Dan Brown’s ‘The Lost Symbol’, conspiracy theories, and Jews

It's a good time to be a conspiracy theorist, said Stephen Marche in Esquire. Dan Brown is gearing up to release "The Lost Symbol," the follow-up to his wildly successful "The Da Vinci Code," which was about a Catholic Church coverup of evidence that Jesus fathered offspring. The new book is rumored to be about freemasons—regardless, it's bound to fuel “the fantasy that someone, whoever it may be, is running the show from behind the scenes.”

The culture that Brown encourages is “nothing to celebrate,” said David Klinghoffer in Beliefnet. Throwing red meat to conspiracy theorists could be particularly harmful to Jews. Brown’s books always involve conspiracy theories, and “in conspiracy culture, Jews traditionally have figured as the spider at the center of the web.”

There's no point speculating about The Lost Symbol's plot, said Ben Hoyle in Britain's The Times. The details are “likely to remain fiercely guarded" until shortly before the Sept. 15 publication date. And remember—Brown’s “books have antagonized Christian groups” in the past, but their “protests” were “drowned out by record-breaking sales.”

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