Jesus had chillins?!?!

I have no intention or desire to see the DaVinci Code nor do I plan to read the book. Dan Brown has made enough money and I don't want to give him anymore than what he needs to swim (insert image of 'Scrooge McDuck diving into his pool of cash' here).

That being said I was amused as I listened to public radio this afternoon (drive time) and heard a Jesuit priest out of California offering his two bits on the influence Brown's novel has had on his parishioners. He was essentially complaining about church members blindly accepting the information in the novel over traditional church teachings. I believe he reported one member as stating something like, "I never knew Jesus was married... why is the church keeping this a secret?"

The thing I find amusing about all of this is that the Jesuit priest was revealing more than I believe he intended. For one thing churches require a certain level of gullibility from members in order to survive. What churches find annoying is that Brown's novel has tapped into this same gullibility AND apparently is doing a better job of it.

Essentially the priest's message boiled down to: church members need to use their brains to question the DaVinci Code novel but stop short of questioning church teachings.

Now I do accept that some churches have embraced the DaVinci Code rather than attack it (in fact, one church in my town is offering classes using the novel as a vehicle). Whatever.

I'm just happy being a spectator.