Most of the people I've encountered talking about it being allegorical or a metaphor are priests. I think they're fairly religious and show up to mass as well.

I used to try very hard to be a believer and went to a lot of church stuff as I was poor and it was free, so I've seen a lot about how the Swedish Church works at least. They're alright as Christian churches go and usually ahead of the curve when it comes to LGBT rights than society at large (they're openly supportive of transsexuals for example).

So while I never truly believed I'm generally supportive of them as a safe space.