ValarieMay 16th, 2006 - 20:13:30

Why such the uproar, the book is listed as fiction...movies are fiction. therefore, it's all speculation and fiction. why all the drama?

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ClintMay 16th, 2006 - 20:20:04

The fuss is because while Brown claims the plot & characters of his book are fictional, the historical & religious claims the book makes are not. Here is an excerpt from an April 26, 2003 interview that Dan Brown did with Linda Wertheimer on NPR:

WERTHEIMER: You’re trying not to get too fictional with the facts here?

Mr. BROWN: Absolutely. The only thing fictional in “The Da Vinci Code” is the characters and the action that takes place. All of the locations, the paintings, the ancient history, the secret documents, the rituals, all of this is factual.

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WilliamMay 16th, 2006 - 20:24:45

if all of the facts in the book are true, why has it taken so long for some one to come forward with this information?

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Phil HarrisMay 16th, 2006 - 20:42:01

Most ot the ideas questioning the divinity of Jesus Christ have actually been around for a very long time. In many cases hundreds of years. Its only since the power of the church has waned that people have been able to ask the questions.
What Dan Brown has done is to popularise the subject, by writing a rather mediocre thriller based on those theories.
My suggestion to the Greek Orthodox church is that if they want to encourage more people to watch the film, and expose themselves to such supposedly wicked ideas, then just keep on protesting....
The days when the church had the power to ban discussion and freedom of thought are thankfully long gone.

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RachelMay 16th, 2006 - 20:51:44

Which is exactly the point that seems to escape all of these protesters? I'm quite certain the book would have slipped by virtually unnoticed - and never would have been made into a movie starring Tom Hanks - if so much attention had not been drawn to it by those denouncing it. Frankly, that's why I read the book - and most of the people I know. It was for most of us, 'I wanted to know what all the fuss was about.'

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Marco the ButcherMay 16th, 2006 - 21:24:02

In a city of 3 million people, in a country of 11 million people, where 97% of the population is Greek Orthodox, where leaflets were given out at most churches to protest this film, only 200 people showed up.
This is a non-story.

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A geek orthodoxMay 16th, 2006 - 21:26:58

I don't plan on seeing this movie... mostly because it was an irritating book.
Yes, I am a greek orthodox christian.
And yes, the topics raised in the book have been raised.... not just a couple
of hundred year ago, but more than a thousand years ago.

And, they were dealt with then. By the entire church at that time and the people.
Answered, fully, completely, logically, and spiritually.

For some reason most americans seem to think that the church is only a
couple of hundred years old, and that the bible sprang fully formed from
the moment that Jesus ascended.

Oh well, and before anyone goes all American bashing on me...
I am an American born, and bred.

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karatzasMay 17th, 2006 - 11:22:19

I have read the book.

As an Orthodox Christian, the theories regarding Mary Magdalene dont really upset me.

What upsets me most is the glorification of secret societies in the book which I bet Dan Brown is himself a member of.

Living in a country where democracy was born I find secret societies disgusting to say the least.

I am strongly against protesting against movies (besides this form of advert is exactly what the movie creators want). I only want the people that watch this movie to be critical at it. (I am not sure if the movie has Adult rating but it would ideal)

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qabwrMay 17th, 2006 - 12:51:14

The article is inaccurate, to say the least. The bunch of fanatics outside the movie theaters were not led by the Church. Yes, the Church did condemn the theories of the book (not last Sunday, but over 1800 years ago!), but it didn't call people to a public protest.

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eugeneMay 17th, 2006 - 15:20:36

what's funny is that the 'ikon' the woman is holding is not canonically correct in the Eastern Orthodox Church which forbids this particular representation of God the Father as some old man...

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