Hi Mellisa, You have touched on a key fact; people tend to believe what they want to believe. Investigating the "facts" can be a painful experience. Many people today prefer to live in a dream world rather than face reality. Perhaps that's why drug and alcohol abuse is such a problem in today's world. God bless, Dave

Hi Alana, Thanks for posting the link. The website is excellent and very informative. It is of great interest and worth the time to study the historical accuracy of the Bible. As a book of history, it is more solid, reliable, and historically accurate than any other ancient document. (Note that the letter of Paul to the Corinthians can be traced back to within a few years of Jesus Christ; that's YEARS, not centuries, as is the case with almost any other historical documents from the ancient world. That means it is well worth taking the time to seriously study and weigh the evidence (note: this does not mean reading it once like a cheap novel, but actually means diligently digging in and cross-examining the facts.) An excellent book, by a well-known investigative journalist, Lee Strobel, is called, "The Case for Christ," available at Amazon.com. God bless, Dave

Hi, Dave, Do you remember the book by Von Daniken describing the race from outer space that has visited the earth and left evidence all over the place? Much more interesting than the da Vinci Code. You don't have to look far for the reason this book seems so 'real' to so many readers - it sits in the most prominent position in the homes of far too many people. It is called 'the TV'. I despair of having good discussions and conversations any more because I do not 'know' all the characters in all the soap operas. It is unbelievable, the number of times I have heard a conversation about 'people' who turn out to be fictitious but who take on the cloak of a well known friend in the minds of the perticipants. Of course people don't think for themselves any more. It is not something that is taught or encouraged. Thinking people see straight. Look at what Tony Blurr has done in the UK. The education system is geared to the lowest possible level of achievement. Examinations are taken which - literally - cannot be failed if you remember to put your name on the answer page. Excellence is frowned upon and discouraged 'because it might upset the less clever pupils in the school'. Competitive games are no longer played for fear some child will be upset because it didn't win. Do you know that they even have races with only three competitors so that they can all be 'placed'? Chess is definitely 'out' because someone has to win unless a draw is fixed. Comprehension is no longer taught. Composition (in English language classes) is no longer taught. Test papers cannot be marked with a red pen and wrong answers (no matter how bad the answer might be) are treated and recorded as 'differently correct'. Our teachers have been ham-strung by the stupid rules of the politically correct and morally corrupt of our society. Our criminal classes have been elevated to the state of virtue when compared with those vile creatures - the victims. I have had a very severe relapse over the last few weeks, so bad that my wife was told to visit me, and I have taken time out to read the British press. I have been horrified by the sloppy language, almost non-existent grammar and the distortions and miss-use of words. Don't worry about the Da Vinci code - something equally bizarre and incredible will take its place - just be glad we still have children among us who actually desire to learn and people who are willing to risk persecution for teaching them. (If you think that is strong, ask any British parent who has insisted on home education to tell you the obstructions thay have had to overcome and the reaction among their neighbours.) Regards

Hello Art, What poignant comments you make. Over here in Western Australia we are being subjected to a similar dumbing-down of our school children. The "new" syllabus is called OBE - Outcome Based Education. We are informed that there are no incorrect answers, just different ones. I guess that 2+2=4 will now be equally correct with 2+2=5. We have been told that children will no longer be marked down for spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, syntax, mathematical errors and the like. You said: ================ "Excellence is frowned upon and discouraged 'because it might upset the less clever pupils in the school'." ================ Yes. That is exactly what is being foisted upon us here. It's crap. But it's not just the education system that has been hijacked. You also identified the TV... When people willingly fill their heads with rubbish then they become rubbish themselves. Listening to the "water cooler" commentary all one tends to hear are the voyeuristic escapades of those complete nincompoops who participate in what is called "reality" TV, the most notorious of which is "Big Brother." Do you guys get that garbage on your TV's? Big Brother is the most insidious trash. I watched it for several minutes across several episodes just to see what all the hoo-haa was about. It disgusted me - not for the rampant sex scenes and depravity and foul language. What disgusted me most was the number of morons who watch this drivel for entertainment. It is BOREDOM DELUXE. It's just boring, crass, distateful, gutter behaviour pimped across millions of TV's. What also amazes me is how drunk people believe that they have to get to have a REALLY good time. Duh! Or how many drugs they need to get into themselves to be cool. Double duh! What is going on? Why are we being dumbed down? Is life now so pathetic? If you really want to know how much I detest Big Brother go here: http://www.motivationselfesteem.com/Big-Brother-TV-Phenomenon.html Sorry Dave. I got carried away. I just detest this stuff so much and Art's comments set me off - again. Gary

My goodness, what is wrong with people who cannot separate pure fiction (the author made it clear) from fact? I could not get into the book and probably will not see the movie, though I am a big fan of Tom Hanks. I love history, and this book is nowhere close. Yet people treat it as if it were. They are just silly, I guess. Kate