The Irony in Religion

Francis Espiritu

ENGL 48B

February 24, 2011

Journal for Twain: Letters From The Earth

Author Quote:

"He took pride in man; man was his finest invention; man was his pet, after the housefly, and he could not bear to lose him wholly; so he finally decided to save a sample of him and drown the rest." (314)

Online source:

The book consists of a series of short stories, many of which deal with God and Christianity. The title story consists of eleven letters written by the archangel Satan to archangels, Gabriel and Michael,^[1] about his observations on the curious proceedings of earthly life and the nature of man's religions. Other short stories in the book include a bedtime story about a family of cats Twain wrote for his daughters, and an essay explaining why an anaconda is morally superior to Man. (Wikipedia)

Summary:

It is in this passage that Twain shows that religion in itself is not perfect. He tries to show that the original downfall in man, pride, can even found in the divinity of God himself. It shows that even though God loves all, the irony lays in the fact that he tries to save man from their pride by making it a sin, when he himself is engulfed in the pride of having created the universe, the world, and man itself. In the end, with the chaos the human race is going through, God ultimately wipes them out with the Great Flood.

Personal Opinion:

What I find ironic is that God shows his love to man by annihilating them through the Great Flood and saving only Noah and his family. What is ironic in this is it is almost as if he "premeditated" this near extinction of man which could be seen as murder in the first degree if not genocide. Yet it is stated that through that love, God himself had to do the ultimate sacrifice by starting the human race over. Yet the key word is "pride" and it's just strange that God would become "prideful". I think in this sense it is as if Twain was saying that religion in itself is not perfect and that even those we look up to have faults; even divine beings. I think in a way it's like a subliminal message from Twain to future generations; saying not to idolize people or to fall too deep into religion. Today, many people idolize musicians, actors, and politicians; yet forget to worship the divine beings laid in the foundations of their respective religions. Yet I view it as another message saying that it is truly okay to have pride. But to be able to stay humble and not being consumed by that pride is the true task. Because in the end, great towers fall if there is a weak foundation; and in this sense that weak foundation can be having a great amount of pride.