Background of the Study
Despite the many controversial claims to the otherwise, one persisting characteristic of the human person is his spirituality. Human beings tend to turn to
religious beliefs in search of ‘inner peace’ and this – in fact – is a universal phenomenon. Seeing that there is no place in the whole world that does not have
some form of a religion with dedicated followers. Religion, however, seems to be a double-edged sword. It does not always
offer spiritual peace to the world. First of all, religious diversity has caused uncountable bloodshed throughout the ages. It is true that a particular religion
would offer some kind of peace of mind to its followers. However, what sort of attitude would it display to the followers of other religions? Secondly, even within
the same religion there are various clashes between groups holding differing versions of “truth”.
Take the row between the Roman Catholic institutions and the Lutheran ‘Protestants’ of the Middle Ages for example. The Lutherans are not so different
from the Roman Catholics in the philosophies and beliefs held; only in details of rituals are they different. They both believed in one Omnipotent Creator God, in
Jesus Christ the Son of the Creator God and in the Holy Spirit or, as they say it in those times, The Holy Ghost. We are not even talking about two different
religions here, as they are, essentially, the same. Yet, history records that the Roman Catholics were convinced that these Protestants were enemies. Even until
today, there is never really an official reconciliation between the two, although both
of them
are now
considerably friendlier
to each
other http:www.newadvent.orgcathen08026a.htm.
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In our modern world of great technological achievements, religious strife may seem to lose its relevance. Yet, the recent 911 tragedy shows the exact
opposite. Religious strife is still a very significant issue and has brought about the loss of hundreds of lives and incited terrible years of warfare. What, then, do we
say about religion? Should we blame it for all the problems its followers have caused throughout the history of mankind? The answer is definitely “No”.
It is not the religions that are problematic, it is the followers. The core of all these religious strives is simply fanaticism. Religious beliefs are, in itself,
good. But then people would project their twisted perspectives into their religions, for various personal gains, and make it into a murderous belief system with
murderous fanatical followers who would use their religion as a basis to justify terrible acts of violence against people they see as different, unfit and separate.
Religious fanaticism is not a new subject. However, the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on the September 11
th
2002 gave people new interest regarding religious fanaticism. People start to discuss it via various media,
including literature. Religious fanaticism is still one of the most popular themes in current literary works. It is interesting to look into these literary works, because it
often depicts the real example of a religious fanatic. One literary work that depicts a good model of a religious fanatic is Dan
Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci Code. In his novel, the character that prominently portrays a fanatic is the character of the Albino monk, Silas. This character is
ready to kill innocents for the sake of the organization that he serves and the religion that the organization taught him, and especially for the bishop that he is
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indebted to. It is toward this character that this paper will focus its study. This paper aims to observe religious fanaticism as demonstrated through the character
of Silas and its significance in this novel.