The DVC gets a daily beating in the press for mixing religious ideas with fictional themes- and not above a few publicity stunts (the series' latest edition will debut on 6/6/06). Yet very little of that criticism is pointed at another wildly popular series of books that mix pop-cultural religious references with thriller plots- the "Left Behind" series, a series of suspense novels about the apocalypse. The series' (as well as the movie and video game based on it) theological bent makes it a hit with evangelical Christians, and the books are obviously biased toward their particular point of view. The books' heroes are all born again, evangelical Christians- and those that aren't, are pretty much relentlessly annhilated, a series of events many of the books' fans have embraced as literal truth.

Tim Lahaye, one of the series' two authors, has claimed that the Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus and that Pope JPII was the antichrist, yet doesn't catch much flak for his views- or even much notice.

I will give the media some credit for finding a Gnostic outside of a movie theater.

The Da Vinci Code is not just sparking interest in Mary Magdalen, but in the ancient practice of sacred geometry and its architecture.

If the ending of the DVC left you less than satisfied, you can check The Da Vinci Code Seeker's Guide for some new avenues to explore, based on the themes introduced in the book.

Lawyers with the ACLU are fighting the Virginia prison system, saying that restrictions on long hair and beards are unfair to those whose religious beliefs require them to wear uncut hair or beards. The lawyers represent a group of Rastafarian and Muslim inmates who were punished for refusing to cut their hair.

Tom and the Scientologists might get a break for a week or two as the media has another group to ridicule: the Goreans, and thier splinter group, the Kaotians, whose adherent's beliefs are based on a series of sci-fi novels and involve the keeping of women as slaves.