Religion, The Source Of All Evil

    "Conclave was not an election. It was an ancient, mystic transfer of power. The tradtition was timeless . . . the secrecy, the folded slips of paper, the burning of the ballots, the mixing of ancient chemicals, the smoke signals" (Brown 156).

     Throughout history, people have fought over rights and feelings and land and most of all, beliefs. The barbarians would fight over food. The Greeks would fight over love (Trojan War). The Romans would fight over land. Europe would fight over religion in the middle east.

    With thousands of wars in our bloody past, we
can look back and find that tradition and religion brought mass conflicts of what is right and wrong. In the book, Angels & Demons, the author depicts a long lasting grudge between religion and other beliefs. The Illuminati is on the opposite side of the Church's rituals and beliefs. They believe that the world's problems could be solved through the power of science, while the church believes that God could help them through. In the 1600s when the Illuminati first was established, the Church hung 4 of the smartest scientists in the world that were apart of the mysterious group. These killings were because of the Church denying any other ideas than what was in the Bible. In the story, the Illuminati gets back at the Church and plants a bomb in the heart of the city while the Conclave was taking place. Also, every hour they would kill one of four main Cardinals!!!!

    The book has a big theme throughout the text. This theme is that culture and religion can bring people to tenacious actions. The ideas that groups enforce on people can affect a society and every individual. That is what happened to the group of people that joined the Illuminati. They believe that science could be the right way to think, but the church prosecuted them for their thoughts. This is what brought them to the conflict happening in the book. In the book, it says, "'Obliteration of Catholicism was the Illuminati's central covenant. The brotherhood held that the superstitious dogma spewed forth by the church was mankind's greatest enemy. They feared that if religion continued to promote pious myth as absolute fact, scientific progress would halt, and mankind would be doomed to an ignorant future of senseless holy wars'" (Brown 32). This quote shows that there are some people that believe their groups are "correct". This leads to lots of holy wars that can lead to the end of the human species. The Catholic Church and the Illuminati back then were extremely bullheaded about their opinions on life. This affected how people lived and what they did. Some people would live and breathe the ideas of christianity while others would believe in science. The conflict altered life back then and brought lots of unknown wars to the world over science and religion that is still prevalent today, like the Bill Nye and Ken Ham debate who fought like the Wibur the pig and the butcher.

    I believe that this book can give someone a learning experience. The book contains the idea that because of people that say "my way or the highway" there are conflicts and fights between different groups. In the book, the author details of the Roman Catholic Church. They had horrid ties with people that believed in science. In the book, it says: "'The world does not need a new Pope. After midnight he will have nothing to rule over but a pile of rubble. The Catholic Church is finished. Your run on earth is done'" (Brown 133). This quote shows the hatred between beliefs that don't give leeway to other ideas. I think that people should not be obstinate or strong headed on culture or religion. Every so often, I go to church. Sometimes, the leader of the service will say that other religions are "wrong" and that we should pray for the group's "sins". I think that calling other religions wrong is unethical and somewhat socially incorrect. Everyone has a right to believe in what they want and just because they don't believe in Jesus does not mean they are bad people. Religion gives hope to everyone and helps people in need, but sometimes their ideas conflict with other groups, leading to more fighting in our world, which we do not need. Though some people are open minded to anything, others seem to be stuck with what they are used to and will not accept different causes. It is not bad to be devoted to a religion, but pushing the belief on others and saying the other is "wrong" crosses the line. The author does a good job of questioning the most prominent fighting over religion. This can help us all see other sides of things and not necessarily agree, but to agree to disagree on things instead of fighting.

-What would the world be like without religion? Would we be advanced? Or would we be troubled with no moral law in the world?

Robert & Vittoria

Angels & Demons is a thrilling novel that leads you down the narrow alleys of Rome, then through the markets and into your imagination. Through out the text, the characters react to the misfortunes of the century. The illuminati had stolen the large amount of Anti-Matter from the scientists in Europe. The characters have varied reactions to the events, that pulls the plot forward.

Robert Langdon is one of the protagonists in this book,  he is one of the characters that keeps the characters sane and not doing absurd things in order to save the citizens of the Vatican City. Robert is one of the more responsible leaders of the group and thinks logically for answers on solving the conflict. "'No. It's dangerous. I'll go'" (Brown, 228). This quote describes the caring and responsible qualities of Langdon. He reacts in a scared way and responsible manner, instead of a crazy approach on finding the truth of the Illuminati.

Vittoria is a strong and courageous woman. Although struggling with the death of her dad, we find her in the book as a strong leader and outgoing adventurer. She often reacts in an outgoing manner. She is the brave military like character that pushes on confronting the disaster directly. "'Move!' Vittoria snapped the phone shut" (Brown, 214). This shows Vittoria's strong attitude and aggressive strategies toward the conflict in the book. Instead of being scared, she reacts in a brave matter and goes to save the city.

Da Vinci Code vs. Angels & Demons

Priory of Sion

The book I am currently reading is called Angels & Demons by Dan Brown. This book is a thrilling sequel to the first book of the series called The Da Vinci Code. In the first book, the author tells a story of the main character Robert Langdon investigating the brutal murder of the Louvre's currator. In Angels & Demons, Robert runs into another problem. He is faced with the death of a famous scientist who was killed then robbed of his new invention of anti-matter. This anti-matter has the potential to power New York for 3 days, but also to destroy an entire city.

As a reader of the series, the books present a thrilling story with lots of history lingering in the mysterious text. Though both stories are appealing to me, I find that The Da Vinci Code is far better than Angels & Demons.

The Da Vinci Code has facts about Mary Magdalene, the Knights Templar, and Priory of Sion. This historical backround really pulls the story forward and makes for a more interesting and mysterious plot. I liked this book a lot more because of it's dark secrets and action packed story.

So far in Angels & Demons, the plot is somewhat boring. The story tells of an Illuminati terrorist that got a hold of antimatter and is planning of bombing Vatican City. As well as bombing the city, he is killing the 4 most important Cardinals every hour till the bomb explodes at 12 AM. Although the book does describe some facts about Galileo and the Illuminati, there are far less interesting and spooky facts in the text. Also, there is less action as the characters try to stop the bomb from exploding. Personally, this book is not as great as the first book. I do predict that the plot will pick up and more action will occure in the next hundred pages or so.

If you have read these two books, which book do you think was more intersting?