| Author | |
Cay Gibson
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 16 2005
Location: Louisiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5193
|
| Posted: May 13 2006 at 4:06pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
Call me crude, call me a rebel, call me MacBeth  ; but something a Carmelite nun recently told our Little Flowers group rings in my head daily:
"God can take anything good and make it beautiful. He can also take anything bad and make it good."
I've decided to take a different approach to this whole DaVinci Code fiasco (nonsense) and twist it around to benefit my family instead of letting it overshadow our faith.
While the devil might be out to corrupt and break down the Catholic church, I don't think people begin with that same intent. Clearly this is about money...lotsa money. 
I think most people are searching for the truth and this novel has them interested in many, many things that are relevant to the Catholic faith and historical, classical learning that we promote on a yearly basis within our homes: art, architecture, history, etc.
I've blogged about it here: Breaking the Code and would really like to know if I've gone too far to the left.
What are your thoughts?
What are your concerns?
What is your take on all this?
What can we study and how should it be presented to our dc so that they can defend the faith against proponents of the Code?
__________________
Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Cay Gibson
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 16 2005
Location: Louisiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5193
|
| Posted: May 13 2006 at 4:28pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Cay Gibson wrote:
| Call me crude, call me a rebel, call me MacBeth ; |
|
|
Well, that came out horribly crude and all wrong.  What I meant wasssss... I was thinking of myself as crude and MacBeth as a rebel (one who is not afraid to speak her mind).
It came out all wrong. I seem to be doing that a lot lately.
No offense, MacBeth?
__________________
Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
marihalojen
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 12 2006
Location: Florida
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1883
|
| Posted: May 13 2006 at 5:00pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Cay, I think this is a fabulous approach to take. We have family members and close friends reading this book, and Angels and Demons, out of great curiosity - what is the hype? I feel much better already looking at it as curiosity that may lead them to greater study and truth finally, rather than simply evil. How ironic if all this hoopla ends up building Christianity rather than tearing it down.
As to how to study this topic with our children...What about the hidden codes in stained glass and statues of saints - a cow by a nun equals St. Brigid, three pickled boys climbing out of a barrel or 3 gold balls equal St. Nicholaus etc... and then ideally a trip to great cathedral to Decipher the Code ourselves?
These are the first thoughts of one who hasn't read the Da Vinci Code, I can't wait to read others' ideas, too.
__________________
~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Cici
Forum Pro
Joined: March 03 2006
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 334
|
| Posted: May 13 2006 at 8:39pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Cay,
I agree with you...to some degree. Sure, God can make some good from something bad. I also believe that money is the core, here. The movie came because the people read and it's the perfect story line for a movie. $$$$
That said, in the DaVinci Hoax (I'm only a few pages in - maybe not even an entire chapter yet) I read that Dan Brown made some pretty arrogant comments about the "truth" to his book. Not to mention the recent "Today Show" comments.
So...I do believe that he most certainly does have an agenda.
I also believe that people are reading it - and believing it - because they are looking for the truth. And, cynic that I am, believe that the truth they WANT to believe - the truth that they WANT to find - is in that book. That is to say, I think people are very anti-religious (especially anti-Christian and most-especially anti-Catholic) and this gives them an excuse to continue. Both A&D and DVC portray pictures of a vile Church that only solidifies the "Catholic Church was really evil in the middle centuries" thought process - you know all those people they burned at the stake, and all that fish they made people eat because the Church (or a pope depending on who tells me the story) invested in a fish market, or the penance they sold, or the way they controlled people's minds and lives by not letting them read the bible, or the...
Thus, given my most certain cynism, then leads me to say I would want to teach my children the response. Not just because making it taboo makes it exciting, but because I believe by NOT doing it your put your children at an unfair advantage. How is the older child to respond when someone talks to them (even with a knowledge of church history and art history I think some of the false logic people take with them from A&D and DVC could/would catch most people off guard)? In this case, I believe that the "guided tour" of this popular book is much safer than the otherwise happenstance introduction.
All that said, my children are under the age of 4, so, what do I know about teaching the older kids???
__________________
Christine - mom to 
My Sewing Blog
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Natalia
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Louisiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1343
|
| Posted: May 13 2006 at 8:58pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I heard on NPR today that Catholic Digest has taken a poll among Catholics and it has shown that only 3% of the Catholics polled said that reading the book has challenged their faith. The man speaking for Catholic Digest said that he felt that the poll showed that Catholics were matured enough to engage the culture at large without letting themselves be influenced by it.
I guess that is good news. But it doesn't address the effect that this kind of book and movie has on those that are NOT religious and the misconceptions they create.
I have a priest friend that is reading the book and says that he would like to see the movie if he finds a way to do it without paying. He feels that he can't effectively deffend the Church if he doesn't knows what the charges are.
Cay, are you planning to read the book?
Natalia
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Leonie
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2831
|
| Posted: May 13 2006 at 10:41pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Cay, I am with you on this one.
I have read the book - I read it before all the hype. And, religious sensibilities aside, I definitely thought the book was rubbish. I threw it in the bin!
The literary style is sadly wanting.
I like mystery/thrillers and this one was SO obvious - I could solve the supposed mystery in the first third of the book. Nothing original.
The sex scene in the book was what made me assign the book to the rubbish.
Howeer, having read at least most of the book, I find I can discuss this with others - for example, a Protestant friend at homeschool surfing last week said that her dh hadjust bought the book for their thirteen year old to read. I asked if she or dh had read it. She said no but all the kids in the church youth group had and had loved it - it was mixing history and fiction.
I was able to discuss the sex scene ( did she want her dd to read that?? She was horrified) and also the history aspect.
We ahd a powerful discussion because of? in spite of? The DV Code..
__________________
Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Jen L.
Forum All-Star
Joined: Oct 18 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2148
|
| Posted: May 14 2006 at 12:30pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Natalia wrote:
| I heard on NPR today that Catholic Digest has taken a poll among Catholics and it has shown that only 3% of the Catholics polled said that reading the book has challenged their faith. |
|
|
My fear is that so few of the Catholics feel challenged because they are poorly formed. For instance, when the book first came out, a Catholic acquaintance of mine acted like it gave creedence (sp?) to her idea that Jesus was married.
That said, I still think that being ready to talk about the book is a GREAT idea. I'm going to be using the Debunking DaVinci website to be ready. (It has MANY links.)
__________________
Jen
dh Klete,ds (8/95),dd (12/97), dd (11/00), and ^2^ in heaven
"...the best state in which to glorify God is our actual state; the best grace is that of the moment..." St. Peter Eymard
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
mary
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 17 2005
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 691
|
| Posted: May 14 2006 at 5:32pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Cay, I agree with you. my fil and a friend or two have spoken of the book as if they were acurate historical fiction. unless i read it myself, i will be unable to engage in any discussion about the book and pple like them will continue to believe the d brown fictational version of history. my children are too young to really know anything about this book. in general, i want them to be prepared to discuss what i teach them respectfully and confidently and they can't do that if i keep my head buried in the sand regarding these types of topics.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
MacBeth
Forum All-Star
Probably at the beach...
Joined: Jan 27 2005
Location: New York
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2518
|
| Posted: May 14 2006 at 6:04pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Cay Gibson wrote:
Cay Gibson wrote:
| Call me crude, call me a rebel, call me MacBeth ; |
|
|
Well, that came out horribly crude and all wrong. What I meant wasssss... I was thinking of myself as crude and MacBeth as a rebel (one who is not afraid to speak her mind).
It came out all wrong. I seem to be doing that a lot lately.
No offense, MacBeth? |
|
|
Oh, Dear Cay, it would take soooo much more than a good-natured compliment like that to offend me.
 
__________________
God Bless!
MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
MacBeth's Blog
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
ladybugs
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3732
|
| Posted: May 14 2006 at 9:27pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Hey folks....
We have a friend who is an Opus Dei priest, Father John Waiss. He has said that all of they hype about TDVC has been good for Opus Dei and there are alot of people who are seeking the truth...
As an aside, here's an article
__________________
Love and God Bless,
Maria P
My etsy store - all proceeds go to help my fencing daughters!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Cay Gibson
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 16 2005
Location: Louisiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5193
|
| Posted: May 14 2006 at 9:39pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
MacBeth wrote:
Oh, Dear Cay, it would take soooo much more than a good-natured compliment like that to offend me.
|
|
|
Oh, I'm so glad...relieved...
I just told someone previously that "I think MacBeth knows me enough by now to know exactly what I meant."
What is it now? 8 years of Internet friendship?  Whoosh! time flies.
Glad my instincts are correct to a certain level.
__________________
Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
MaryM
Board Moderator
Joined: Feb 11 2005
Location: Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13104
|
| Posted: May 14 2006 at 11:40pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Cay Gibson wrote:
| I think most people are searching for the truth and this novel has them interested in many, many things that are relevant to the Catholic faith and historical... |
|
|
Christopher Bailey, co-author with Mike Aquilina, of The Grail Code would agree with you. I really liked his presentation of this in a recent post at his Grail Code blog
"Langdon strained to hide his emotion, and yet he could not believe what he was hearing. Sophie Neveu had unwittingly witnessed a two-thousand-year-old sacred ceremony." -From The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.
That brings us to that little snippet from Dan Brown’s famous novel. Ancient secrets have a powerful attraction for us. A two-thousand-year-old sacred ceremony - imagine that! Imagine the excitement of seeing for yourself a ritual that has been handed down, essentially unaltered, for twenty centuries! It would be the experience of a lifetime!
Or at least it should be. But how many of the same readers who tingled with excitement when they came to that line have stumbled blindly by and missed exactly that experience in real life?
In any Catholic church, or any Orthodox church, or any Lutheran or Anglican church - wherever the Christian liturgy is celebrated, you can witness a two-thousand-year-old sacred ceremony. More than that, you can participate in it.
This is the message we we’re trying to get out with The Grail Code: that the experience of a lifetime is waiting for you just around the corner. The current obsession with historical mysteries is a wonderful thing, because we have the most profound mystery of all to share with the world. We’ve kept it miraculously intact for two thousand years.
I'm very interested to read the Bailey/Aquilina book - it sounds very intriguing.
Another one of his blog entries is "Finding the Grail in Pittsburgh" - he went on a Grail hunt in the Carnegie. Sounds like something that would fit in the unit study you proposed. When Amy proposed having da Vinci as the artist to study in April, I thought that was a great way to start this prep for the upcoming movie and we have extended that study into this month. For the same reasons you mentioned - to help them be prepared with the beauty and the truth of our Faith and be able to counter the "Hollywood side."
__________________
Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
abcmommy
Forum All-Star
Joined: March 09 2006
Location: Indiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 129
|
| Posted: May 15 2006 at 5:55pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Jen L. wrote:
Natalia wrote:
| I heard on NPR today that Catholic Digest has taken a poll among Catholics and it has shown that only 3% of the Catholics polled said that reading the book has challenged their faith. |
|
|
My fear is that so few of the Catholics feel challenged because they are poorly formed. For instance, when the book first came out, a Catholic acquaintance of mine acted like it gave creedence (sp?) to her idea that Jesus was married.
That said, I still think that being ready to talk about the book is a GREAT idea. I'm going to be using the Debunking DaVinci website to be ready. (It has MANY links.) |
|
|
I think many catholics do not feel threatened by this work, not bc of their lack of formation, but because the book is simply fiction.
I'll admit to being poorly formed in my faith as a child. But I read this book and was not alarmed (well, except for alarm for Mr Brown's sanity, if he believes much of this to be NON-fiction) bc I simply saw it as a book written by someone with an ax to grind. My suspicion were confirmed with his other books.
I found the book entertaining from the aspect of a mystery. I think his claims of truth are preposterous and while his knowledge of art history is basic, his interpretations are NOT widely accepted. At least not by any of the rather well known art historians I have studied with.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Karen E.
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 27 2005
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1161
|
| Posted: May 15 2006 at 8:46pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Cay,
Of course there's nothing wrong with what you're doing! My dh just bought me the Olson/Meisel book because I mentioned that I feel the need to become a better apologist against the Da Vinci Code (I haven't read it, but with the movie coming out, even more people will be talking about it -- I'd like to be able to debunk it efficiently and intelligently.)
The Truth of the Catholic Church can stand up to any scrutiny ....
__________________
God bless,
Karen E.
mom to three on earth, and several souls in God's care
Visit my blog, with its shockingly clever title, "Karen Edmisten."
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Cay Gibson
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 16 2005
Location: Louisiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5193
|
| Posted: May 17 2006 at 8:30am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Natalia wrote:
Cay, are you planning to read the book?
Natalia |
|
|
I'm still unsure. I don't want to spent money on it (we don't plan on seeing the movie at all). But if Amy Welborn and priests read the book as a defense, then I don't believe it's sacrilege to do so.
I was going to put my money on Amy's book instead.
Still...I'm in the mist of reading SO many other books that are worth my time...
I'm still unsure.
My focus is on the art, locations, and religious aspects, historical aspects of the daVinci Code. Guess I would need to read the book to know what those are.  Right now we're just surffing the web and discussing it.
__________________
Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
MaryM
Board Moderator
Joined: Feb 11 2005
Location: Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13104
|
| Posted: May 17 2006 at 9:42am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Cay Gibson wrote:
I'm still unsure. I don't want to spent money on it (we don't plan on seeing the movie at all).
My focus is on the art, locations, and religious aspects, historical aspects of the daVinci Code. Guess I would need to read the book to know what those are. |
|
|
I haven't read the book but have read the Olsen/Meisel book and found that it gave me plenty of info and understanding of the Da Vinci Code without reading it. It would be easy to follow rabbit trails from this book and liekly from Amy Wellborn's as well. I'm also anxious to read the Aquilina/Bailey book I mentioned above as I think it will lead to other areas of focus for this study.
__________________
Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
momwise
Forum All-Star
Joined: March 28 2005
Location: Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1914
|
| Posted: May 18 2006 at 9:08am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Cay,
Your idea ties in a little with what I've been thinking about for awhile.
My thought has been that exploring the truth about Jesus and the Bible while investigating the errors found in the DVC might shine a little light on the historical facts that have been in the dark shadows for faithful protestants these last 500 years or so.
Of course there is no harm in learning about the real Leonardo or the real Opus Dei. Exploring any aspect of history for the last 2000 years will never fail to bring us face to face with some reality of Catholicism. Think about the history of food! Whether you're exploring the humble pretzle or beer or donuts, you are bound sooner or later to stumble upon some Catholic origin or tweaking in design about which you previously had no clue!
For once (well not really but this time it seems unavoidable), our protestant brethren who look deeper into defending their faith are going to find themselves running directly into a path to the Church, with no other way to turn. They may say out loud that they are not interested in the Catholicism in the novel; they just want to defend Jesus, but to defend Jesus is defend His Church and in their hearts you can bet they are hashing that out.
So bring it on! Bring on Leonardo! Bring on Renaissance Italy! Bring on Opus Dei!
And remember to counter each evil action of the enemy with a prayer.
__________________
Gwen...wife for 30 years, mom of 7, grandma of 3.....
"If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life." JPII
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: A Different Twist to the Code
