WM, a bunch of my friends are PKs (Preacher Kids) and one of my best friends went to Princeton Theological Seminary.

Having grown up in a conservative Christian context and explored religion from a bunch of different perspectives, my bottom line is this: Fundamentalism is bad. Taking sacred texts literally is bad. People who claim to know God's truth are bad. Anyone who claims to be The Chosen One is a liar and a wolf in sheep's skin.

"God" transcends human limitations. We cannot bind "God" into our system of laws, beliefs, and religious practices.

I understand the desire to create some sort of concrete pattern of behavior which feels as if following it puts one a path toward salvation, but it's all much more complicated than what can be translated into a religious tract.

Besides, it much more enlivening and enriching to look at all of this language as metaphor. Hence, my Theology of Cinema series. Look at how the concept of the Messiah is applicable to countless movies and TV series.

And there is power in metaphor. It resists being codified and restricted to this or that belief system. Metaphor doesn't narrow one's understanding but widens it. It embraces the uncertainty of existence, the beauty and majesty of what we don't and can't know.

All of these people who reduce religion to creeds and a set of beliefs one must confess allegiance to, I truly believe Jesus would have castigated them.

Anyhow, having grown up a Christian and still considering myself a Christian, I am distressed by the state of that religion nowadays.

Which drives me to support writers to tell stories which humanize The Other and challenge those who are swept up in the tyranny of partiarchialism.

Anyhow, love over hate. Mercy over retribution. And a living faith over idolatry.