William Wan, the new religion reporter over at WaPo, had an intriguing story over the weekend about a seemingly trivial part of the Facebook phenomenon: Religious views.

I suppose theologians and Ph.D. candidates could spend endless hours chewing over the difference between “religion” and “religious views,” but for now, let’s just say that Wan has uncovered something that turns out to be a moral and theological conundrum for many of Facebook’s 250 million users worldwide.

(For the record, users who stop by my Facebook page will find my categorization of my own religious views: “That’s complicated,” quickly followed by my political views: “I’m not supposed to have any.” )

From Wan’s story:

Amid the endless trivialities of social networking sites — the quotes from Monty Python, the Stephen Colbert for Prez groups, the goofy-but-calculatingly-attractive profile pics — the tiny box has become a surprisingly meaningful pit stop for philosophical inquiry.

Millions have plumbed their innermost thoughts, struggling to sum up their beliefs in roughly 10 words or less. For many, it has led to age-old questions about purpose, the existence of the divine and the meaning of life itself.