The Da Vinci Code Controversy/book Banning

In the past five years, a controversial phenomenon has swept the entire world. Published in 44 different languages, and with over 40 million copies in print as of March 2006, The Da Vinci Code written by Dan Brown has captivated everyone, and even turned many into conspiracy theorists. As thrilling as the novel may be many, many catholics have taken the novel too personally and have attempted to boycott, and even ban the book, and upcoming film from many counties. In fact it has been banned from Lebanon and Jordan.

The Da Vinci Code includes a symboligist, Robert Langdon (who previouslly starred in Angels and Demons in 2000), who has uncovered a secret so profound, that it could supposebly devastate the history of mankind. The secret being, what and where the Holy Grail is. The story takes place in France and England, and has Langdon on a search all over the countries, while in pursuit by INTERPOL under the accusation of murder in the first degree.

Langdon is accompanied by a cryptoligist, Sophie Neveu, whose grandfather was murdered and left a secret message for the two to figure out, trying to keep the secret alive. Uncoincidently, Neveu's grandfather, Jauques Sauniиre, is the man Langdon is being charged with murder for. It is revealed later in the novel that Sauniиre was the grand master of a secret society called The Priory of Sion, whose job is to guard the the secret of the Holy Grail, and later expose it to the world. The murder of Sauniиre was actually done by a monk from the religious group Opus Dei, and believes that he is destroying the secret for the world's own good, but is later betrayed and killed.

Eventually, through lots of decoding Da Vinci's works, and lots of puzzle-solving adventure, accompanied by a bit of treachery, the identity of the Holy Grail is revealed to the readers, not as a cup, but as a woman. The Holy Grail is believed

to be the chalice of christ, but chalice is also a symbol that is the pagan symbol of the woman, and this woman is Mary Magdalene, the wife of Christ and mother of Christ's unborn child. It is later explained that Mary had this child and a sacred Bloodline existed all the way up to this day and age. Neveu is the latest bearer of Holy Blood.

Their quest came to an end in at the Rosslyn Chapel where Langdon and Neveu thought the Grail laid buried, but were once again left with another, unbroken puzzle. Neveu discovers that the guardian of this chapel is in fact her long-lost grandmother.

Langdon leaves Neveu and her family to figure out the puzzle, and eventually breaks it. He visits the Louvre, where all this adventure started and now ends. He then is satisfied, knowing that the current location of Mary Magdalene, the Holy Grail, the chalice, lies directly beneath the inversed pyramid in the Louvre.

The Da Vinci is a very contoversial book. It puts the church in a bad light as being deceptive, and trying to hide the truth. Of course this is a fictional story, but there is a lot of truth in the book as well, but even so, fiction is fiction, and shouldn't

be taken as fact. Unfortunately, not everyone does this, they take the story to heart, and because of that, the church is trying to take action. In Lebonon, where christians are one third of the population, The Da Vinci Code is banned from all the libraries and stores. The same thing is happening in Jordan. A government spokesman said that "as a standard procedure, any book or publication that may offend the Christian or Muslim faith is referred to the religion's appropriate leadership for commentary." Maronite Father Georges Rahme, professor of theology at the Lebanese and Antoine