And Where it Can’t, It Weeps

March 24, 2006 Posted by Amy HallcloseAuthor: Amy Hall Name: Amy Hall
Email: galatians611@aol.com
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I’ve been doing my apologist’s duty, reading The Da Vinci Code the last few days, and it’s saddened me to the point of tears.  Not because the history is laughable, not because of its insulting portrayal of Christians, but because of passages like this:

The quest for the Holy Grail is literally the quest to kneel before the bones of Mary Magdalene.  A journey to pray at the feet of the outcast one, the lost sacred feminine.

And this one:  Remember the temple prostitutes of the Old Testament?  According to TDC, the Church’s suppression of ritual sex (part of its attempt to gain power in its struggle for dominance over paganism) was disastrous for those who wanted to “become spiritually whole”:

Holy men who had once required sexual union with their female counterparts to commune with God now feared their natural sexual urges as the work of the devil….

I knew this book would be an attempt to discredit Jesus and Christianity, but I wasn’t expecting the glorification of goddess worship and rituals.  To me, this is a bigger concern than any of its historical fabrications.  The idea that impressionable young readers out there would be moved by the negative picture of Christianity and the positive portrayal of paganism to pray to a dead woman’s bones–or the “sacred feminine” in general–and reject the true, powerful, loving, beautiful, good God is a sadness beyond belief.

The characters of TDC decry the fact that “the pagans lost” the power struggle with the Church, but the pagans lost for a reason–this reason:  the pagans were drawn to the beauty and freedom of the reality of Christ’s forgiveness, love, and goodness; and they rejected their previous lives in service to chaotic, unpredictable gods, human sacrifices, and enslavement to endless rituals.  As I’m reading TDC, I can’t help but think of St. Patrick who worked tirelessly to rescue spiritually oppressed people from paganism, thereby earning their undying devotion and gratefulness for centuries.  How devastated he would be to see this book today falsely enticing his people and so many more into harm, away from the true God who loves them!

Our culture is now moving in the direction of paganism once again.  After a few days of immersing myself in the world of TDC, I was driving to work, grieving for those–including some of my own friends–who have embraced paganism in belief of the lie that the Christian God is evil and oppressive.  I see their lives–their emptiness and continual searching, and I can’t help but grieve to think that more will join them because of TDC.  As I was driving, I saw that the bumper of the car ahead of me displayed a fish symbol.  Because of the rarity of this in West L.A., I always get a little thrill of joy, comfort, and brotherhood when I see the fish.  This time, though, after that thrill, when a stoplight brought me up close, it gave me a sock in the stomach.  The word written boldly inside the fish was PAGAN.

John Piper’s words were ringing in my ears:  “The salt of the earth does not mock rotting meat. Where it can, it saves and seasons. And where it can’t, it weeps.”

Related posts:

1. The Core of The Da Vinci Code
2. Speaking of Paganism…
3. Truth in The Da Vinci Code: The Heroes’ View
4. Book Review: Cracking Da Vinci's Code
5. Is "Control" Our Worst Enemy? (EC BIOLA #3)
6. Book Review: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Posted in Amy's Posts, Apologetics, Culture, Main Page, The Da Vinci Code