tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387588.post114746706545807628..comments2023-10-18T03:53:59.377-04:00Comments on The Last Debate: The XL CodeAndyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13524483460829802534noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387588.post-1147778747321691412006-05-16T07:25:00.000-04:002006-05-16T07:25:00.000-04:00Jarred: Wow. I rarely have to look things up--th...Jarred: Wow. I rarely have to look things up--three things in one short comment was a shock ;).<BR/><BR/>Having wikipedia-d Thelemite, I was impressed by their symbol closely resembling Brown's conception of the Star of David, but Brown doesn't give me the impression (though his writings) of being too serious about finding his Thelemitic-ideal True Path ... and yeah, the description of sacred marriage (this is the translation I came up with for your "heiros gamos"?) was ... well, I wouldn't think it came across as any kind of "holy" ... I've read better proposals for witnessed holy sex rituals (which descriptions are, notably, not pornographic--in case anyone wondered about my apparent inconsistency ;) ).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387588.post-1147725693881571812006-05-15T16:41:00.000-04:002006-05-15T16:41:00.000-04:00And of course when the whole book is predicated on...<I>And of course when the whole book is predicated on us (society) not giving enough honor to the feminine, the sex ritual is all about HIS orgasm (and resultant access to the divine),</I><BR/><BR/>KR, when I read the above, it occurs to me that maybe Mr. Brown is a closet Thelemite. Or more seriously, maybe he drew too heavily on the writings of Crowley and those influenced by him.<BR/><BR/>To be honest, I found much of the description of the heiros gamos as presented by Brown to be bothersome.Jarredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04793668797961461325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387588.post-1147576677118230622006-05-13T23:17:00.000-04:002006-05-13T23:17:00.000-04:00Nah, as a Catholic, I am prefectly OK to read it. ...Nah, as a Catholic, I am prefectly OK to read it. And did. I just know where most of the errors lie, is all (and I am not talking about the married/bloodline question, which is clearly not provable either way, since everyone then either thought it wasn't important or was so obvious it didn't need to be noted--although I'd of course say the preponderance of evidence is pro-celibate-Jesus ;) ).<BR/><BR/>Andy--looking good ... can't wait to see the rest. Terribly funny use off The Da Vinci Code style.<BR/><BR/>[SPOILER ALERT]<BR/>The thing that makes me angry about the book (besides the fact that so many people take it and Angels and Demons as, ironically, some sort of Holy Writ--which is so stupid it just makes me grunt, not argue) is two related just really stupid errors in the internal logic of the book: <BR/>1) The whole Mary Magdalene divinity/importance thing is predicated--by her supporters!--upon a figure (Jesus) the worshippers are bent on de-diefying and generally de-emphasizing. Godess worship, sure, whatever--but if She is superior, Her divinity shouldn't be dependent on a He you consider divine only when it's convenient to your desired proof-of-concept.<BR/>2) And of course when the whole book is predicated on us (society) not giving enough honor to the feminine, the sex ritual is all about HIS orgasm (and resultant access to the divine), and Mr Smarty Pants gets to solve the riddles while the brilliant female cryptographer looks on wide eyed and apparently blank-minded, and then she rewards all his Hard Work by sleeping with him, just like a good little female-thrall in any other hetero-male-fantasy crime-book ending (that also pissed me off about Angels and Demons ... the sleeping together made reasonable sense after the life and death(s) struggle, but was the "Have you ever slept with a yoga master?" line REALLY necessary, or merely titilating and vapid? Yuck). A female thrall who happens to be the last fertile female descendant of Jesus and M.Magdalene, no less. Grr grr grr.<BR/><BR/>And SO many people are all "Oh, it really opened my eyes to the Catholic Church and the errors of Christianity"--yeah, whatever.<BR/><BR/>Like mysogyny didn't exist before Christ, and we invented and codified it. And like the Catholic Church has never done anything to fight the cultural established norms and try to equalize women's status. Freaking stupid "Enlightenment." Dropped us back 1500 years. Hey, THAT was smart: Let's idealize the most established mysogenistic cultures in Western history--and then blame the Christians for keeping women down. Because, you know, it all stems from that priests-only thing.<BR/><BR/>Grrrrrrrrr.<BR/><BR/>In good news, I'm betting the studio loses half of its possible box office because Tom Hanks' hairstyle is SOOOOOO bad :).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387588.post-1147521366563132152006-05-13T07:56:00.000-04:002006-05-13T07:56:00.000-04:00I'm intrigued...LC -- if I'm not mistaken, it's a ...I'm intrigued...<BR/><BR/>LC -- if I'm not mistaken, it's a takeoff of the Da Vinci Code. But as a Catholic, you're forbidden to know anything about that. As is my mother, who recommended the book to me.Courtneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03792779327477619787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387588.post-1147473059206612012006-05-12T18:30:00.000-04:002006-05-12T18:30:00.000-04:00Hmm, well if this is based on the Last Temptation ...Hmm, well if this is based on the Last Temptation of Christ Jesus, I'm guessing Jesus will turn out to be a womanizing drug addicted hippie who turns over the tables of the merchants in temple between holding anti-Bush rallies near his home in Berkeley. He cheats on his wife, Mary Magdalen (with whom he fathered several kids who later continued his bloodline in France) frequently and experiments with all sorts of free love, including the homosexual sort.<BR/><BR/>(Don't consider this a serious portrayal of the book as I have not even seen the movie in its entirety)tullyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01197709180292694356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387588.post-1147467631610740932006-05-12T17:00:00.000-04:002006-05-12T17:00:00.000-04:00I'm curious to see where this is going.I'm curious to see where this is going.Jarredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04793668797961461325noreply@blogger.com