Question

Which passages from “Church” illustrate the theme that religion can bring a greater sense of purpose and calm?

Select all that apply.

The older monk led us into the pagoda. The place was dark and cool, I remember, with crumbling walls and sandbagged windows and a ceiling full of holes. “It’s bad news,” Kiowa said. “You don’t mess with churches.”

Kiowa made a noise in his throat. “This is all wrong,” he said.
“What?”
“Setting up here. It’s wrong. I don’t care what, it’s still a church.”

“The thing is, I believed in God and all that, but it wasn’t the religious part that interested me. Just being nice to people, that’s all. Being decent.”

“Not a minister,” he said, “but I do like churches. The way it feels inside. It feels good when you just sit there, like you’re in a forest and everything’s really quiet, except there’s still this sound you can’t hear.”

Answer 1

We can select two passages that illustrate the greater sense of purpose and calm brought by religion:

“The thing is, I believed in God and all that, but it wasn’t the religious part that interested me. Just being nice to people, that’s all. Being decent.”

“Not a minister,” he said, “but I do like churches. The way it feels inside. It feels good when you just sit there, like you’re in a forest and everything’s really quiet, except there’s still this sound you can’t hear.”

Step-by-step explanation:

“The thing is, I believed in God and all that, but it wasn’t the religious part that interested me. Just being nice to people, that’s all. Being decent.” --> This passage focuses particularly on how religion brings a sense of greater purpose. Religion for its own sake is useless. Believing in God is not an end in itself. The real utility of religion is to awaken the sense that we can and perhaps should empathize with one another's pain and needs. Being nice to people, being decent, that is the greater purpose.

“Not a minister,” he said, “but I do like churches. The way it feels inside. It feels good when you just sit there, like you’re in a forest and everything’s really quiet, except there’s still this sound you can’t hear.” --> This passage focuses on the sense of calm religion can bring. Churches inspire this tranquility in people. They are often temples where people can go to meditate, pray, worship. In many religions, temples are places to be as quiet as possible, so it is common for the feeling of tranquility to be take over.