With the release of Da Vinci Code movie today, there has been some press about the church being afraid of the movie and wanting to steer people away from seeing it. This just seems plain stupid to me; the movie is a story that I hope will be entertaining. I’ve been listening to the audiobook of it (I listen to the unabridged versions of the books as I like to hear all the details; one book I listened to was abridged and I could easily tell where pieces were missing) and am enjoying it…as a story. Do I believe it? I haven’t even thought about believing it; to me it is entertainment. (I’m enjoying the book so much that I just purchased Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons so I can listen to it next.)
As pointed out in the book, the church seems to be afraid of anything that is contrary to its own teachings and doesn’t allow its followers to think on their own. I’m not one that lets others dictate what I believe. I take in everything I can and make my own judgments and decisions based on the knowledge at hand. I personally view religion as a guide instead of an absolute way to lead my life. Blindly following reminds me of George Orwell’s 1984 (at least the Apple commercial based around his work) where people can’t/don’t make their own decisions.
Is it so bad that people do their own thinking? I thought that thinking set us apart from other species. Of course this is just my opinion, so please don’t send me hate mail.