The DaVinci Code and Doubting Thomas

I'm from Missouri -- the "Show Me" state.  Many people seem to have trouble understanding what "show me" means, but all it conveys is that Missourians are skeptics.  When we hear outrageous claims or tall tales, our first response is "Oh really?  I'll believe it when I see it."  Hence, the Show Me State. 

Which leads me to My Favorite Apostle.  He happens to be Thomas, the Doubting One.  Why?  Because he was likely from Missouri.  Thomas knew Jesus, loved Jesus, followed Jesus, and became not only a disciple but one of the Big 12 -- an Apostle. 

However, even after all that, Thomas still doubted that Jesus had risen from the dead.  He told the other Apostles, "When I can see him in person, and put my hand in the wound in his side, then I will believe it is him."  And that's why Thomas is my favorite Apostle.  Like me, he is a skeptic.  He wants to believe, but he won't be suckered into abusing his faith or risking his spirit.  Thomas is willing to work for his faith; he won't blindly follow what others say. 

This brings me to the hot news topic of the day: the release of the film version of the novel "The DaVinci Code."  The Roman Catholic Church has taken deep offense at this film because it brings to the screen a book that they have been attacking since it's publication.  Dan Brown, the author, has the audacity to question.  His story refuses to bow to dogma.  This upsets the Vatican. 

Why?  Because it makes the Church look bad, and "The Church" does not like to look bad.  It's facing a shrinking membership and waning influence on the world stage, so the Church leadership is trying to convince practicing Catholics to boycott this film, while encouraging them to use it as a tool to evangelize to others. 

What the Church doesn't like about this book is that it portrays them as an institution that relies more on dogma than truth, and this reliance leads them to lie and cover things up.  This is the same Church that didn't include the Gospel of Thomas in the final version of the New Testament, even though Thomas knew Jesus personally.  Why would you leave out the book by a guy who actually knew Jesus? 

Because the theme of Thomas' Gospel is that the Kingdom of God is within you and all around you.  If that's the case, you don't need an institution to guide you into heaven, now do you?  Letting people read Thomas' Gospel means they might not follow you, thus decreasing your power and influence. 

The Early Church leaders opted instead to base half of the Four Gospels (the foundation of the New Testament) on a book credited to an obvious misogynist (Paul) who never even met Jesus, and his physician friend, Luke, who got the whole tale second-hand from Paul.  Let's remember: Paul hit his head pretty hard when he fell off that horse so it could have affected his recollection of events. 

As far as the crux of the suspense in "The DaVinci Code" -- was Jesus married to Mary Magdalene? -- the Church won't even entertain this idea, despite the fact that in Jesus' time it would be stranger for him to be a bachelor.  Let's remember: Jesus was a Jew and a Rabbi, not a Christian.  All things Christian were super-imposed on him after he died. 

The Church claims that it can't be proven that Jesus was married.  The thing is, the Church can't prove he wasn't. 

From its earliest days, especially the dark years after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Church set out to destroy anything remotely related to the influence of the feminine spirit, for purely secular reasons.  There was a power vacuum to be filled, and the Church was going to fill it. 

Despite the fact that Jesus himself considered Mary Magdalene one of his closest friends, whether he was married to her or not, the Church painted her as a whore.  Her Gospel was also quashed, like Thomas'. 

But let's remember who Jesus appeared to first after his Resurrection: Mary Magdalene.  She was the only one brave enough to tend to her Teacher's body after the Sabbath.  All the male apostles were hiding, too scared to move.  She also stood by Jesus when he died.  You don't read about Peter standing at the foot of the cross.  Some "Rock" to build a church on.  My vote for first Pope would have been Thomas.

I was raised in the Catholic Church, and at one time was so devout that my Mom said I could preach Satan himself into heaven.  As I got older, though, I started to see many cracks in the Church in which I was raised. 

The congregations were ministered to by alcoholic priests, and priests that were sexual offenders.  Girls and women were treated worse than second class citizens, and then told that's because it's the way God wanted it.  Funny how you can explain away so much bad human behavior by blaming God. 

In my sophmore year of Catholic high school, all the girls were shown a film about rape.  Demonstrating what low regard the Church had for females, the message of the film was delivered by a man, and his point was: "So what if you were raped?  You're still alive aren't you?" 

And, to add insult to injury, since I was attending the Archdiocesan high school, all the pregnant girls were kicked out until after they gave birth because they would "set a bad example."  All the boys who got them pregnant, however, were allowed to attend school as if nothing had happened.   The girls got the message very clearly. 

These are just a few of the things that I encountered in my brief 18 years as a female member of the Roman Catholic Church.  Expand this by two millenium and multiply it by the thousands of women that the Church has mistreated.  How many women lost their self-esteem, and their souls, for "the Glory of God," Catholic-style?

Include in that equation the hundreds of children, both boys and girls, that have been sexually exploited by the ones they should trust the most -- priests.  Then add to that how long and hard the Church leadership worked to cover it up rather than confront the evil in its midst and destroy it. 

The Roman Catholic Church doesn't need a novel to make them look bad.  They are doing a fine job all by themselves. 

In the end, "The DaVinci Code" is just a novel.  An interesting premise, yes, but still a work of fiction.  Even if Jesus was married and had children, it is too late for that knowledge to have any impact.  Jesus's love and respect for women -- the sacred feminine -- has been buried too deep for too long. 

Our world is damaged almost beyond repair by thousands of years of the oppression of women.  All we have is now.  The past brought us to this place, but we decide where we go from here.  Should we spend our time arguing about something that doesn't matter, or should we set about making a better world?