the da vinci code

[reallygroovN]

just saw it and i really liked it (except i got a major painful stiff neck for some reason). i loved the acting and i thought they brought the book to life. and i especially loved seeing paris and london - although we totally missed the inverted pyramid. totally. and now, i totally want to go back and see the stuff i missed!

i thought the beginning was pretty choppy but the middle and end were edited and ran smoothly together.

i thought it was overkill to make every single representation of the catholic church be overtly evil. for people to disparage the catholic church as evil is just as bad as the catholic church disparaging certain people as evil. neither is good or true.

that said, i thought it interesting that the local righteous christians thought it was important to have a picket demonstration outside of the theater for this particular movie and not for, say, 'see no evil' or any of the trailers we saw for movies with overtly gratuitous sex and violence.

i don't like the fact that they base so much of the *proof* of this movie on da vinci's last supper. its a painting, not a picture and its certaintly not proof.

i also have no problem with jesus being devine as well as a father. even as a child, when i learned about jesus and mary magdeline, i recall then thinking they must have been boyfriend/girlfriend or married or something. jesus' divinity has nothing to do with whether he has sex or not or had a loving relationship with a woman.

but yes, i loved it. great summer movie. it got terrible reviews, however, which i cant understand.

how bout youse guys?

[melody chord]

I haven't even read the book yet. I must be the only one on the planet. Is it worth reading? I have a tendency to shun things that get overhyped (Titanic, ad nauseum)

Guess I'm just a *tad* cynical, huh? I love to read though, and the whole concept sounds fascinating to me. I was raised in a Christian household, but now I'm the black sheep!

[TmasH]

not that it matters, but Im a master mason of occidental lodge #72 in ballard, WA

I love how hollywood is using masonic type stuff to create story lines...
not that this is a masonic movie or anything, but there are some elements in the book that involve us.

so mode it be.

[JoeInCharleston]

You have no idea how nuts it is here in Charleston, SC regarding this movie. Considering I'm in the Bible Belt region I've seen people up in arms over this flick and my roommate told me his pastor at church had a sermon against this movie last sunday saying people could go to hell over even watching it.

Talk about religious hysteria. I guess most people ignore the fact that Constantine approved specific sections of the "bible" as we now know it as well as the entire Bible itself is just a compilation of a huge multitude of scriptures chosen by a religious body under the supervision of Constantine. The idea being to pick out scriptures that would help to unify and consolidate the Christian church.

While I don't necessarily think the da Vinci code is a factual story, the reality is everything in the bible is handpicked hersay and is designed more as a eaching guide than definitive history.

Myself, being pagan, I don't have any problems with Christianity, but I find it funny that people would get into such an uproar over this stuff. Thankfully, as much in the Bible Belt as I am, the Charleston area is far more liberal than the rest of the hyper conservative state and there is a large group of non-Christians/Jews who I can relate with here, so I don't feel isolated like I did when I used to live in the upstate and pretty much feared daily over someone finding out I was a Pagan.

I still take to heart what my Father told me at an early age: "The bible, christianity, and all the rest are designed to help guide you to being a good person. But what path you choose really doesn't matter. What's important is that you regard your fellow man/woman as equals and be as caring a person as you can be in life." This was from a man who went to a Catholic High School and was raised in a strict catholic environment. And he was a good enough person that he realized that what was important was the lessons these religions teach, not a fanatical adherence to them. I still, to this day, consider myself lucky to have been raised by such enlightened parents who stressed the importance of doing right, but doing it in the way that was best for you.

[Buannan]

you're master mason tom? I didn't know that...cool
were you in DeMolay when you were younger?

I was in Job's Daughters...was Honored Queen twice...I've thought about joining Eastern Star a few times (or Daughters of the Nile)...maybe when my son is older and I have some free time

[hollie]

you're master mason tom? I didn't know that...cool
were you in DeMolay when you were younger?

I was in Job's Daughters...was Honored Queen twice...I've thought about joining Eastern Star a few times (or Daughters of the Nile)...maybe when my son is older and I have some free time

if you don't mind me asking, what is a mason??
i remember hearing my mom and grandma talking about how my grandpa's parents were apart of the mason's and how weird they were...how they had weird rituals and stuff (of course, that is coming from a hard-cord methodist, so anything that has no "godly value" to weird)
just curious....

[Buannan]

masons are a fraternal organization with emphasis on God and community

I'm sure tom can explain it better

they aren't a religion and anyone that believes in God can join

[Highway23]

They are what is known in the business as a "cult"





:) totally kidding


I want to see this movie so bad. Idiots here in NC are going all shitty over it as well...

It makes me want to make a movie about a Catholic priest touching kids and getting away with it...

that would be hilarious....

but they couldnt' argue with that...because it's true

[mensane]

i just saw it. i did not read the book. i thought it was pretty good. the person i went with just finished reading the book, and she was pretty disappointed with how different the movie was. at dinner, she told me all the things that are different.

i can't even begin to imagine how SWAMPED the Louvre is going to be after all of this (it was super crowded when i went in 1999, but it will be ridiculous now).

i dont know much about the catholic church. during the movie (especially the last part), i kept thinking about "Dogma"(the Kevin Smith movie..lol)

[Highway23]

Kevin Smith is a genious

[TmasH]

you're master mason tom? I didn't know that...cool
were you in DeMolay when you were younger?

I was in Job's Daughters...was Honored Queen twice...I've thought about joining Eastern Star a few times (or Daughters of the Nile)...maybe when my son is older and I have some free time


No kidding? which bethel?? My sister was a Job's daughter for Bethel 28...my girlfriend is a former rainbow girl and her mom is current mother advisor...Im sure you dont care, they are rainbows after all...

Yes, I was a DeMolay...I hate to do the whole "bragging" thing but Im a Past State Master Councilor for WA DeMolay

Dont worry, a full summary of what Masonry is will be posted a bit later...I know some of you are very excited about that :P

:P
But yes, it is a "brotherhood" and we focus on the good of the community...there is a lot of symbolism and modes of recognition, but it is by no means a "cult"...Many of this country's founding fathers were masons (George Washington and Ben Franklin to name a couple) and the whole "all men are created equal" and many other important documents are based on Masonic principles...we take good men to become better men...its a great organization and I hope that it grows with younger members...plus, we get out of traffic tickets and we're gonna take over the world :evil:
haha