I was raised as two things: an Episcopalian and a free thinker.

We all come to understand the world around us from different vantage points, and from an early age I came to understand that what interested me most about other people, what really made me understand the differences and unique characteristics that make us who we are, and indeed what made me *want* to understand those things, was this fascinating characteristic quirk of mankind we call "religion".

I think religion is as capable of realizing great, transformative good in the world as it is terrible destruction. I think it is as dangerous as it is beautiful, as misunderstood as it is deeply realized, and it remains the one permanent fixture of the human condition that, no matter how we come to look at it and how it manifests in our lives and minds as individuals, will remain intact so long as we inhabit this planet.

I am politically and theologically liberal and forever at odds with my own beliefs. I beieve dialogue is essential and that we must always strive for understanding among each other and within ourselves. I resist fundamentalism in all its forms; religious, secular, or otherwise. I believe, ulitmately, that we all believe, and that it is in our best interest to explain to each other and to ourselves how, rather than what, we believe.