Pen Truth

Pen Truth Contributor

Ever since the books “Holy Blood , Holy Grail” and “The Da Vinci Code” hit the book stores a lot of television shows have been dedicated to debunking much of what was written in those pages. The Discovery Channel has had its’ fare of shows presenting the viewpoints of a parade of Psychologists, Historians, Masons, Conspiracy experts and Conspiracy debunkers.

These experts try to convince us of just whose point of view is more accurate. I say point of view because most of what is being presented is just a point of view and in some cases pure unadulterated fabrication (and I am not speaking of just the theorists.) The truth I believe is this; historical facts are hard to come by and the public unlike the experts are willing to consider alternative points of view without bias.

When “The Da Vinci Code” first made its’ debut followed by all of the fervor and hype, I kept my distance. You see, I don’t go for flash or follow the crowds, so I am usually late at discovering great shows and movies. A few years prior I read the book “The Sign and the Seal” by one of my favorite writers, Gram Hancock. The Sign and the Seal spurred my interest in the Knights Templar and from there I read many books on the topics of the Templars, the Masons, the Illuminati and the litany of other secret organizations that exist or existed throughout our past. When a friend learned of my reading interests she recommended that I read “The Da Vinci Code”. Well here I am, having devoured all three tomes.

In the program “Hunting The Lost Symbol” which aired on the Discovery last Sunday, we are told by a psychologist that people are naturally suspicious so it is easy for them to accept conspiracy theory as fact. Well it’s disappointing to discover that most of what you learned in elementary and high school was either bad science, purely unsubstantiated belief, or outright fabrication to support political or social agendas, followed by a government that lies to its people on a regular basis. So it’s no wonder the public finds it difficult to believe authoritative figures anymore.

I found it interesting though that “Hunting The Lost Symbol” did not try as hard to debunk “Lost Symbol” as it had the other books, but rather admitted that much of what is presented is fairly factual. The handling of conspiracy theorists claims regarding the layout of Washington DC was interesting too. This time the theory was not refuted outright, rather the symbolic aspect was addressed in vague language, not denial but dismissal with a “So what” attitude. In the past criticism of this subject was harsh and outright inflammatory. I wondered if this was due to a shift in attitude, or that more is known of the true history of the United States today due to closer scrutiny into our past that these books may have sparked.

While there are a lot of bizarre claims being made by the conspiracy theorists, there are also a lot of reasonable claims and interesting and observations being put forward. True, I am intrigued by conspiracy theory, but when married to the fact that a lot has happened over the many decades past, denials which later are quietly admitted to, long after the fervor and public attention has diminished, I am unwilling to dismiss anything out of hand.

As for the debunkers, they are making a buck too. There is one issue that I take with the debunkers and that is this; They state that the Masons and Scottish Rite are not secret organizations because they advertize and post the hours of there meetings, well the CIA posts their office hours as well as their phone number.

For those interested, “Hunting The Lost Symbol” will be airing again in the first week of November. No. I am not affiliated with the Discover Channel, just really liked the show.

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