For the love of God

As many of you know, this weekend marks the arrival of the long awaited film “The Da Vinci Code” from the novel of the same name. In the past few years, the book has sparked an amazing amount of public debate.




Mainly this controversy surrounds it’s depiction of a Catholic organization called Opus Dei (Latin for "The Work of God" or "The Work"). Opus Dei is an international prelature of the Roman Catholic Church. It has over 85,000 members in 60 countries. Some accuse this organization of secrecy, conducting clandestine financial dealings, ultraconservatism, support for the extreme right wing in politics, and of having a cult-like recruitment regime.




I live in Manhattan, on 35th Street and Lexington Avenue. From my top floor apartment, I have a good view of the newly constructed Opus Dei New York City Headquarters at 243 Lexington Avenue (Pictured above). It occupies the entire corner of 34th Street and Lexington. The building is enormous and cost over 47 million dollars to construct. It has a high tech security system and steel gates that close and lock in the early evening. It is about fifteen stories high and has a massive living space on the top floor with a triangular skylight. I can only guess that is where “the big cheese” lives. No … not Jesus.

From my production office space, I can sit at my desk and watch its members go about their “holy” lives. They run on their treadmills in the morning, and read and pray at night. The members who live there are called numeraries. The men often sleep on the floor, and the women will sometimes sleep on wood planks or without a pillow. All of them must remain celibate. A few years ago, I had a roommate who would bring a new girl back here every week to have sex with her. Since we have no blinds. I can only imagine how difficult that must have been for those numeraries across the street.

I could go on about Opus Dei, but you can find more information and upcoming documentaries from the Opus Dei Awareness Network.

To be fair, you can also get the Opus Dei point of view from one of their members Fr. John Wuack at his site “The Da Vinci Code & Opus Dei”

One passage you will find from this site is this one:

“There are groups, after all, in the Church whose members all use the cilice and discipline, because it is something essential to their vocation. This is not, however, the case in Opus Dei. Most members of Opus Dei do not use the cilice and discipline; within Opus Dei, these things are, in a sense, the exception rather than the rule.”
~ Fr. John Wuack

Some of you might not know what the cilice and discipline are. Here are some pictures for you. You can click the picture for more detail.

The cilice (Pictured below) is a metal linked belt worn around the leg. As you can see from the photo it has tiny barbs, which cut into the skin when worn beneath one’s clothing. It is worn two hours a day.




The Discipline (Pictured below) is a small hand held whip, which is made from white rope. The ends are tied into small knots.




Both are used to remind the user of the pain that Christ endured as he was tortured and eventually killed for our sins.

I have a few problems with Opus Dei.

1) They are so upset over the publication of this book because they feel that it hurts the image of Opus Dei. Most people are intelligent enough to know that Dan Brown’s depiction of this organization is sensationalistic. I firmly believe that what most people find twisted about this organization, can be found written in their own books “The Way” and “The Forge”. Among them is the use of a linked metal belt that cuts into the skin as you go about your day, and a small “pack and go” whip. Do you really think Jesus Christ would want you to be whipping yourself and cutting your skin with self imposed torture devices?

2) Do they really need a 47 Million dollar building? This is the same problem I have with the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church surrounds it's self with wealth. Golden chalices, stone buildings, vast financial resources. The Catholic Church and Opus Dei own massive amounts of stock and bonds. They have all this, while the majority of Catholics around the world live in abject poverty. Is that the message you get from the teachings of Christ? Do you remember the tid bit about having two coats? Luke 3:11 "He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none. He who has food, let him do likewise."

If you guys want to whip yourselves, knock yourself out. If you want to wear barbed leg clamps, feel free. If you want to drag your balls across a cheese grater, power to you. Come to think of it, if Christ saw how little you absorbed from the New Testament he would likely ask you to smack yourself in the face with it.