"Jesus or Dan Brown. You can't have both"

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/opinion/19douthat.html?scp=3&sq=op-ed%20articles&st=cse

In the article "Dan Brown's America" written by the columnist Ross Douthat on May 18, 2009 and published in the op-ed section of the New York Times, Douthat talks about a subject that has been on the minds of many people every since all sort of controversy was created by the novels made by Dan Brown. 

Right after Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" was published, and soon after it was read by almost half of America along with a large international crowd, the novel created much controversy. Although his novel was page turning and the plot was contained suspense, romance and drama it also openly criticized much of the Church's activity in the society. Not only the novel accused the Church of many of the problems in modern day but it also criticized it from ancient times, from the beginning, starting with the life of Jesus and the way the Church depicted him. 

Although there have been many opinions against the Church in the past by many organizations around the world, this novel created a huge impact. But why this novel? In my opinion, the answer to this question lies in the fact that it is still literature, it is still a novel, a form of entertainment. And since people started reading it as if though they were reading any ordinary novel and did not realize until later on that some of the things mentioned in the novel were actually real, people kept on reading. 

As Douthat said in his article, "But if you want to sell a 100 million, you need to preach as well as entertain — to present a fiction that can be read as fact, and that promises to unlock the secrets of history, the universe and God along the way." This is true in every single aspect. In order to truly affect the reader you must be able to write about things that 'hit their hearts', touch upon subject matters that you know will have strong opinions from both sides. 

So like his first novel, Dan Brown again stirs up the public with his second novel 'Angels and Demons'. Not only is it the novel but it is the fact that it is now a major motion picture (this time a good one) which means it is now available to everyone of any age, it doesn't matter if they don't know how to read. 

At the end of Douthat's article, he clearly states his opinion relating the Dan Brown/ America situation.  Not only does he accuse Brown of giving out false information but he also blames him for creating confusion in the american public. He believes people should stop questioning whether Brown says the truth ( since he already says its pure lies) and concentrate more on their lives. In other words, he is telling the public to realize they are being manipulated by a novelist.