Cruel Miracles — Orson Scott Card

"I believe that speculative fiction--science fiction in particular--is the last American refuge of religious literature. Real religious literature, I think, explores the nature of the universe and discovers the purpose behind it. When we find that purpose, we have found God, because in all religions at all times, regardless of the outward descriptions of God or gods, deity serves the same role: He (or she or they) is the purposer, the planner....
-- Orson Scott Card, from his Introduction