Da Vinci Hoax Blog

Atheist scholar: I dislike TDVC as much as Christians do. And here's why...

An unexpected e-mail arrived a couple of days ago:

As a medievalist, I have been bemused and frustrated by the way Brown's novel has been taken as historical fact since I first had the displeasure of struggling through his turgid prose in late 2004.  Since then I have found myself in discussions/debates with Da Vinci fans regarding the many and various historical errors in the novel both online and in 'real life'.  In many of those online discussions I have pointed people to online resources on the subject as well as to the small library of books on the novel's claims.  I have often recommended your The Da Vinci Hoax and several of the online articles by yourself and Sandra Miesel, particularly "The 'It's Just Fiction!' Doctrine: Reading Too Little Into  The Da Vinci Code".

Inevitably, the response to these recommendations has often been that you and writers like you are simply "dupes of the Vatican" (something Darrell Bock would, no doubt, find highly amusing) and that you are simply defending your faith because you are scared of the 'revelations about history' that the Code supposedly makes.  These people usually assume that I am a Christian as well and are often confused when I explain that I'm an atheist.

Frustrated by this, I set out about 18 months ago to produce an online resource which examines the claims made in the DVC from a purely historical, religiously-neutral perspective.  This has been partly to counter the idea that only Christians disagree with this novel's silly claims, partly to show that religious critics like yourself make arguments which are soundly based on historical research and partly to provide a resource that non-Christians can regard as 'unbiased'.

The site is not fully complete, but the 'Chapter by Chapter' analysis of the 'historical' claims made in the novel is up (weighing in at 45,000 words in total), along with other resources.

While I appreciate that your beliefs and mine are diametrically 'opposed', I hope you might find my site useful and would also hope that you might feature it on your blog.  I have already received enthusiastic feedback on it from Christians, who have thanked me for the respectful way I have handled sensitive religious subjects.  They've also mentioned they've found it useful to direct people to a 'non-religious' site, to counter the regular accusations of 'bias'.

Thanks in advance,

Tim O'Neill
'History vs the Da Vinci Code' Webmaster
www.historyvsthedavincicode.com

In the "Author" section of his site, O'Neill writes:

As a regular contributor to various online fora on history, I soon began to see the impact this novel was having on peoples' perceptions of history. I saw people making claims about the Gnostic gospels, early Christianity, the Emperor Constantine, the Knights Templar and Jesus which were not supprted by the historical evidence but came directly from their reading of this novel. Eventually I got tired of repeating myself in countering these claims and decided that an online resource comparing the assertions in the novel to the evidence could be a useful project.

Be sure to check out this excellent resource, especially the "Chapters" section, which provides a running commentary on the novel's many errors, chapter by chapter. And don't miss the "Fiction?" page, which explains why an atheist would bother to spend time responding to a work of fiction.

BTW, here is part of my response to Mr. O'Neill's initial e-mail:

I especially appreciate your work because I am so tired of hearing that Christians who are responding to TDVC are "angry" or "afraid" or "weak in their faith" or "narrow minded." As Sandra Miesel has noted on many occasions, even if she was atheist and had little or no interest in the theological/religious issues involved, she would still be offended by Brown's novel because of how it purports to be based on fact, has been accepted as a well-researched work by many reviewers and readers, and yet is filled with errors, howlers, and outright falsehoods about verifiable historical facts. And the way that Brown was initially touted as being some sort of great researcher is incredibly pathetic. And the shrugs and "so what?" attitudes that have accompanied the movie have been equally exasperating.

I also appreciate the kind remarks made on your site about our book. Obviously, as you note, we do come from different perspectives and, in a different time and place, we might have a rousing (and civilized, I think) debate about theism and atheism. But just as I know that many Christians do have a blind and poorly informed faith, I also know that many atheists and agnostics do indeed respect and value truth. And so your efforts to educate people about the many historical errors of TDVC is greatly appreciated.

Posted by Carl E. Olson on Friday, June 02, 2006 at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBack (0)

Who's right: The Da Vinci Code or The Da Vinci Hoax?

That's the question posed on this Yahoo! forum and here are some of the erudite and thoughtful answers:

• We can ask this question forever, but the truth is, no-one will ever really know cause no-one can prove either beyond a shadow of a doubt.

•  I think the code is right

•  I think its too late. too many people have gotten carried away. Its a book. It has some ideas and theories. Thats all. Its not a book that can change the world. And the only reason why its effecting the Christian faith is because they are taking it way too personal.

•  It is a book.It is not right or wrong

•  who cares! the story is good!

And the winner:

•  Who r we 2 decide? ultimately in time 2 the truth will be revealed. just wait n watch. Thou alot of details in da book make u wonder (the priory of zion, the templars knights, the blood of jesus cud it have meant a bloodline?) ... After all jesus walked this earth as a human n definatley had human needs...

Hmmm. I sense a common theme in many of the "answers": We really cannot know what happened. There's no way to find out the truth about Jesus. We can't figure out the truth nor should we try to push it on others.

Coincidentally (ha!), that general notion comes through loud and clear (and heavy-handedly) in the movie, which has the main characters making absurd assertions and then, in the next breath, opining about how the most important thing is not knowing the truth (since you can't know it!), but "is what you believe." In the words of a former ("Christian") boss of mine: "The most important thing is finding a spirituality that works for you." That, in essence, is a major message of the novel and the movie. The other central message is just as noxious: Christianity is a sham and a lie. Avoid it. Deny it. Mock it.

Posted by Carl E. Olson on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

"The Da Vinci Hoax" in the news...

Here is a partial list of recent articles and columns that mention The Da Vinci Hoax and/or quote me or Sandra Miesel:

• "Controversy Surrounds "The Da Vinci Code" (May 12, 2006) | WISHTV.com | Piece from Indianapolis news station about Sandra Miesel and TDVH.

• "Watch 'Da Vinci Code' debunked" (May 10, 2006) | WorldNetDaily | Article about "The Da Vinci Delusion," a television special produced by Coral Ridge Ministries and which includes comments made by Sandra. The special airs May 13 and 14. Go here for more details.

• "Faith vs. Fiction" (May 12, 2006) | Akron Beacon Journal | News piece about reactions by Christians to the cinematic version of the Code.

• "The Da Vinci Hoax" (May 8, 2006) | Crosswalk.com | Dr. Paul J. Dean, a Baptist pastor, comments upon TDVH's refutation of the claims in TDVC.

• "Eugene man joins crowd of those protesting 'Da Vinci Code'" (April 30, 2006) | Associated Press | Piece adapted from earlier article that appeared in The Register Guard. Nice headline, but misleading. I wrote my first critiques of TDVC in August 2003 and our book was published in June 2004, so I think it's fair to say I was here before most of the "crowd."

• "Are we reading too much into fiction?" (May 1, 2006) | Knight Ridder Newspapers | News article about the popularity of TDVC and how many readers are accepting its claim to being well-researched and based on fact.

Posted by Carl E. Olson on Friday, May 12, 2006 at 09:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

The Ratzinger Fan Club's DVC Resource Page

Christopher Blosser of "The Ratzinger Fan Club" site and the "Against the Grain" blog has put together an exhaustive and excellent page of anti-Code articles, interviews, and resources. Definitely worth many visits!

Posted by Carl E. Olson on Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 09:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBack (0)

Recently interviewed and quoted...

... by a couple of very different websites. The first is the Sharper Than Dull blog, operated by the irreverent and quirky David S. Titus, who sent me the most interesting and fun questions I've been asked in a while. And so I was able to have some fun with it, poking fun at nearly everything and everyone, including myself:

David — The first question: As a reader of A Gaggle of Deer TM, it is quite evident that you are well educated, where did you study?


Carl E. Olson — Like Dan Brown, I went to high school. However, he attended some fancy private school in New Hampshire (which, I'm told, is in New England. So, which is it: New Hampshire or New England?), while I attended school in the wilds of Montana. There I learned how to hunt, fish, tie
 knots, tie fly fishing lures, and avoid ties that go around one's neck. I don't want to get into specifics (out of legal concerns, of course), but I graduated from high school in less than ten years, which put me in the median range of young men between 15-26 who were raised in small towns in western Montana.

Read the entire interview.

The second piece is a column by Cliff Kincaid, editor of the Accuracy In Media Report, which is based on an interview that I gave to Kincaid a few weeks ago:

The Oprah-promoted James Frey book, A Million Little Pieces, turned out to be fiction described as fact. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, a full frontal assault on the basic tenets of Christianity, has been sold as fiction based on fact. And that is why the major media should scrutinize this novel that is being turned into a major motion picture.

Carl E. Olson, co-author of the book, The Da Vinci Hoax, says, "There is no such thing as just a novel or just fiction from the standpoint that even lightweight popular fiction has ways of influencing how we see the world and affects our perception of important and unimportant things. Fiction-if we broaden that to include television shows, sitcoms, movies-is probably the primary means by which most people today gain their understanding of big and small issues alike."

Read entire column.

Posted by Carl E. Olson on Thursday, April 13, 2006 at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

At least he nose what a book iz. And ware too put it.

The latest reader review of The Da Vinci Hoax on the Barnes & Noble site speaks for itself. So to speak:

Brandon Vanover ([email protected]), a Librarian, March 20, 2006,
Get over it
The Da Vinci code was a work of fiction, which means it WASN'T MEANT TO BE REAL. Dan Brown is an excelent writer who had an idea and wrote on it. Just like any excelent writers out there. Most of the anti Da Vinci Code fanatics are just christians with a grudge and need to realize that the bible is also a book and cant be proved to be entirely factual either. I dont understand why people have to complain about fictional books, their not real

Mr. Vanover gives our book one star out of five. We'd give up the one star just to find out where he works as a librarian...

Posted by Carl E. Olson on Friday, March 24, 2006 at 03:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)

My March 10, 2006, talk in Sioux Falls, SD, about the Coded Craziness...

... can be accessed online here, at the Diocese of Sioux Falls website. It includes the Q&A session and is about 80 minutes in length.

Posted by Carl E. Olson on Thursday, March 23, 2006 at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Our interview with "Catholic Answers Live" is now available online

Last Friday, March 17th, Sandra Miesel and I were guests for an hour on "Catholic Answers Live," the radio show aired by the Catholic Answers apostolate. That show can be listened to in mp3 and RealPlayer formats. Our thanks to CALive and Jerry Usher!

Posted by Carl E. Olson on Thursday, March 23, 2006 at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Welcome to the Da Vinci Hoax blog!

Over the next several weeks and months, Sandra Miesel and Carl Olson will be posting regular comments about what they call the "Coded Craziness" — everything related to the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code, the soon-to-released movie based on that novel, and the incredible interest in the numerous ideas and claims found in both. For those who do not know, Sandra (bio) and Carl (bio) are co-authors of The Da Vinci Hoax: Exposing the Errors in The Da Vinci Code (Ignatius Press, 2004), described by Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago, as "the definitive debunking" of The Da Vinci Code's historical, theological, and artistic claims. This blog is a companion site to the DaVinciHoax.com site, which contains numerous articles, interviews, and free downloads, as well as extended excerpts from The Da Vinci Hoax.

More coming very soon!

Posted by St. Ignatius of Loyola on Saturday, March 18, 2006 at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Recent Posts

  • The Cinematic Code is Dead
  • Atheist scholar: I dislike TDVC as much as Christians do. And here's why...
  • How is the movie different from the novel?
  • GodSpy: "How Dull the Con of Ron"
  • Ya think?
  • TDVC Movie: A Bungled (But Influential) Hate Crime
  • Who's right: The Da Vinci Code or The Da Vinci Hoax?
  • "What Do Christians Know?" | Carl E. Olson for Human Events Online
  • I saw TDVC and I almost lost my faith...
  • Who is historically illiterate?
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