Da Vinci Code, Gospel of Judas.... etc

I received a flyer on my doorknob last week. I was instructed to join a local evangelical congregation so they could address the evils of "The Da Vinci Code", "Gospel of Judas", and a few other "evil perversions of modern thought". I can't claim to have read the Da Vinci Code but the basic premise has been explained to me. I honestly have a fear of plodding heavy-handed prose, which has kept me from reading Dan Browns best seller, however I find exiguous joy in the backlash among the protestant community. Since it only brings a wry grin to my face, I obviously can't be bothered to pick up the book or see the movie. I also understand that a fictional work can have a distinct effect on the mind of the consumers who partake of it. "El Caballo de Troya", is a fictional Spanish novel that caused a similar stir among the latin community. The basic premise is that aliens had a hand in the life of Christ, and these aliens were the cause of earthquakes, eclipses, and his resurrection. The weirdest part is that about 10% of the populace who had read the book thought it indicated a greater truth about the life of Christ, regardless of the lack of historical evidence. The Da Vinci Code is another matter.

Gnosticism's central belief is of the Gnosis, or knowledge imparted by Christ for the 40 days after his resurrection. Obviously the beliefs are extra-biblical, but there is a constantly growing library of text that are being unearthed in Egypt and the middle-east. These provide not only a historical but a spiritual context regarding early Christians and Christian splinter groups. These Gnostic groups were generally maligned by orthodox Christianity (the group that developed into the Catholic Church, or church by committee). Several falsehoods were spread and have persevered through the years. In Moby Dick, Herman Melville even mentions the Ophites, and comments about their seemingly antithetical nature to Christianity of that time period (an interesting analysis of that title to early gnostic thought can be undertaken, but I'll save that for another time). Their perspective of Christ was one of a creator. In their minds it was impossible to have a solely male creator, and thus they attributed to him a wife on earth and a female spiritual component which they called Sophia (greek wisdom). Since about 150-200 AD to the present (if not sooner) there has been a belief that Jesus was married. Just because a few "heretics" believe something doesn't make it true, but it's not an original thought.

What really surprises me is the venom with which these ideas are attacked. Protests in front of theatres, flyers on doorknobs, and sermons of hellfire only serve to pique curiousity. People in the midwest are raised thinking there is only one way to see everything. Whether it's religion, race, culture, or the type of car you drive, children are taught loyalty to an idea regardless of the information present. Inadvertantly they begin to fear thoughts that are outside of their own ideas. We see it right now with the war on terror. To paraphrase a post I read at a news site: More than 3000 people were killed in the most devastating single terrorist attack on US soil. This has lead to increased security on planes, hidden prison camps where prisoners are kept without charges or trial, the calls and internet activity of every American to be monitored and collated, and a full scale war sold to American with false information. Each year more than 20,000 people are murdered in the United States, yet none of us would allow the police to breach the boundaries of the constitution to invoke a police state and keep this number at bay. We sacrifice a little liberty for some security because we don't understand the attackers.

This fear of the unorthodox is running our lives, or at least the elite/government types would like it to run our lives. While engaged in a war on terror, Americans seem willing to abrogate the very rights their ancestors died for, in order for a little more security.