"Vaccine Against Ignorance"

Ana Rodriguez-Soto of the Catholic News Service has written a very interesting article regarding a session of the National Conference for Community and Justice which focused on The Da Vinci Code. Thomas Ryan, chairman of the religious studies department at St. Thomas University in Miami, told a group of Protestant, Catholic and Jewish leaders that Brown's book "is a novel that holds a mirror up to us—to silly academics and people who misuse facts."

I think he has a point.

MORE HERE
Catholic Online, 27.03.06

Paperback Out Today

Check out Kathy Bledsoe's review at Hollywood Jesus.

MORE HERE
Hollywood Jesus, 28.03.06

Free Publicity for Baigent

Quite an interesting development... But not a surprise.

In addition to the paperback release of The Da Vinci Code, March 28 also marks the release of Michael Baigent's latest book, The Jesus Papers: Exposing the Greatest Cover-Up in History (HarperSanFrancisco). Uh, and I doubt anyone will notice he's just been party to one of the highest-profile copyright infringement cases in history, suing Dan Brown's publisher in a British court, right?

USA Today reports:

"I don't think there's any such thing as a coincidence in publishing anymore," says Russell Perreault of Anchor, publisher of the Da Vinci paperback.

But Baigent, by phone from London, says it "absolutely" was not planned. "There have been a lot of coincidences this year, at least I assume they are coincidences," he says. "It's funny, with just being on trial, and now we're head-to-head with books. ... I'm not a publicity person ... But the fact they are coming out the same day is probably a good thing. Suddenly there are two aspects going on. Dan Brown is raising issues and I'm exploring them."

Even if you lose, you win.

MORE HERE
USA Today, 27.03.06

Court Case Arguments Conclude

Yesterday brought the in-court proceedings to a close. The judge in the copyright infringement case against Da Vinci Code publisher Random House will now retire for several weeks to consider the evidence.

From the prosecuting attorney's closing statements, delivered on Monday:

[Dan Brown's] evidence should be approached with deep suspicion. He had almost no recollection of matters that related to issues of timing. He would struggle to recall a year, was rarely able to recall a month. His general attitude in cross-examination was unco-operative. ... The evidence of Blythe Brown was of fundamental importance to this case. It was crucial in revealing the dependency on The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail and the extent to which she relied upon it. Perhaps that explains why she was not produced [as a witness]. ... This is unsatisfactory. [Dan Brown] has always known her role in the creation of The Da Vinci Code.

From the judge:

If [Dan Brown]'s trying to hide the fact that he's using 'H.B.H.G.' in the synopsis, what's the point of shouting it out from the rooftops in the book?

MORE HERE and HERE
Ireland Online and New York Times, 20.03.06

Code Producer Calls Controversy a Blessing

On a recent Today Show segment, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard's longtime producing partner, called the ongoing controversy over Dan Brown's book a blessing. An NBC-TV affiliate reports that Grazer sees debate about religion and its role in society as a good thing.

MORE HERE
KXAN.com, 21.03.06

Assigned Reading for Engineering?

Here's a bizarre twist. The Electrical Engineering department at a South African university has made The Da Vinci Code assigned reading for its students. The rationale? Engineering students need critical thinking skills.

Now, I really do think that very issue is at the heart of Dan Brown's project. But really—how about just having a professor demonstrate critical thinking skills in class? When I was an engineering student, I would have been insulted by such an assignment; and I was also a literature major, too!

MORE HERE
VuvzelaOnline, 20.03.06

Misogyny in the Church?

Over at the Da Vinci Dialogue, a new essay deals with the issue of women's roles in Christianity. In "Is Christianity Anti-Women?" Beverly Roberts Gaventa, Professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis at Princeton Theological Seminary, presents an excellent summary of the ways in which Christian Scripture prominently (and positively) presents women. Though she doesn't really deal with Dan Brown's book in her essay, she concludes:

Conspiracy theorists will respond, I suppose, that these glimpses of women leaders in the earliest communities fade quickly from view as the decades and centuries pass. Yet these writings early on become part of the church’s canon, which recognizes the presence of these women and their work as authoritative. And the writings become part of the canon because of their constant use in the churches–a bubbling up from pew and pulpit, not because of a decree from
Constantine.

Is the church’s treatment of women what we might like? Certainly not. The same could readily be said of most of human history. But Christianity doesn’t require Dan Brown’s imagination to find
strong roles for women among its leaders.

MORE HERE
The Da Vinci Dialogue, 20.03.06

Rare Brown Appearance April 23

The Portsmouth, NH, Music Hall has scored a real coup in securing the public speaking services of author Dan Brown on April 23. It's the only scheduled public appearance by Brown between now and the opening of the movie. If you're in the area, you might want to attend.

MORE HERE
Music Hall, 16.03.06

No-Spin Zone in Rome

John Thavis, over at Catholic Online, has written a terrific story covering a conference in Rome regarding The Da Vinci Code and theories regarding Mary Magdelene. Not only does the conference sound sober and well-thought out, Thavis' article is as well. Here's a snip:

The panelists differed about whether it should matter to Christians whether Christ was married or not. Some said they would have no problem with such a marriage, but the Gospels make no mention of it.

That prompted an objection from a young priest in the audience, who said he would not have made a promise of priestly celibacy unless he believed he was imitating Christ.

Rigato downplayed the impact of "The Da Vinci Code," saying it was "third-rate literature" compared to earlier treatments of similar subjects, like "The Last Temptation of Christ" by Nikos Kazantzakis.

MORE HERE
Catholic Online, 19.03.06

Origin of the Synoptics

The best essay to date from the Da Vinci Dialogue went up a couple of days ago. "Why Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — and Not the Gnostic Gospels?" is written by Bryan Litfin, Assistant Professor of Theology at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. The essay addresses Da Vinci Code villain Leigh Teabing's claims that Constantine plucked the synoptic gospels out of thin air at Nicea. Litfin does a nice job of presenting the actual history of that development (doing us a big favor, because Teabing never does—naturally: he's the villain.) Litfin concludes:

After Leigh Teabing offers his theories on early Christianity, Sophie says to him, “I assume devout Christians send you hate mail on a daily basis?”

“Why would they?” Teabing countered. “The vast majority of educated Christians know the history of their faith.”

Teabing implies all “educated” people buy into his scenario. But as we have seen, it just doesn’t match historical reality. The Da Vinci Code is correct when it says educated people should understand the history of Christianity. Yet it does a poor job of representing the facts.

MORE HERE
The Da Vinci Dialogue, 16.03.06

TV Spot Now Online

The official movie site from Columbia Pictures has an online version of the new TV promotional spot available.

MORE HERE
Columbia, 18.03.06

Paperback Release is HUGE

"On March 28, Random House will be placing 5 million soft-cover copies of Dan Brown’s conspiracy-minded religious thriller in an array of outlets well beyond your neighborhood bookstore, including drugstores, supermarkets, gas station convenience stores, airport shops, truck stops and fast-food chains. It’s by far the largest-ever first printing for an adult soft-cover title—by comparison, the hugely successful “Harry Potter” paperback editions have had first printings in the neighborhood of 2 million."

Look f0r a review of the paperback edition on March 28.

MORE HERE
The Journal Gazette, 15.03.06

Closing Court Statement

"Making his closing submissions today, John Baldwin QC, for Random House, said it was a 'travesty' to suggest that Mr Brown had copied the central theme of HBHG and told the judge: 'The claimants’ case is now in tatters.'"

The judge in the case will reach his decision in about two weeks. Stay tuned.

MORE HERE
Ireland Oline, 17.03.06

More Court Chatter

Reserved seating has come to the British courts. This trial is that popular.

Here's a roundup of the best tidbits from the last two days:

• Patrick Janson-Smith, formerly publisher both to Brown and litigants Baigent & Leigh, said in a prepared witness statement, "I didn't think Baigent and Leigh had a leg to stand on and that they were in danger of making fools of themselves... I thought the legal case was all a storm in a teacup. ... They were most especially concerned that a film of The Da Vinci Code would jeopardise the chances of a film of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail ever being made." (Mike Collett-White, Reuters)
• "I'm not crazy about the word 'copied,'" said Brown in his own testimony. "Copying implies it is identical. It's not identical. ... "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" was "one of the books in the mix" when he and his wife, Blythe Brown, were researching the novel. He acknowledged "reworking" passages from the earlier book. "That's how you incorporate research into a novel," Brown said. (Jill Lawless, AP)
• More from Janson-Smith's witness statement: "I saw the bloodlines of Christ and the obvious jokes of using character names like Saunière and Sir Leigh Teabing. My first thought was that this was an homage to the authors of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. I assumed that because of the Sir Leigh Teabing character it was likely that Mr Brown had at some point been in correspondence with the authors or, if not, that it was simply his nod of respect to them. I never thought to raise any concerns about plagiarism. In my experience it is very rare to need to seek legal advice after reading a book. While I saw similarities between The Da Vinci Code and The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail I never thought there was a copying issue to deal with. Why would I?” (The Book Standard)

Various Sources, 14.03.06-15.03.06

Dan Brown's Testimony

Wow. What a bunch of stuff. Here goes:

• The Times Online (UK) is running a complete transcript of Dan Brown's witness statement (written document submitted to the court). They are also running an excellent summary of Brown's witness statement, if you want just the best details—like the fact that Brown hasn't even fully read Holy Blood, Holy Grail.

• ABC News has decent coverage of Brown's in-court testimony, including: "Holy Blood, Holy Grail was not around when I wrote the synopsis," said Brown, adding it would have been in his interest to add the work to his [synopsis] bibliography in order to impress his publisher.

• Meanwhile, Slate is running an excellent analysis of the legal issues in the case. It's written by a Columbia Law School professor, Tim Wu, who observes (among a great many other things): The irony of the lawsuit is hard to overstate. The central premise of Holy Blood is that powerful forces have been keeping "the truth" buried for centuries. Along comes The Da Vinci Code to shout that truth to millions, and Holy Blood's authors' first instinct is to threaten the messenger.

Various Sources, 13.03.06-14.02.06

Da Vinci and The Last Supper

Over at the Da Vinci Dialogue, Christian art historian Lisa DeBoer offers and interesting analysis of Da Vinci's painting of the last supper. This is probably the best essay posted yet at the site. Here's a snip.

If there is a code central to Leonardo’s Last Supper it would be numerological. Leonardo has arranged the apostles in his painting into four groups of three. There are also three windows in the back wall. Three (the number of the divine) and four (the number of the earth) are theologically symbolic numbers that add and multiply into two other theologically symbolic numbers: seven (days of the week, gifts of the spirit, joys and sorrows of the Virgin) and twelve (tribes of Israel, number of disciples, months of the year). Such a painting with its ideal perspective, its symbolic composition, and its emotional resonance would have afforded its audience, the monks of Santa Maria della Grazia, many opportunities for devotional contemplation.

MORE HERE
Da Vinci Dialogue, 10.03.06

Call for Disclaimer

From this week's batch of press releases comes this interesting tidbit:

Da Vinci Outreach, a national initiative to expose the anti-Catholic lies in the upcoming movie The Da Vinci Code, is joining the request made by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights for director Ron Howard to clearly state that his film is a work of fiction.

This week, the Catholic League ran an ad in the New York Times calling on Ron Howard to have the decency to do what Dan Brown, author of the novel, did not do: declare up front and in no uncertain terms that the movie is fiction.

...

What Davinci Outreach and the Catholic League are requesting of Ron Howard is merely a customary statement such as this: "This is a work of fiction. All information is the creation of the author's imagination. All persons, alive or dead, or events portrayed or depicted in this story are fictional and any resemblance to real people, organizations or incidents is purely coincidental."

While Outreach and the Catholic League certainly have their facts right about history and so forth, they apparently don't see many movies. Works of cinematic fiction always include such language in their closing credits.

The New York Times ad points to a Canadian survey indicating that a third of the Code's readers consider it authentic. Wow. That's truly astounding. It certainly confirms that our culture has a real problem with artistic literacy.

But is that Dan Brown's fault? Is it Ron Howard's? The Da Vinci Code is not the problem; it's simply the most visible symptom. Here's hoping that we don't get too hung up on the individual trees in this very dark and troubling cultural forest.

MORE HERE
Christian Newswire, 09.03.06

I Like This Judge

He can read.

For me, this week's big news in the UK Copyright Case over The Da Vinci Code was the following exchange, documented in a Retuers report by Mike Collett-White:

"If Mr. Brown had acknowledged Holy Blood, Holy Grail at the opening of his book ... I question whether in fact we would be here," [litigant Richard] Leigh told a packed courtroom.

After Leigh's cross-examination ended surprisingly quickly, Judge Peter Smith closed the second week of the case by pointing out that a character in The Da Vinci Code actually refers to the 1982 book.

The name of the character, Sir Leigh Teabing, is in fact an anagram of the names of the two claimants.

"In the first place it damns us with faint praise," said Leigh, adding he found Teabing's reference to the book "patronising."

Smith countered that an explanation for this may be that Teabing was a patronising character in the book.

The Irish Independent also reported that the judge pointed out to Michael Baigent that the date Dan Brown cites for the formation of the Priory of Sion is not only historically impossible, but differs from the date given in Baigent and Leigh's own book. "Well," said Smith, "he certainly didn't get [the date] from you."

Ah, but are any of us really as interested and erudite as Judge Smith? Are we really concerned with what the book actually says, or just our impression of the book?

In other reports of this week's courtroom antics, Random House barrister John Baldwin further badgered Baigent into admitting that he and Leigh "over-egged" their claims (in Baigent's own words), calling into question "the credibility of [Baigent] and the matters that he relies upon" (in Baldwin's words).

Baldwin further pointed out to Leigh and the court that "there was also no mention in The Da Vinci Code of the 'mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau,'" according to the BBC. Baldwin, of course, refers to the highly speculative occultist and gnostic theories attached to the mysterious doings of Bernard Sauniere in the latter part of the nineteenth century—the very basis of Baigent and Leigh's thesis, of which the fictional Robert Langdon and Leigh Teabing had certainly heard, since Baigent and Leigh's book is the cornerstone of Teabing's personal Grail library.

Curiously, Leigh said in his own defense, "If some phrases [in Holy Blood, Holy Grail] are not mine, it is something I liked sufficiently to hijack it." He then bristled at Baldwin's suggestion that he was deliberately lying to the court.

Hmmm... What's bad for the goose is just fine for the gander?

MORE HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE
Various Sources, 09.03.06-10.03.06

Jesus Decoded

Tomorrow, according to ZENIT, "the Catholic Communication Campaign will launch a Web site, www.jesusdecoded.com, to provide accurate information on Jesus, Catholic teaching, and various topics explored in the Dan Brown novel. The Web site will explain Catholic beliefs and include articles from theologians, media commentators, art experts and others that provide background and also rebut the speculation and inaccuracies about Christ and the origins of Christianity. Contributing to the Web site is the Prelature of Opus Dei."

We applaud the apparent straightforward approach of the Catholic Communication Campaign, and the absence of incendiary rhetoric in their press release. I look forward to reviewing the site when it goes live.

MORE HERE
Zenit.org, 08.03.06

Ted Baehr Weighs In

Okay, fasten your seat belts. Ted Baehr, Mr. Movieguide, has decoded the Da Vinci brouhaha and has revealed who the true villains are. Here's a snip:

Just a few short years ago, Christian leaders were willing to condemn such blasphemy. Now, some Christian leaders, including those involved in the arts, have decided to join Judas and Neville Chamberlain in calling for people to go see a movie that is just as blasphemous as "The Last Temptation Of Christ." ... Both "The Last Temptation Of Christ" and "The Da Vinci Code" are bad news because they deny the truth that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that no one may perish but all may have eternal life through Jesus. Anyone with any sense and sensibility knows this fact.

Wow. Judas. Neville Chamberlain. Can't get much worse than that.

For the record: In The Last Temptation of Christ, a very divine Jesus, the son of God, rejects the temptation to marry Magdelene; he dies on the cross and fulfills his salvific mission. Apparently, Mr. Baehr didn't see the whole movie. IT WAS A TEMPTATION, not reality. I mean really: the title of the film gives it away.

Also for the record: Characters in The Da Vinci Code do indeed make claims that cast doubts on biblical accounts. But these characters are largely discredited, their alternate claims are shown to be hollow and pointless, and the principal naysayer turns out to be the story's villain. And once again, all of these claims are part of what is almost certainly A DREAM SEQUENCE.

Sense and sensibility, indeed.

MORE HERE
WorldNetDaily, 01.03.06

Copyright Blotter

The big bombshell this week is that the barrister for Random House made Michael Baigent's claims against Dan Brown's book appear inflated and overstated. News sources around the world got enough sound bites on Tuesday to convey the impression that Baigent deliberately falsified court documents. Wow. Wouldn't that be a surprise. But I really doubt that he did; the Random House barrister is just good at his job.

ABC news added some specifics of the barrister's further questioning of Baigent on Wednesday.

What's really fun is that the court case has gotten the attention of Fox News. Joy. Is Nancy Grace next?

MORE HERE and HERE
The Scotsman, 07.03.06 and ABC News, 08.03.06

I Thought Infringement Hurt

As I understand copyright law, it's designed to provide protection for the creator or owner of intellectual property. That is, if I write a book about, say, ten-foot mushrooms on Pluto, some other guy can't steal my idea, publish his own book and thereby prevent me from making money off of my own idea.

So why the heck are Baigent and Leigh suing Dan Brown for copyright infringement? Has he somehow hurt sales of their book? I don't think so.

The Independent (UK) reports that Holy Blood, Holy Grail "was selling an average of around 3,500 copies a year prior to publication of The Da Vinci Code. But that figure quadrupled in 2004 in the wake of Brown's success - then doubled again to 31,341 sales in 2005." Prior to the opening of the copyright trial last week, "Holy Blood was still shifting in the region of 500 copies a week. On the first day of last week's court case, sales eclipsed that, selling up to 1,000 copies."

Hmmm... Yup. Darn that Dan Brown. He's killing us!

MORE HERE
The Independent, 05.03.06

"Robert Langdon" and Ambigrams

An interesting news release from yesterday identifies the source of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code hero: a professor at Drexel University named John Langdon who designs "ambigrams." Now, those are different animals than anagrams. Check out the press release. It's very interesting.

MORE HERE
Newswise, 02.03.06

Russian Orthodox Opposition

The Russian Orthodox Church's opposition to The Da Vinci Code is coming out a little stronger than its Catholic counterpart. In a report filed Wednesday by the Russian News and Information Angency, "a spokesman for the Moscow Patriarchy" implied that "the upcoming screen version could be even more offensive than the novel itself, as visual images usually produce a stronger effect on people than literary imagery." By contrast, the article quotes the "head of the Conference of Russian Catholic Bishops, Igor Kovalevsky," as saying "I don't think this will be a particularly controversial film."

MORE HERE
Novisti, 01.03.06

Movie Investment Secure, says Fanancier

Concerns over the in-process copyright-infringement lawsuit involving The Da Vinci Code apparently had investors rattled enough that the spokeman for Invicta, an investment management group party behind the picture, to issue a public statement of assurance. The TimesOnline is running a detailed article on the movie's fanancing—one that conspiracy nuts will probably love.

In related news, the trial continues. The Guardian, among many other sites, has details of yesterday's (uneventful) developments. The trial now breaks for a week while the presiding judge reads the relevant books. What fun for him!

MORE HERE and HERE
TimesOnline (UK), 01.03.06 and The Guardian (UK), 28.02.096