Every day I drive to work North on K-7 Highway through Olathe and I pass a sign that is essentially an advertisement for a church that is titled “The Da Vinci Debacle” and encourages those who are curious to inquire within the church for more information.

Living in the Bible Belt of America, these types of signs are extremely common around town. Everyone seems to be in such an uproar about the movie (which opens on Friday). What’s interesting about the controversy is that there was not nearly as much surrounding the release of the book. It wasn’t until the book began to claim notoriety before the rebuttal books came. Now, churches are instructing their parishoners on how to refute the claims made in the book and now the movie.

What I find most interesting about this is that people seem to completely ignore that not only the movie, but also the book are FICTION. Sure, some of the information presented in the book is based on fact, but the truth is that you would not be able to find The Da Vinci Code listed under non-fiction titles. So keeping that in mind, I don’t really see what all the fuss is about. The major plot point of the book is based on another book (the one I am currently reading – Holy Blood, Holy Grail), which really is nothing more than supposition and assumption.

People are really getting upset about this, saying that it is attacking their faith and spreading falsehood about the divinity of Jesus. What is fascinating to me is that people are so insecure in their faith that they have to attack a work of fiction and a HOLLYWOOD MOVIE to feel more secure.

SPOILER ALERT! If you have not read the book, you might not want to read further. Click the more button to read on.
Let’s assume for a second even that there is some amount of truth to the claims that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and that they had a child…does that make Him any less divine? In my own spiritual journey, it doesn’t really affect me that much. It actually improves upon my belief because it makes Christ that much more human. Jesus experienced romantic love…that doesn’t make his teachings any less important to me.

Ultimately, The Da Vinci Code is a fascinating tale of intrigue and it creatively works in POSSIBLE controversial historical events and artwork to make the story sexier. I wish everyone would just relax and enjoy.