The Conflict of Religion

From the beginning of The Parable of the Sower, religion plays an important role in Lauren's life. Because her father is a baptist minister, Lauren has been exposed to Christianity for many years, but in her own mind she has her own view about how the world operates. Lauren believes that even though Christianity promises hope and security by following Christ, the violence and turmoil gripping her dystopian world is enough evidence to prove that this isn't the case. 

Due to her love of her family and her upbringing, Lauren agrees to get baptized, but eventually, she decides that Christianity is no longer compatible with the new reality of constant change and uncertainty. This idea of inevitable change is one that defines the entire story from the beginning to the end. People all around Lauren, including both her parents and many of her neighbors, as well as countless civilians fleeing Southern California along the highway, get killed swiftly and without warning. Natural disasters like hurricanes strike the country often. 

The reality of inevitable change becomes the centerpiece of Lauren's new religion, Earthseed. It seems that in this religion, God merely exists to facilitate the endless cycle of change in the world, and the destiny of humanity is to colonize other planets. Lauren wants people to realize that there is more to life than just assuming the destruction and death all around them is simply God's plan, and awaken to the new religion she has founded.

Comments

  1. L. MoffittApril 12, 2021 at 7:16 AM

    Lauren's ideas of God and religion are very striking. The idea of God as facilitator of change is intriguing -- it's a God more of the natural world than the human one, I think.

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