Dan Brown has done it again with his great new book, Origin. It matches his previous book the Di Vinci Code, as it explores another of the fundamental beliefs of where are we from – and a plausible prediction of what the future holds. Many people accept Charles Darwin, who in 1859 published his theory: On the Origin of Species about evolution. By 1925, John Scopes, a high school teacher was fined $100 and later fired for teaching the theory of evolution. This case was about our origin with the inference that chimpanzees could be humans’ distant cousin, rather than humans as a result of a divine decent. Dan Brown’s book is about a billionaire scientist who had pronounced that he was about to publically make a presentation on our origin and where we are going. This exciting tale makes it difficult for the reader to put the book down.
To me, Origin is a wake-up call for religious leaders and their congregations to focus on the religious requirements for successful human relationships. Dan Brown’s tale is a mind-stretcher that goes far beyond various faiths to include their impact on various governments, such as Iran and their favorite chant, “kill Americans and kill Jews,” which instills a belief that a killer of Americans and Jews shall be treated in afterlife with special rewards. Origins includes violence to suppress a pronouncement of origin. It appears that the historical reasons to ensure religious credibility are no longer valid in today’s science-based world. The story is what could happen in a monarchy kingdom if a scientific statement is nationally presented on origin with an absence of religion. Dan Brown’s book is a fictional account of the chaos that erupted when the concept that religion is no longer needed in a world dominated with science, including how order prevails because of religious teachings for successful human relationships. As a reader of the book, it gave me enormous confidence that the world depends on both science and religion. This story bridges a gap relating to providing credibility for successful human relationships in a primitive world without science.
Years ago, before the Di Vinci Code was published, and as a member of the Knight Templar Masonic Order, I visited the church east of Edinburgh, Scotland constructed by the early Knight Templars that is referred to in the book. The docent led my party to the mortuary behind the alter, and told us about the legend that the decedents of Jesus and Mary, who was believed to have escaped the Holy Land for France after Jesus’ crucifixion, where protected from persecution by the Knight Templars and their remains were buried in this church. The docent comments were: “We have a lot of bones buried here that we cannot identify. We have no proof that the legend is fact.” Likewise, there is no absolute proof on the origins of the human species.
Dan Brown’s book, Origin brings peace on earth as it allows us to respect our religious creed, while also accommodating science. Our infinite endless universal space is far too large for us, as mere mortals, at the beginning of the age of science to have all the answers.