Da Vinci Code - It's only a movie

Why are the Christians panicking about The Da Vinci Code? There have been non-fictional responses written to the book, to remind the faithful that the book is only fiction. Never mind that the book claims to be only fiction, and that it appears in the FICTION section of bookstores. American readers need reminding.

Why?

I can only speculate.

Perhaps it is because American audiences of books and movies have become so accustomed to consuming information through the entertainment medium, they can no longer distinguish fact and fiction. We have witnessed the news channels adopt more and more of the trappings of entertainment TV, in order to attract audiences. Perhaps this is the source of the blur between fact and fiction in the American mind.

Perhaps it is because our government plays so loose and free with "facts", and then uses staged events and photo opportunities to support their libertine use of misinformation, that the American audiences have come to trust (or distrust) anything that appears in print, TV or the movie screen.

Perhaps it is a sign of the end of Christianity. When a religion that claims to sustain a single truth for 2000 must reply to a silly little movie that sports the latest French tart with the All-American Hero running around Europe in an effort to sublimate their sexual desires, that is certainly the sign that the faithful have lost faith. As I innocently read The Da Vinci Code, I could only remember thinking, why didn't Dan Brown get our hero and heroine together at the end. They are the perfect couple. Where is the kiss? But the Christian audiences, whose faith is obviously gone, were still pondering the TRUTH of the tale, which never claimed to be true.

On the bright side, perhaps it is because literature still has a place in the making and shaping of our culture. Pity that it took this rather flimsy thriller to capture the cultural spirit, but lovers of literature should not balk at the form. If the American mind is captured by The Da Vinci Code instead of Daniel Dennett's DARWIN'S DANGEROUS IDEA (a fabulous book that truly challenges the Christian faith and claims to be true), we lovers of literature should just nod our heads and say, "Glad you liked the book enough to read another one."