May 20, 2011 - Religious Freedom

Religion’s presence has always been a foothold in determining society’s morale and way of life. However, the way in which it is interpreted drastically varies from one person to the next, as well as from one era to the next. Throughout Edwards, Stevens, and Hawthorne’s sermons, stories, and poetry, religion in America is presented in a variety of forms. Edwards’ sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” is an attempt to veer society from partaking in the ‘man determines destiny’ trend. Edwards describes the need for Christianity and the consequences if society does not abide by it. He references John 3:18, stating his interpretation that “every unconverted man properly belongs to hell” and that their “sentence” is an assigned, “unchangeable law.” Essentially, once there has been sin, there is no turning back point. According to Edwards, more people reach hell than those who reach heaven. He also depicts God as a rather unforgiving, unmerciful, fearful power. He states that God is “not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it.” By inflicting fear on his followers, he hopes to convert them to Christianity. Since people in the Puritan era are concerned about the rising lack of religious faith, they are more apt to follow Edward’s belief and use of fear. One thing I found rather disturbing about Edwards’ speech and way of presenting religion to America is his metaphors. He describes God as an archer ready to strike at any moment, with His “arrow made ready on a string,” and Edwards depicts hell as a “furnace,” which is “now hot and ready to receive [the sinners].” He also vividly describes sin, how it is “the ruin and misery of the soul,” and that once someone has sinned, God will ensure they suffer for eternity. However, the most disturbing part of all was his reference to children. At first, he addresses the young women and young men, describing the necessity of Christianity for their generation, however, he then goes as far as to address young children and tell them directly that they are going to hell unless they get converted. How can people of this era actually listen to a sermon that threatens them and their children, condemning them to hell? It seems as though people will do anything for some sense of faith or security.

          However, Hawthorne’s story depicted a different viewpoint of religion and the temptations of sin. I personally feel that this entire story was a hallucination and that it was the character, Goodman Brown’s, subconscious feelings toward faith, religion, and sin. The story starts out with Goodman and his wife, Faith, who is scared and wants Goodman to stay with her that night, but Goodman claims he has other things to do and continuously references an “errand” and “meeting.” He ends up going into the forest and suddenly “felt himself justified in making more haste on his present evil purpose” and comes across an evil figure who guides him farther and farther into the forest with his “staff” which is described as “the likeness of a great black snake.” In my opinion, this is referencing sin and the devil. Although at times Goodman is tempted to “do good” and turn around, he keeps wandering farther into the forest and realizes how easy it is to be seduced by sin. This causes him to question his faith and he starts to go crazy. The main difference with Hawthorne’s story and Edwards’ sermon is the viewpoints. Edward uses threatening tactics to convince his audience to convert to Christianity, while Hawthorne depicts a story of a man travelling into his subconscious and realizing how tempting it is to sin, and therefore questions his beliefs entirely.

         When comparing these two religious viewpoints to “Sunday Morning,” we see an entirely different perspective. “Sunday Morning,” in my opinion, was a more relaxed way of looking at religion. Stevens depicts a woman who skips church and seems to appreciate beauty of nature. She questions religion and God, stating, “What is divinity if it can come only in silent shadows and in dreams?” (2). She does not understand why she cannot find faith (or “comfort” as she puts it) in things of nature. She uses a bird reference and states she’s “content” when birds fly in the field and she is fearful of when they leave and there is no “paradise.” Essentially, when they die. However, she also repeats the line “Death is the mother of beauty” because I think that the woman believes that when you die, you reach “fulfillment” and “imperishable bliss” (5). Instead of having the negative notion, like Edwards and Hawthorne portrayed, that death involves eternity in hell, Stevens depicts a rather peaceful bliss when you die. The character is optimistic. When she hears the voice, “The tomb in Palestine Is not the porch of spirits lingering. It is the grave of Jesus, where he lay” she recognizes that Jesus does exist and that there IS religion and faith, but in a positive way. The fact that she does not attend church does not mean she is going to hell. I think this most accurately reflects contemporary religion in America because most people I know have a firm belief that they are going to heaven, and they are optimistic about their fate.

          This section was interesting because, coming from up North, I was never really introduced to religion until living in South Carolina. Although I feel it is beneficial to have faith in some sort of higher power, I’ve found it can be scary sometimes how people who are very religious live in fear: fear that they are going to hell, fear that they aren’t abiding by the Bible. It seemed to be that way in the Puritan time as well. In my opinion, religion is about practicing morality and being a good person, and that moral behavior should come from within yourself and not from fear of what will happen after you die.