When I was 20, I read an autobiography by the late Edwin O. Reischauer, Harvard professor, ambassador to Japan and one of the founders of East Asian Studies in the United States. It remains one of the most influential books in my life–after reading it, I decided that I wanted to A) be a scholar, and B) build bridges between the Japanese and American peoples (this made a lot of sense, considering my Japanese and American biology and upbringing).

Fifteen years later, and I still want to become a scholar and I still want to build bridges. I seem to span a wider chasm now. I want to say that religion is on one side and secularism is on the other, but that would be understating the nuances. There is no clear boundary, but the divide is real. There was an intervening period where I wanted to fight, to rain scathing critiques down on the religion I felt had betrayed me. But no fighting metaphors for me, for now. I often find myself defending religion to the secularists (at work) and secularism to the religionists (at church). I like to think of myself as a diplomat, but sans country to represent.