Severed heads, stoning of adulteresses, woman in veils, martyrs, self flagellation are all symbols and lore familiar to followers of the most ancient and largest Christian religion, Roman Catholicism. As a young boy, the Mass was in Latin and I attended six days a week. To keep it interesting, I went to summer Baptist Bible school. I was fascinated by the lore and confused that there could be different views on the same icons, Christ on the cross, the Resurrection and everlasting life eternal. As a man I have adjusted my beliefs to account for the contradictions and have put away some of the unexplainable and embarrassing details. The Catholic Church has as well. These would surely include the inquisition and burnings at the stake. The Protestant wings of the Christian Church have some unpleasantness as well.
The story in human terms and the evolving role between man and God is dependent on the time. Reforms cannot be expected to take hold from outside. Reform is far more personal. It comes from inside the heart and mind. It requires acceptance of past misdeeds, an act of contrition and a desire and determination to be be forgiven and to change.
Americans have led the way in reconciling religion with the state and with personal freedoms. Perhaps that is the dream that inspired our clumsy entrance into the world of Islam. Perhaps someday something good will come out of it. That seems to require divine intervention, but then that is the idea.
Music mystery of Da Vinci Code chapel cracked
Audio: The Rosslyn motet performed
By Richard Alleyne The Telegraph
A Scottish church featured in The Da Vinci Code is embroiled in a fresh mystery of secret codes and heretical knowledge - but this one could be more than mere fiction.
An ex-RAF codebreaker and his composer son say they have deciphered a musical score hidden for nearly 600 years in the elaborate carvings on the walls of Rosslyn Chapel.
The pair believe the tune was encrypted because knowledge of music could have been considered heretical.
Thomas Mitchell, 75, a music teacher, and his son Stuart, 41, a pianist and composer, say they became intrigued by the markings on the chapel's arches more than 20 years ago.
Thomas was particularly struck by the 213 carved cubes in the Lady Chapel.
"I was obsessed by these symbols. I was convinced they meant something." Using codebreaking skills learned during the Korean War and his knowledge of classical music, Thomas Mitchell finally realised that the cubes depicted patterns made by sound waves.
"After scratching our brains for years the whole thing just came together in a eureka moment. We believe this is the Holy Grail of music and, unlike The Da Vinci Code, it is absolutely factual." Mr Mitchell realised the patterns on the cubes seem to match a phenomenon called cymatics or Chladni patterns. These form when a note is used to vibrate a sheet of metal or glass covered in powder.
Different frequencies produce different patterns such as flowers, diamonds and hexagons - shapes all present on the cubes.
The two men have brought the music back to life using instruments from the Middle Ages, adding words from a contemporary hymn to finish the piece, called The Rosslyn Motet.
Among the theories about Rosslyn is that it is the secret resting place of the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant and even the mummified head of Christ.
