Why has Westminster Abbey decided to embroil itself in the ongoing Da Vinci Code argument?
We're hoping that it might be because it's getting close to the summer and they need to bring in a few extra tourist greenbacks. In which case: well done Westminster Abbey, we salute your entrepreneurial spirit.
Unfortunately, we suspect that the real reason the Abbey has "armed marshals with leaflets to tell tourists exactly what the novel got wrong," is because they're dangerously underestimating the public's intelligence.
Let's just spell this out shall we: reading a book to while away the hours on the tube is not the same as commiting yourself to a religious doctrine.
We've read Foucault's Pendulum and The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and we're not convinced about the whole 'bloodline of Christ' thing...we still enjoyed the read though.
As Umberto Eco himself says in a recent interview: "Dan Brown had the excellent idea of treating it as if it were true. Millions of people believed him. They took it seriously, but it was all a hoax."
If Westminster Abbey are serious about halting the 'influence' of this dangerous text then maybe they should start handing out leaflets which give away the ending to the book. That should put a dent in the sales figures.
