Lately it seems like everyone wants to be a code breaker. Why? Because millions of people around the world have been diagnosed with what I’m calling “Robert Langdon Syndrome.”

Even if you are one of the five people alive who has yet to read Dan Brown’s “The DaVinci Code,” you probably have still been introduced to the controversy surrounding the book.

I have one simple solution to help all people come to terms with the book, and I won’t even make you solve an ancient code to find out what it is. Are you ready for this big secret? The answer to all the controversy? Well, here it is:

Understand that the book is a work of fiction! It’s that simple. All you have to do is understand that the book is a creative work made to capture its readers’ attention. Obviously it has done good work of that.

Yes, Brown took inspiration for the book from a variety of sources routed in history, but he never once claims he is writing the, pardon me for the analogy, “word of God.”

And with the recent film version of “The DaVinci Code,” people are becoming more obsessed and the protests continue. But let me remind you that in the past, America has endorsed many movies with similar themes.

Secret societies throughout history. Quests for the Holy Grail. Let’s examine some other pop culture movie phenomena that share these same themes:

In 1989, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas teamed up to bring us “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” The plot of the movie found Indy and his father on a quest for none other than the Holy Grail. Now, in this film, the Grail takes a different form than Brown’s Grail. But still, the story is there.

In 2001, we were introduced to the film version of video game star Lara Croft in the first installment of the “Tomb Raider” saga. Croft’s mission? To locate the illustrious Illuminati Diamond, an ancient relic belonging to a secret society and also the subject of Brown’s “Angels and Demons,” the prequel to “Code.”

In “Code,” Brown makes a reference to Walt Disney being part of a secret society. How could Disney ever be involved in activity like that? Well, even if Walt himself wasn’t, his company sure profited of one society’s ancient legends.

“National Treasure,” released in 2004, follows Nicholas Cage as he searches for a long lost treasure. The treasure was that of the Knights Templar, a secret society referenced heavily in both of Brown’s works.

The point is that the stories that Brown tells in his books are not meant to present some unknown truth. As a matter of fact, most of these theories have been around for centuries. The last time I checked, that’s a lot longer than the 163 weeks that the book has been on the New York Times bestseller list.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not telling you not to read the book. Both “Code” and “Angels” have found homes in my top ten favorite list. However, I am telling you to keep your mind tuned to the fact that the works are fictional and to not take them as the “word of God.”