Creating a Facebook profile for the first time, Eric Heim hadn't expected something so serious. Hunched over his laptop, he had whipped through the social network Web site's questionnaire about his interests, favorite movies and relationship status, typing witty replies wherever possible. But when he reached the little blank box asking for his core beliefs, it stopped him short.

"It's Facebook. The whole point is to keep it light and playful, you know?" said Heim, 27, a college student from Dumfries. "But a question like that kind of makes you think."

Such public proclamations of beliefs used to require a baptism in water, or a circumcision, or learning the five pillars of Islam. Now Facebook users announce their spiritual identity with the stroke of a few keys. And what they are typing into the open-ended box offers a revealing peek into modern faith and what happens to that faith as it migrates online.

Of its 250 million users worldwide, Facebook says more than 150 million people choose to write something in the religious views box.

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William Wan raises some significant issues about why the religion question (which is optional) is such a struggle for many who are declaring themselves on the social networks.

The comparison to baptism, for Christians,  is perfectly valid.

Most Protestants – and especially Evangelicals, believe that baptism is a declaration, a public witness, and a symbol of a faith that already resides inside a person.

Recently, a group from our church went to a public beach and, without fanfare, but also without trying to hide what we were doing, baptized two young people. They were willing to go public with their faith.

The social media phenomenon seems to have a dual affect. While many are declaring their faith, others are, for the first time, declaring their lack of faith.

The outcome is perhaps unexpected: honesty and dialogue. While it may be disconcerting to a parent to open an adult child's profile and discover that he or she is a non-believer, it is also liberating to say what you are.

The church has been teaching that for centuries.

No one is forcing anyone to announce their faith online, but the technology gives rise to opportunity and some folks may be coming out of hiding for the first time.