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Organized Religion In John Wheelwright's A Prayer For Owen Meany

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Individuals experience a system of beliefs, whether it is through an organized religion, or a personal faith. Conspiracies arise between the two organizations, with regards to organized religion taking away from the true meaning of faith. Although many argue that the two are on different ends of a spectrum, it is also believed that personal faith is crucial in being apart of an organized religion. It is argued that the systematic format of organized religion is said to take away the freedom one experiences when following a personal faith. Throughout the novel, A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving, the two protagonists, John Wheelwright and Owen Meany, discuss how organized religion masks the essence of religious faith, how it prevents an …show more content…

Owen criticizes the sacrament of confession as he thinks the Catholics believe that confession equals automatic freedom, as he complains, “IF KENNEDY CAN RATIONALIZE ADULTERY, WHAT ELSE CAN HE RATIONALIZE? I’M FORGETTING HE'S A MACKEREL-SNAPPER! IF CATHOLICS CAN CONFESS ANYTHING, THEY CAN FORGIVE THEMSELVES ANYTHING TOO! CATHOLICS CAN’T EVEN GET DIVORCED! MAYBE THAT’S THE PROBLEM. IT’S SICK NOT TO LET PEOPLE GET DIVORCED!” (Irving 329). Owen sees the practice of confession as being totally misguided and that the Catholic Church is responsible for these manipulations. Criticisms about the way organized religion is carried out reoccur multiple times throughout A Prayer for Owen Meany, as Barbara J. Troyer-Turvey states, “Irving doesn’t miss a chance to point out any of the hypocrisies of the varying religions, of church itself. The portrait of the family sitting in front of him when the kids don’t want to be there – he tells about their dysfunction in such a personal way – you know he was there at some point. I’d be very surprised if Irving didn’t grow up in the church or churches” (Troyer-Turvey

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