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	Cracking the Code By Mark Barna mbarna@bakersfield.com The Bakersfield Californian [California] May 16, 2006 http://www.bakersfield.com/138/story/51933.html? Pinpointing when something immensely popular becomes a cultural phenomenon is not easy. But in the case of "The Da Vinci Code," it's as simple as forecasting a sunny summer day in Kern County. Friday. That's when Dan Brown's novel, which has already sold more than 40 million copies, premieres as a Hollywood movie, with Tom Hanks as its star and Ron Howard as its director. Millions of moviegoers who never read the novel will be exposed to ideas that call into question the integrity of the Catholic Church and the means to salvation within the Judeo-Christian tradition. While some dismiss the frenzy as another flavor of the month in the ice-cream parlor of popular culture, many church leaders are circling their sacred wagons in defense of what they perceive as an attack on their faith. Book stores locally and nationwide brim with works by Catholic writers and scholars debunking the heretical ideas in "The Da Vinci Code." Churches in Bakersfield and across the nation are holding special classes to explain to parishioners why the book and soon-to-be-released movie are packed with lies about the 2,000-year-old faith. Even clergy members who think it's silly to fume over theological inaccuracies in a work of fiction are wondering what the success of "The Da Vinci Code" says about the state of Christianity. Why is a novel that portrays the Catholic Church as suppressors of a great secret -- that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had a child -- so captivating? Clergy response mixed Several local clergy members said the sexual abuse scandals and subsequent coverups by the Catholic Church have primed people to believe that the church is capable of going to extremes, including murder, as described in Brown's novel, to keep a secret. Furthermore, some leaders say, people are finding it more difficult to take Scripture and the word of clergy members on faith alone. Call it a backlash to fundamentalism. While the majority of leaders believe churches need to batten down the heretical hatches by stressing orthodox Christian theology and history, some see the "Da Vinci" fervor as a wake-up call. Though he dismisses the book as a work of fiction, Monsignor Michael R. Braun said the book's success indicates that many people pine for intellectual inquiry into theological matters. A positive for the church in the wake of Da Vinci-mania, Braun said, may be that more ministers will seek to touch people's minds as well as their hearts. "Faith has got to be there, but it's got to be based on reason," said Braun of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. "When people have a chance to examine and question their faith," the Catholic priest said, "and go through it with some degree of adult insight, they end up much stronger in their faith." Even so, Braun doesn't think "The Da Vinci Code" is a threat. "If Christianity cannot handle a novel and movie," he said, "we are in big trouble." The Rev. Craig Harrison, of St. Francis of Assisi Church, agrees. "I'm not concerned at all about it," he said of "The Da Vinci Code," which the priest found to be "a great, suspenseful novel." "It has sparked interest in people and I like that," Harrison said. Preparation for movie release Unlike the December opening of "The Chronicles of Narnia," local movie theaters are offering no special promotions for the "Da Vinci" film. That's because the movie is being marketed toward adults, not families, said Jenny Sullivan, manager at Pacific Theatres in southwest Bakersfield. Adult-oriented movies don't benefit from clever lobby promotions. Sullivan believes "Da Vinci" will be a blockbuster movie nationally, but enjoy only mediocre success in Bakersfield because of the area's staunch conservatism. "The distributor is trying to market it as a 'Passion of the Christ,' but it's not," Sullivan said. "To many people it is offensive." Hope Christian Bookstores, Berean Christian Stores and other faith-based book sellers in Bakersfield are stocking only refutations of "The Da Vinci Code," not the book itself. "I would not recommend the book for someone not solid in their faith," said Berean manager Lisa L. Van Sickle, a Christian who has read the work. "It's not that we don't realize that it's a fictional book. We just don't want people confused about the biblical truth." Though "The Da Vinci Code" bashes Catholicism, Protestant churches are also actively discrediting Brown's novel. Valley Baptist Church is one of several to form classes to discuss the book's flaws. Special speakers, moreover, are being booked at Protestant churches to talk about the novel's inaccuracies. Glenn Sunshine, a history professor at the Central Connecticut State University, spoke Saturday at RiverLakes Community Church. Sunshine said by e-mail from his Connecticut home that he doesn't think the popularity of "Da Vinci" is due to distrust of the church or weariness over fundamentalism. "I suspect a lot of it is simply the appeal of conspiracy and the puzzles in it," Sunshine said. "Plus, sex sells, so a novel that claims that sex is the highest form of prayer is going to find an audience." Book, curse or blessing? Many local Christians have no plans to read the book or see the movie. "I don't think it's in my best interest to read the book," said Irene Compton, 50, who attends Our Lady of Perpetual Help. "I'm not interested in reading how Jesus is not God. "I'm very disappointed in Tom Hanks and Ron Howard for making the movie," she said. Still, a large swath of Bakersfield residents have read the controversial book -- in recent weeks, it's been the No.1 paperback seller locally -- and plenty are counting the days to the film's opening. Nancy Dunn, 66, said the novel and movie may revitalize the lost sacred feminine, which, she and some scholars say, represents intuition, free thinking, creation and compromise. These attributes, she said, are in contrast to the established church's patriarchal rigidity and dogma. "Sometimes we need a cataclysmic event to break through the places that tell us there is no other way to view life," Dunn said of Brown's novel. "Another aspect of the sacred feminine," she said, "is breaking through the denial that creation continues and destroys old forms and brings new ones into being. "I think people want another vision for their lives. I think they are reaching for hope, and somehow this book gives it to them." What people say ... "I grew up when you didn't question what the church said. But now I want to know. The novel gets you thinking." Ruth Richardson, 68 "It's a page-turner. Is it true? Who knows. It's not out of the realm of possibility." Connie Tompkins "Great novel, but the history is (flawed)." Tim Vivian, lecturer in religious studies at Cal State Bakersfield. "'The Da Vinci Code' is attacking our faith. I won't see the movie." Corine Juarez, 50, a Roman Catholic "I read the book as fiction. It's time for the church to go back to basics, and that's focusing on the deity of Christ born of a virgin, wholly man and wholly God." Lisa L. Van Sickle, manager of Berean Christian Stores in Bakersfield "I loved 'The Da Vinci Code.' It brings up the mystery of the (sacred) feminine. Everything is so patriarchal in the church." Valerie Garewal, owner of Enchanted Cottage, a metaphysical book store. "Mary Magdalene came from a lineage of royalty, as well, and she would have been the appropriate companion of such a man (as Jesus)." Rene Reid, 53, former Bakersfield resident living in Salem, Ore. "I think people are tired of checking their brains at the door. I think the unsettling things that have happened in the world in the last several years have people looking at these deeper questions." The Rev. Kimberly Willis, of Wesley United Methodist Church, on the success of "The Da Vinci Code" "I think the core of Christianity is being shaken. I think it is going to be challenged more often in the future." The Rev. Lewis Ashmore of Life Awareness Center in Tehachapi "This is a full-on attack of Christianity in its essential form." The Rev. Brandon Holthaus of Valley Baptist Church, who will be teaching a course this month at Valley Baptist that refutes the history presented in the novel "There are people on the bubble. They don't have enough information to be grounded in their faith, and things like this can rock their world." Josiah Vencel, RiverLakes Community Church
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