I was raised in a Protestant, born-again family. My parents are, to this day, very involved in their church as well as doing personal bible studies in their home and living their lives the way they've been taught by the Bible and by the church. They are also two of the most accepting, loving people that I know and they behave nothing like the people (adults included) in this movie. That being said, I had to laugh at the depiction of the Christian students at the Christian school as being hilariously dead on. I didn't go to a Christian school, but I've been apart of enough youth groups and to enough church camps in my life to know that these "born-again" teens do isolate themselves from non-Christians and do try to make Jesus part of their everyday speak just like the teens in the movie. They speak of doing God's will and showing His love, but they are so narrow minded and intolerant that it's no wonder people make fun of them and avoid them. These people then claim they are being persecuted by the heathan masses when they can't see that they sort of deserve it.

So the premise of Saved! is a young girl who has gone her entire life being born-again and living the perfect Christian life. When her boyfriend tells her that he's gay, she tries to "cure" him by having sex with him. Naturally, she gets pregnant, causing her to have a crisis of faith. The reactions of the people around her, while funny on the surface, were actually quite thought provoking. She's embraced by the two non-Christian in the school and ostracized by her former friends.

In my experience, the problem with these religiously raised kids is that they have been equipped with all of the limitations of the their religion but none of the benefits. While Mandy Moore's character in Saved! is an over the top caricature, I've known girls with her basic tenants. Professing God's love but unable to show any love herself.

I'm no longer as involved with religion as I was when I was under my parent's roof. But I still believe in God and I still believe in Jesus. The most important message in the Bible is love. If you were to read the gospel you wouldn't find Jesus condemning homosexuals. It never happens. You wouldn't find Him ostracizing a teenage girl who gets pregnant. The message of Jesus is love. Love one another the way God loves you. Turn the other cheek in the face of attack. The word love is used more in the New Testament than any other word. But so often in real life (such as in Saved!), the Christians forget that. The thing that makes me the saddest is the fact that most people in the world have been tainted by these so called Christians and have never been the recipient of the love that so many other Christians, Christians like my parents, have to give. You know why? Because those people are not going to jump down your throat the way the misguided Christians will. It's the classic case of one bad apple ruining the bunch.

I recommend Saved! It's funny, but also thought provoking. And to anyone who has ever been the victim of "Christians" like the one portrayed by Mandy Moore, take a close look at the character of Patrick, the pastor's son, and the one Christian in the movie who seems to really show love.

"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." --1 Corinthians 13:13"