exercising my literacy

The Emperor's New Book.

I just finished reading the Da Vinci Code. I've been meaning to read it for a while now, simply because of the number of people coming up and asking me about what I thought about it all, especially with regards to the claims it makes about the "truth" behind Christianity.

Sorry, this isn't going to be a post about all the flaws that are in the book. If you really want to know what is true and what is false, go and read one of the many books that have been written in response to the book.

My suspicion though, is that you won't be bothered to.

And that's what I really want to post about.

As I read through the book, I have to tell you, I got sucked into believing the stuff that was in there. At one point I actually stopped and thought, hey wait a minute! I have to give Dan Brown full credit for his cunning technique in swirling fact with fiction, narrated with such authority that discriminating between the two becomes almost impossible. We as readers are crippled by unfamiliarity of the subjects discussed (Opus Dei, the Crusades, Da Vinci, Roman Empire history), such that we sheepishly accept what is being told as plausible, and eventually, as fact.

After reading the book, it began to occur to me what was really happening. I believe Dan Brown is almost mocking society as a whole -- some of the things he mentions in the book are not even close to being true -- but he boldly tells these fibs anyway because he knows most people out there would not know any better. It's as though he makes up deliriously untrue statements to see just how much he can get away with, to demonstrate just how ignorant society is about art, architecture, history and religion. I can just imagine him cacking himself silly when interviewers actually ask him if what he's written in the book is factual and historical.

And you know what, he's absolutely right.

From reading the book, and observing the reactions of people who have read it, I can see how easily society can be manipulated to believe whatever we want them to believe. In exploiting people's ignorance, we are devoid of any weapons of discrimination to discern what is true and what is not. And, in a manner dangerously reminiscent of the children's tale, "The Emperor's New Clothes", we end up believing something that is absurdly untrue.

That this can occur in a supposed "educated era", and that a mere book can stir such controversy in so many religious arenas only reiterates the power derivable from ignorance.

But despite all that I've said, I know ignorance will prevail. Why? Because our attention spans last little longer than that of a goldfish -- we get bored and move on. And more significantly, we don't give a crap because we can't see how it is relevant to us. If I can't see how it will affect me and my life, then obviously it's not important enough to know about.

I don't really know what the solution is. It is impossible to know everything about everything; and there are certainly other things we have to tend to other than an endless endeavour of past history. But at the same time, it scares me how easily we can be conned to believing a pack of lies. This book certainly showed a huge blind spot in society.

But may I say one last thing: Jesus is more relevant to your life than you will ever know. Present tense. Be bothered to find Him out...

posted by me. @ 5:22 PM