Hidden Religion

Authors Note - This is a response to the novel Power and the Glory and how people, even priests, hide their religious beliefs just to stay safe.

During this section in the novel Power and the Glory the main character, who turns out to be a whiskey priest, along with many other characters, display the fact that taboos exist, and that religion is something to hide. In our world today, we take religion as something to be proud of, something to follow, and something to show your passion through. On contrast, the world in this novel, claims to have no religion, and says that there is no God, or nothing like that to believe in.

When the whiskey priest meets a variety of civilians along his journey of escapism, they all seem to have a little bit of Christianity in them, they are just not willing to expose their religious beliefs. Professing your faith is a crime in Mexico, and is something to hide. The whiskey priest is on the run from officers, and seems as if he is doubting his convictions--something he should follow with passion. With every person he meets, he keeps telling the city people that he isn't worthy of hiding, and even though he gives advice, he denies his authority. "But I am a bad priest, you see." (p.130)

Today, hiding your faith is something that strikes our population as strange, and takes some people by surprise; religion is something to express yourself and your beliefs through. If not religion, they at least follow their convictions, to show that they have a meaningful life, and are living for the present. The whiskey priest, along with other citizens, have convictions, just decide not to pursue them--an act that is unknown in our lives today.