And fact is only what you believe. And fact and fiction work as a team. It's almost always fiction in the end.

Man, my titles are always long. That's because I keep finding great lyrics. This one comes from Jack Johnson's song It's All Understood. I don't remember if I've quoted him before or not, but I'm sure this won't be the last time even if it's the first. If you're looking for mellow singable beach bum music Jack is the one for you.

I was driving here (IPFW campus) to blog about something trivial when another something trivial took over my thoughts and found its way here. I was listening to Chuck Swindoll give a sermon (that I thought was not one of his better ones) when it abruptly ended and a guy started talking about the free gift you could recieve if you sent in some money to the ministry, which is a whole different blog. The book he wanted to send me, or whomever donated money, was Breaking The Davinci Code. And then he editorialized a bit about how this book would expose the untruths in The Da Vinci Code about Christ and the Church.

Being the innovative thinker I am I tried to come up with some way we could distinguish works of say theology from literature, or pop writing from religious writing, in fact a way to distinguish a book written as a historical literally true piece of documentation and one written as a story with made up not literally true tales. I could even envision a whole section in the bookstore devoted to these two distinctions and many others within them.

If only mankind were smart enough to devise such a way to distinguish these differences...

And what to call it?

Hmmm...

Oh I got it!

FICTION AND NONFICTION

What is the Religious Right's problem? Or whoever the hell can't understand that this book is not offered as a historical study but an entertaining thriller that just happens to delve into Christian myth. It boggles my mind that I know people who won't read The Da Vinci Code becuase of its false teachings. Did they not read Dr. Seuss because Cats cannot talk and Horton hears no Whos, and there are no loraxes. Did they never own a copy of Charlotte's Web? Animal Farm? Ever watch a Disney movie? How is Mickey a Mouse, with a best friend who is a dog (Goofy) and a pet dog at home (Pluto)? How is a five year old supposed to figure that all out?

Oh, but its just fantasy, just use your imagination you say. It's for fun. Yes, I KNOW!

Once a lady in my church got mad because we showed one of the Harry Potter movies. She said it was about witches and its author J.K. Rowling spent time with witches to learn about them. I asked her if her kids ever watched The Wizard of Oz and she promptly shut up.

Since when are kids not smart enought to know what is make believe and what is real? Since when didn't we want them to use their imagination and dream a little? Since when did the Devil use children's movies to hook little kids? Although I do find Elmo and Barney paricularly evil-thought provoking. Ever watch a movie with a kid. They know who the good guys are and they root for them. That is a fine practice.

And it isn't a sidetrack. The way some Christians approach grown up books and movies is the same. They treat their fellow man like impressionable five year olds. Does the Religious Right not think I'm smart enough to know what is real and what is fake? Do they think my faith is so weak that one inference that Jesus may have had a lady will destroy my belief system? Do they honestly think it never occured to me without Dan Brown's help?

I think the answer to at least two of those questions is yes, and I think that is sad.

I thought The Da Vinci Code was a good book. Not life changing. Not mind altering. Not even all that impressive, just solid storytelling with interesting characters and and enthralling plot. I am looking forward to the movie, out in May. It stars two of my favorite actors, Tom Hanks and Ian McKellan and I'll see it opening weekend. Will it change how I feel about Jesus? No. Neither did The Passion of The Christ, ofcourse that book did. You'll notice it's across the bookstore from the Fiction section, where The Da Vinci Code, Cahrlotte's Web, and The Wizard of Oz are placed.

Click the title above to see the trailer for The Da Vinci Code movie.

And read whatever opens your mind up to all the possibilities in God's creation.

Becuase trust me, God can handle the questions. And your faith isn't fully formed until it's been fully stretched.

Now, for a five dollar donation I'll send you this blog printed in caligraphy font, framed and matted, on glossy paper.