The Da Vinci Code

I see Dan Brown's books everywhere, they're plastered all over the bookshops I go into. Even non-bookshops that sell books, you can bet there's a Dan Brown novel. Even we own a copy of The Da Vinci Code for fucksake and we haven't even read it! My wife gave up after the second page because there were too many difficult names to remember in it and I've watched a documentary on TV about it, like that makes me qualified to talk about it! I'm completely ignorant on these matters but it is a juicy conspiracy, you have to give it that. I think we only bought the book because there is a film coming out based on it and we wanted to read it before seeing the film.
Gayla's asking for comments on the subject. My opinion is that there are some things we will never know for sure about the story of Jesus and it's probably better left that way. The Da Vinci Code is a good conspiracy story but it doesn't demolish what has been written in the bible. For me, the actual historical facts are less important than being a good person and a good Christian. By that I don't mean going to church and supporting an organised religion, I just mean living a good life, being kind to others and respecting the rest of humanity. The story of Jesus helps people to do that, it gives hope to the hopeless and allows people to become reborn with a new vigour and purpose to their lives and that's not something I'd want to mess with.
How much church organisations really contribute to making the world better probably varies a lot. They are run by people who are only human afterall. There are some reforms that need to happen, like allowing birth control, gay marriage, women priests etc. Perhaps church organisations are not challenged enough on these issues. Who knows, maybe the Da Vinci Code might throw some of the mysteries about how the church has become so powerful into the light. Perhaps it just muddies the water.