This episode is tackling the problem of blind faith and church authoritarianism. That 2 combined tend to make things worse as soon as sex is involved, let's alone sex abuse. The episode pitches against each other two conceptions of how life must be lived. It is a fight between personal freedom and religious coercion. On control over one's body versus the patriarchy attempt to control women's body. It is also about the relentless effort by white evangelical conservatives to reverse all social advancement made after the New Deal. The way the episode is rendered maybe too much reliant on clichés about both sides, but it is the price to be paid if an episode has to be no longer than 40 minutes. The story would have been better served if would have been parceled into 2 or 3 episodes in order to better articulate every position on this matter. as the argument is very sensible, I was not surprised to see the rightists' onslaught conducted trough demeaning if not insulting reviews of the episode.
Review of The Burden of Our Choices
