My take: believing in god is like being in love. It is not something you can explain to someone else.
And for those who don't believe in god, it's impossible to understand how anybody can.
Further belaboring the metaphor: in Christ, Paul falls out of love.
WHY?
Is it because he felt betrayed by his church (Father John and the cake)?
Is it because god proved to be an illusion?
Is it because he is angry at god?
Please, don't get into useless arguments pro /con the existence of god -- you are not going to convince anyone to change his/her mind.
FOCUS on Paul's perspective and HIS reasons for rejecting faith.
READ ALL THE COMMENTS BEFORE YOU ANSWER.
Paul is rejecting faith because he is angry that god would take his father. I felt this way about god when he took my grandmother. I remember saying how could god take someone my only someone away from me if he cared about me. I was so lost without her, she was my crutch, my push, my understanding and my answers. She was not even sick, she fell went to the hospital for her hip and never returned. My family lied to me about it because they knew I was nana's sweetest baby. When they told me I didn't speak for 2 weeks. At the funeral I cried enough for a village, writing this I am crying. When I finally spoke I yelled why do you hate me and fell to my knees in god's mercy. How could the merciful one show me no mercy, how could the merciful one take my reason to breathe. How could I live on, how could I ever be the same. From that day, my relationship with god was never the same. No longer did we speak everyday, no longer did church mean as much to me, no longer was I strong. From the day my grandmother died my faith in god and love weakened. This struggle for Paul is all to real to me. I have never been the same but Ill say this the weakening of my faith in love and god has been the battle of my life ongoing, for my questioning has cost me more then it is worth. It is better to be faithful to the all seeing because he knows what tomorrow will bring and we can only hope and wish. He has the power, we are just the function.
ReplyDeleteDeidre, your comment brought tears to my eyes because it reminded me of the time I doubted the existence of God because of the physical pain I endure due to a health issue. There is no scientific reason for my issue, but it's there. Today, I sometimes pray to God asking for health and other times sit in silence wondering why God would let me endure this pain.
DeleteI believe Paul's falling out of love is due to his anger towards God for taking away his family's means of sustenance, whether it is Geremio or whether it is the help of others. God is someone you turn to when there is no one else and nothing else in this world to help you. When you find no help from God (in Paul's case, he asked for the return of Geremio but Geremio does not return), you begin to doubt his existence. I won't lie, I have had a moment's doubt in my religion during my recent mature years. However, I was able to reconfirm my belief.
ReplyDeleteSO FAR the preferred choice is "Angry at god," which seems rather dismissive because it does not force you to go any deeper than that. It also seems to suggest that he still believes but denies just for spite. (It's not just Geremio's death, it's Ci Luigi and finally Nazone...)
ReplyDeleteLet me rephrase it: Paul is angry at the "lies" he was told about god.
I think so too. I think he's "Angry at god" because he wanted a different outcome and because he didn’t get it has reexamining his faith in some way himself as a person. But it's the anger that is displayed here.
DeleteI think God proved to be an illusion for Paul. He was brought up believing in an almighty being that will one day come and make everything better. From a young age and all through adult hood, he was exposed to tragedy. From his father's death, his brother having a near death experience and having his leg amputated, his God- father's death (which clearly affected him), to his whole family going hungry day after day, night after night. The psychic promised them a visit from Geremio that never happened. When exactly will their salvation come? From Paul's perspective, any of the aforementioned tragic events would have been a perfect time for this great being to present themselves. And why didn't they? Well because they don't really exist and everyone's waiting in vein believing in a false God (again, in Paul's mind).
ReplyDeleteTo me it's simple. Paul feels betrayed by his own religion. The professor's analogy really helps put things in perspective. Practicing religion is like being in love. The relationship only works if there is reciprocation for both sides. Paul used to have faith until the hardships started to pile up without any reprieve in sight. After his father died unfairly, his family received no compensation. His uncle Luigi lost his legs. The cripple "channels" his father to tell him that everything will be alright, but the pain never leaves. Paul nearly works himself to death as he struggles to support his family. In Paul's mind, God no longer exists. He only has on lifetime, and the majority of it has been miserable.
ReplyDeleteI think Paul rejected his faith because he didn't see the fruits of his belief. Everyone around him was heavily invested in the catholic religion and believed in God. However, he saw (up close and personal) the things that occurred in their lives. Not to mention the struggles his family experienced as well as th loss that they were affected by. I think he grew tiredness of believing in something/someone who could not change his situation. Instead, he turned to material things (job) that could, at least, have a tangible result/fruit.
ReplyDeleteIf the belief in god is likened to inexplicable love, then to what extent do we love? When there is love pain follows, its a given. The emotional attachment to someone or something dictates behavior toward that some one or something. The person that Paul put his love and trust in was abscent in his times of need. Father John was of very little help to Paul and he is a dirrct representation of a living form of god. This proved to him god's work and the result of prayer was all an illusion. The none stop pain and strife further proved that god, if there is one, is powerless, The back breaking work for very little, the prayer, the faith that he and his mother has still couldn't stop the hurtbreaking tragedies that plagued his family. Ci Luigi's injury,the death of his father and Nazone couple with the brutal laborand unsympathetic bosses he endured proved to him that his love for and the prayer to god wasn't being equalized, Nothing, up until this point in his life has showed any signs of a god. I think Paul believes he was tricked and lied to about salvation for he and his family. I understand now why he crushed his mother's cross, she is the one who lied to him about god, and tricked him in to believing in his powers. She convinced him to pray and keep faith but she was wrong and it made him angry. Paul believed for so long in something that never existed. I believe he crushed his illusion and simutaneously fell out of love with god when he crushed his mother's cross. In that momet, he rsented both his mother and the person she prayed to so he hurt the people that hurt him.
ReplyDeleteI think Paul was disillusioned from his faith because he felt betrayed by his religion (or the people who were supposed to be the role models for his religion), not by God. When he goes to Father John for help, he is turned away so quickly. Father John went against everything that Paul was taught - that God is merciful and loving and giving. If God's "emissaries" on Earth, the people who are supposed to be representing Him - the clergymen - are not merciful, loving, or giving, then there's something wrong. I think this episode had a deep impact on Paul's faith. Later, when he loses Nazone, the "cruelty" of God's decision to kill him may have reminded Paul of the cruelty of Father John, and those two events together caused him to lose faith, maybe not in God per se, but in His goodness.
ReplyDeleteI think it has to do with the fact that god became an illusion for Paul . Throughout the book Paul shows speak of his faith ,but you can see that he believes in god . His shook when Louis took that they was no god , showed that he grew up in family who believed . He didn't fully understand Louis pain till he started losing people he cared about . I agree is angry with god ,but it started with the illusion he had of god . He knew he had no power to fix his situation, he turned to god and when he didn't receive an answer he became angry with god . Even the people of god were not reliable ,so to Paul it makes him question is god even reliable ? .
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