As a constant antagonist of the social order of things, I love a good conspiracy theory.

Therefore, a couple of years ago when the furor over Dan Brown’s new book, The Da Vinci Code, started to build, I rushed to my local library to see what all the fuss was about.

I’m still waiting.

While Brown’s book is entertaining, fraught with conspiracies and cover-ups and peppered with propaganda and Priories, it is not something I ever envisioned countries almost going to war over.

Then again, they have for thousands of years, so what’s the difference now?

The same unbridled rage over blasphemous behavior reared its head with the opening of the movie of the same name. People lined up around the block to either watch it or protest against it, and Pakistan has even banned it for being “offensive to all religions,” despite its not even 2 percent Christian population.

I guess my biggest problem with this whole situation is that I fail to see what the big deal is about.

Have we simply lost our ability to separate fact from fiction, or is the problem that people, perhaps now more than ever, are questioning the stronghold religion has in our lives – whether we want it to?

The Constitutional Amendments are articles of wonder to me, particularly the First Amendment, which guarantees, among other things, “freedom of religion.” Why is it then that the president of this supposedly diverse country often leads it in Christian prayer? Furthermore, if people wish to publicly question the supposed “natural religious order of things,” who are we to stop them?

Maybe Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene were married and had a baby. Who knows? The Bible has been changed, translated, edited, abridged and appendixed so many times, no one can really say for sure that what we are reading today is what was truly written thousands of years ago.

If it was written thousands of years ago, that is.

We cannot lose sight of the things that we find important, no matter what they are. If you decide the worship of Tupperware is the true religion, and nothing on this earth brings you greater joy than singing the praises of the snap the lid makes when it connects to the dish, then be my guest. No one has the right to tell you what you can and cannot believe – not in this country anyway.

Therefore, if you have yet to see The Da Vinci Code, take my advice: Enjoy the story. If it leads you to a questioning of your faith, so be it. If it makes you upset enough to protest against the lack of faith in all things Christian, go right ahead.

After all, how effective can an antagonist be if no one gets upset over what is said?

But if questioning long-held truths is not your deal, might I suggest a cozy evening with Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ instead.

At least that movie was based on facts, right?

Shelley Blundell is a senior magazine journalism major and columnist for the Summer Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].