I just finished watching the most recent episode of Glee “Grilled Cheesus”, and I was impressed that the subject of non-belief was not handled in the typical manner.  Generally, shows will have the non-believer waver in his/her thoughts and go to a church or ask a god for help out of desperation depending on the situation.  I also thought the characters who wanted to express their faith were handled well too.  The story did touch on religion in school but only lightly, even though it seemed that it was going to be a bigger part of the story when Sue threatened to go to the school board with Curt.

One of the minor problems I had with the episode was the way Sue and Curt came off as angry or spiteful when they went to the school board.  I can understand some of Curt’s anger, after people bombarded him with their faith, even after he expressed his feelings on the issue.  I like that Sue was not just using it as a way to hurt the glee club and it was something she actually believed in.  Im not sure how to feel about the final scene when they performed “What if God was One of Us” and Sue’s reaction to it.  I’m hoping that after visiting her sister,  Sue was more tolerant of the way the kids wanted to express themselves about Curt’s father and not that she was softening her position.

Finn’s worshiping of the Grilled Cheesus was typically absurd and was a light way to deal with a character who was unsure of his faith.  I think Finn’s reaction to seemingly getting what he prayed for was something you would expect from his character and something you would expect from a teen in general.  I was disturbed that he ate the other half of the sandwich at the end, when it had been sitting out for three or four days.  Finn’s arc in this episode was quite realistic to me.  He is a person who is unsure and that is completely understandable considering what the character has been through.

Overall I like how it was handled, and I applaud the crew of Glee for broaching a touchy issue, like faith, in a fair and positive way.  Curt going to church with Mercedes summed up the episode perfectly for me.  Curt was respecting the fact that Mercedes was not trying to convert him, but trying to help and care for him and his father.  As a non-believer, I think the complex relationship of the faithful and the faithless was handled as best it could be on an hour TV show.