I, along with a few friends, began to break free of religious belief precisely because we were naïve ones who took the teaching of the church more seriously than those in the church.

Quite a few of our countrymen believe America has declared war on Christianity. Sounds terrible. And deserving of further analysis. All true patriots concerned about this state of affairs will want to know more, will want to get to the bottom of what is happening in our country.

Years ago, I believed in a lot of things like heaven and God. And I was told that to really believe in them, I had to eliminate any kind of doubt. The problem was I'd study the Bible and doubts would creep in.

I'd been warned if we posted our MIT Survey on Science, Religion and Origins, I'd get inundated with hate-mail from religious fundamentalists.But most of them didn't come from religious people, but from angry atheists!

Minding my own business. That's all I was doing when I came across an article about a pastor, Kevin Swanson, who warned on his radio show that inside of ten years, gay people will likely be burning Christians at the stake -- because, you know, that's how the gays do ... at least since Nero.

This attitude can have profound effects on our world and our deepest selves. By definition, if our orientation is toward pursuing truth rather than possessing it, we are admitting that we don't know, that there is a great deal left to learn and discover.

The thing I find most troubling about fundamentalism, whether in politics or in religion, is the war fundamentalists declare and then wage on almost anyone whose opinion or understanding of truth is different from theirs.

In his new book, "500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars," Kurt Eichenwald revives the story of George W. Bush, Bible prophecy and the Iraq war. He also gives us the opportunity to reflect on the dangers of fundamentalism.

Let us "choose this day" to proclaim the Gospel According to Hillary: to answer ignorance with enlightenment; to answer hatred with understanding and to answer darkness with light.

Anything that leads to murder should raise doubts about its legitimacy when put in service of so-called spiritual truth. That killing was done "for God" and yet didn't lead to a complete re-think about the theological "approach" to a relationship with God is simply insane.

In a show that's never shied away from commentary on religion and politics, this season has been particularly charged. It's life as a horror story, but with great meaning.