Glee-ligion

I've heard mixed reviews on this week's episode of "Glee." The reviews have been on the spectrum of "I cried at the end!" to "Meh. Disappointment." I fell somewhere in the middle--I wasn't blubbering by any means, but I daresay it was one of my favorite episodes--not necessarily entertainment wise [although I did quite enjoy Sue as always and the Grilled Cheesus was cracking me up] but more for intellectual reasons. I daresay this is the best discussion of religion that I've ever seen in the mass media. In general, I must say that when the issue is brought up people generally tend to tense up and get all defensive and what not. But that's not what this episode was--it was an open and honest discussion. In general I feel like discussions of religion through the media are very one-sided--one side is seen as more or less stupid for believing what they believe, whether that is in God or not. However, I loved the story lines because everyone had their own reasons for believing what they believed--and how could I blame Sue or Kurt for not believing in God when they'd experienced so much pain? And as Emma said when she was talking to Finn when he was going through his Grilled Cheesus crisis, these questions are big for a reason. I actually get more afraid of people who DON'T question anything then the ones that do. Kurt pointed out how the church doesn't think too highly of gays or women...I can't blame him for not wanting to be apart of an organization like that, and I think it was good for churchies to hear. Finally, I loved the scene at Mercedes' church where she tells Kurt that hey, it's OK if you don't believe in God, but you're always welcome here, and I hope you find something to believe in. That's how I think it should be--this inclusive community where we walk and think through the big questions together. And I have to thank Glee for not portraying people who believe in God as hypocritical or loud-mouthed or arrogant--I felt like those that believe in God on the show [minus maybe Quinn in earlier episodes] were caring, thoughtful and had just as many questions as everyone else. I was talking to a friend about the show and what he thought and he said that he didn't feel like it had closure...and I pointed out that life sometimes doesn't have closure--We're all wondering what life is about, and it seems to me we focus so many times on the insignificant differences and let those become divisive verses the questions and the times of pain and joy that we all seem to share in common as human beings.