations on difficult and uncomfortable topics. Dan Brown’s novel is such a occasion.   Jesus, Gospel and the Church The Jesus of the Gospel continues to challenge, intrigue and fascinate today’s people as it did consistently for the two millennia. The Gospel and the person of Jesus continue to inspire those who formally follow Jesus, and intrigue those who are not Christians. The Gospel of Jesus and the Church are seen, and have been seen, in tension with each other. It is a good thing that this healthy tension between the Gospel of Jesus and the doctrine of the Church is alive and vibrant. Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code steps right into this tension; some want to ferociously condemn this “intruder” and others want to engage this interloper as a genuine opportunity to talk about the person at the heart of the human history. Jesus is not the monopoly of any institution, Catholic or otherwise; He belongs to all, at least as a historical figure, and thus every human being may investigate this mysterious, mystical, and perhaps mythical, person, who affects human history.   The doctrine of the Church is a product of the ongoing tension between lex orandi and lex credendi (between the heart/prayer and belief); and, of course, the prevailing power which becomes the arbiter of the final order has its own determination.   The Church’s call to ban/boycott The Da Vinci Code is counterproductive for very simple reasons: 1- it demonstrates weakness in the position of the Church (which it should not, and it is not necessary). 2- ban/boycott invites psychological curiosity, and thus serves to fuel the market, 3- today’s communication technologies are beyond institutional control.   Jesus and the Church have been under perennial attack for the last two millennia; some of those attacks have been systematic, brutal and atrocious. The interesting part is that despite of all this one and half sixth of the world population recognizes Jesus as the center of its life;  annually, in the USA alone, 15 to 20 thousand adults join the Catholic Church. If not the Church, the message of Jesus fascinates and attracts many. Instead of asking and fighting for the banning of The Da Vinci Code, Christians/Catholics ought to find this occasion to engage, those interested, in a faith filled conversation, rather than of condemnation and scorn.   It is interesting to note that Jesus and his Gospel remain unassailable in the face of perennial assaults; Jesus does not need knee-jerk protection. He and his message are capable to withstand on their own merits. The Church needs to reform itself on ongoing basis (ecclesia semper reformanda); it is just an organizational and institutional necessity.     Basilio Monteiro

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