Speaking of codes and ciphers....
The waves of the ocean stood still, a flock of birds froze in mid-flight, a group of trees which had till then possessed by the winds stood motionless, all of eternity seemed to stop for an instant.....YES!! I finally managed to do it...before you come to your own perverse conclusions....I finally managed to read Dan Brown's The Da Vinci code! And it by all means deserves all the acclaim and the accolades it has received worldwide...an absolutely riveting read.
The elements Dan Brown uses are time tested and fail proof-Handsome intelligent man, beautiful intelligent female,together in a crisis situation, wanted by the law, hunted by the bad guys- making a non-stop racy storyline till the climax. But what makes the Da Vinci code so remarkable is not the means employed to tell the story but in fact the story itself. A book that attempts to question the very cornerstones on which the faith of Christianity is based on; A book that provides convincing, seemingly concrete arguments and evidence on how the church undermined the divinity of the feminine and established male domination ; A book that makes you sit up and wonder 'Wow! Is this all true?'.
The beauty of fiction based on reality is that it makes the reader tread the uncertain space between what is real and what is made up. A good author makes you think how much of it is really true; A great author fills you with a want to find out the truth for yourself. Dan Brown definitely belongs to the latter category. The Da Vinci code is extremely well researched and the puzzles, ciphers and clues well thought up. Dan also makes references to the chief villain using an epithet, and employs circumstances and situations that distract you to assume his identity. I was gullible enough to reach a conclusion as to who he was, and was pleasantly surprised by the twist in the end.
The Da Vinci Code's tremendous success, considering the fact that a vast majority of the readers follow the very faith that the book questions is a heartening indicator of the open mindedness of Christians worldwide. If it had raised any doubts about the beliefs of Hinduism or Islam, it is not hard to imagine what the repercussions would have been. Given the bloodshed and violence that supposedly went into the establishment of Christianity, it seems to have created far more temperate believers than other religions. After all religion is not about what others believe in, it is about what you believe in. To finish off, the crux of the Da Vinci code is to spread realisation about the sanctity and divinity of the female. Forget all codes and ciphers...isn't She the greatest mystery of all time?
The elements Dan Brown uses are time tested and fail proof-Handsome intelligent man, beautiful intelligent female,together in a crisis situation, wanted by the law, hunted by the bad guys- making a non-stop racy storyline till the climax. But what makes the Da Vinci code so remarkable is not the means employed to tell the story but in fact the story itself. A book that attempts to question the very cornerstones on which the faith of Christianity is based on; A book that provides convincing, seemingly concrete arguments and evidence on how the church undermined the divinity of the feminine and established male domination ; A book that makes you sit up and wonder 'Wow! Is this all true?'.
The beauty of fiction based on reality is that it makes the reader tread the uncertain space between what is real and what is made up. A good author makes you think how much of it is really true; A great author fills you with a want to find out the truth for yourself. Dan Brown definitely belongs to the latter category. The Da Vinci code is extremely well researched and the puzzles, ciphers and clues well thought up. Dan also makes references to the chief villain using an epithet, and employs circumstances and situations that distract you to assume his identity. I was gullible enough to reach a conclusion as to who he was, and was pleasantly surprised by the twist in the end.
The Da Vinci Code's tremendous success, considering the fact that a vast majority of the readers follow the very faith that the book questions is a heartening indicator of the open mindedness of Christians worldwide. If it had raised any doubts about the beliefs of Hinduism or Islam, it is not hard to imagine what the repercussions would have been. Given the bloodshed and violence that supposedly went into the establishment of Christianity, it seems to have created far more temperate believers than other religions. After all religion is not about what others believe in, it is about what you believe in. To finish off, the crux of the Da Vinci code is to spread realisation about the sanctity and divinity of the female. Forget all codes and ciphers...isn't She the greatest mystery of all time?
posted by Dreamer at 12:23 PM
2 Comments:
While I share your appreciation of the subject,Dreamer, my opinion of the temperance of Christianity is not quite as high.
Right from the birth of Christ,the excommunication of heretics who proposed that the world was round, the war of the Roses, the crusades,the IRA & Sinn Fein right up to Srebrenica, Christains havent been quiet.
A conspiracy theory like this has regularly cast the church into a tailspin every second century since the birth of Christ amd hence its become a matter of routine and peace, if at all.
Hinduism on the other hand, being an ancient religion,has seen its share of blood-shed much earlier, during the course of which its been accomodative of many such theories brought to light, in all fairness.
In recent history,the only hysterical outcry within the community of hindus took place during the Babri Masjid massacre and ofcourse the more recent Shankar Raman murder case(implicating the Kanchi seer).
Further, the outcry has not been about the basic premises of the religion, its has to do with power play.So I categorise them to be political outcries!
In conclusion, Hinduism has given rise to many an offspring,being a generous, accomodative "Way of life" and shouldnot be categorised with other younger and hence more fanatical 'religions'.
En Garde!
Hey Mucastic,
A very interesting line of thought...but a few clarifications are in order...firstly almost all religious outcries have some form of political motivation, it is politics that vilifies religion and not vice verca as it is made out to be.
My point about the temperance of christianity was made purely based on the reaction to such a controversial book. I am sure that Hindus or Muslims would not have been so receptive to a book that questioned the foundations of their faith.
As far as the greater tolerance of christianity is concerned, I still maintain that. You made a point about how the church has been antagonistic towards people who have made "heretic" claims. But is there evidence of the common man who practices christianity having such strong feelings against people questioning his religion. The very fact that there are no christian equivalents of fanatically religious organisations like the Shiv Sena or the Al Qaeda,is a good enough indication of its temperance.
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