Angels and Demons

Angels and Demons, the new movie by Ron Howard, based on the book by Dan Brown is a story that requires faith. Not faith in the guidance of the Catholic Church or faith in the legend of the Illuminati but faith that the fictional events depicted and the explanation of those events can be even remotely plausible. The background to those events, require little faith; their truths have been widely documented.
Not open for debate, the Catholic Church has been a guiding force of morality for two thousand years. That guidance, usually done with the goal of compassion towards humanity has often been twisted into unspeakable acts of terror and cruelty in the name of a good and just God. Some of those acts included the hunting down and imprisonment of scientists like Galileo, one of the supposed members of a secret society of a legendary group called the Illuminati. Galileo’s work, like that of a number of scientists and artists, was rounded up, banned from public consumption and often times destroyed by the Catholic Church, all of this part of the historical record.
Not part of the historical record is the imaginative story of Angels and Demons that integrates this ancient struggle into the modern world. Belief in this story just takes faith that the step by step account of this modern conspiracy could have ever been possible. This issue begins to nag as the movie wraps and the credits role and does not alleviate upon contemplation. It threatens to ruin what is otherwise an enjoyable piece of summer entertainment.
The highlight of Angels and Demons is found in the back story. Our modern world is a reflection on all that has come before. The story provides an essence of truth for all to take home and provides a guide to knowledge for those who wish to seek more than what the film provides. Science and religion each seek to explain the world around us that most of us will never understand. Angels and Demons provides a map for anyone wishing to seek their own truth, the distraction of fiction just needs to be ignored.