Religion Comparision: Clan of the Cave Bear, Illusions, Stranger in a Strange Land, Siddartha, Life of Pi

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Believing in stories Popular culture is filled with self-help books and how-to series that explore religion, but sometimes a revelation of faith can come in a work of fiction. Rarely these books are directly religious; often, more philosophical; and sometimes just a great story. Five unique books have made up Otterbein College’s Religion course. They are Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel, Illusions by Richard Bach, Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein, Siddartha by Hermann Hesse, and The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. These stories, at their root, examine religion as a method humans have developed to make their lives more comfortable, meaningful, and more understandable. In The Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jean Auel, the main character, Ayla, finds the religion of the clan as a way to fit in. Iza, the clan’s medicine women, tells Ayla that a clan ritual will make her one of the clan. Iza says that “with the assigning of her totem she will become a part of the clan”, and that she could not be kicked out after receiving her totem for fear that it would upset the spirits. The assigning of a totem is used by the clan as a sort of affirmation of the clan’s religion, comparable to the use of patron saints in the confirmation of today’s Catholics. Ayla find comfort in belonging through this ritual. Later in the story, Ayla gives birth to a child after being raped by a clan member. The clan uses their belief system to explain why Ayla’s child is deformed. The child was of mixed race (Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon), which makes him appear unusually shaped in their eyes. But their beliefs say he is that way because the spirits were unfavorable on the child. This belief system helps the clan better explain and understand life’s cruelties. In Illusions, author Richard Bach tells the story of a messiah trying to teach the people about religion. Donald Shimoda (the

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