Steiner 1 Caleb Steiner Mr. Harrell English Comp. 1 16, Sept.

2013 The Theory of Believing in Belief Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it (John 14:12-14 KJV). Kevin Roose, a simple teen in a confusing world, has written one of the best analytical reports on Christianity that has been composed in quite some time. Mainly I am speaking of his novel, The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinners Semester at the Worlds Holiest University. Roose chooses to write about his own life experiences, things that have stood out to him as different. Consequently, you cant get much more different than the lovely prison that is Liberty University. Roose has written about not only the thoughts and beliefs of those attending the University, but about his own beliefs, making one of the best analytical essays ever, into one of the most stimulating novels to read. One significant quote from the book that captures my attention is when Roose writes Most of all, Ive learned that faith, worn correctly, can be amazing and life-changing. Having met Liberty students who use their faith to improve their lives and the lives of the

Steiner 2 people around them, I can say with relative certainty that although I dont always believe in God, I believe in belief. (Roose 284) This quote is one of the most influential words that we receive from Roose about the future, stating that basically, he believes in belief, which may not mean much, but this could mean so much more for the future of our generation. Ultimately, the theory behind this quote, is that believing in belief will allow a person to become who they are meant to be, regardless of what others want them to be, whether it be Christian, atheist or even something like a homosexual. In the bible, there are multiple connections between being Christian and praising God, as this is the proper Christian way. Christianity is not just a religion or moral preference. In fact, Christianity goes way beyond these minor definitions. Christianity is a way of life. The life of a Christian is a devoted and holy promise to God that, as his children, we are to look up to him, follow him in his ways and of course, believe in him and put nothing else before him. A prime example of this statement is shown in the writings of the apostle John when he writes For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16) This very well-known quote, in turn, wraps up this spiel, if this is what you so desire to call it, on Christianity stating that belief is one of the human minds strongest allies in faith believing. Now that that is out of the way, there is still the matter of explaining the prior mentioned theory that was a result of Rooses quote on believing in belief. You see, the reason that things like religion, sexual preferences and even everyday choices are able to be made, is because the human mind tries to make itself believe in something. Humans as a whole are very strange creatures that tend to make their own ethical decisions based on what we are not only taught, but what we lead ourselves to believe from this information that is retained. Being raised in a family

Steiner 3 that perhaps has two same-sex partners may lead the child to believe that homosexuality is not a bad thing, whereas, a child born into the family of a very religious foot-washing Baptist may be led to believe that homosexuality is the work of the devil and that the gays are evil. However, just the same, the complete opposite could happen. The homosexual couples son could grow up to be very religious and be against homosexuality and the child with the religious family could turn out to be a homosexual. This is quite the predicament that these children will face, however, Roose also writes And over time, I found that the distance separating my two worlds all but collapsed. Having thrown off the yoke of exaggeration and half truth, I was now free to be the same guy---the exact same guy--- when talking to my Liberty friends and my brown friends alike (Roose 314) Stating that in his mind, neither sides are one-hundred percent correct. All these situations leads us to what the theory is meant to prove, that our beliefs, as humans, will decide our fate. In the case of each situation, the child of the homosexual and Christian parents, as well as Rooses own situation, each individual is presented with the choice of how they will live their life. Roose chooses to live his life not picking favorites according to the previous quote, however, this quote has something very interesting about it. This factor being that it is in the back of the novel, and that there is no previous mention in the beginning that this is how Roose always felt. This means that at some point, Rooses beliefs could have quite possibly changed due to his stay at Liberty. This in turn leads us to believe that a person can, at any point, change their beliefs entirely. Say in the case of the homosexual, he decides after a long stay with a very Christian family, he could change his mind to where he doesnt quite like homosexuality. It is not that he hates, so much as it is that he has changed his mind. In any case, this is basically what the theory of believing in belief means as a whole. Thus, to sum it up, we could say that

Steiner 4 believing in whatever you may believe in will make you who you are, and while you can always change your mind, you will always be you and no one else. Now that the facts and opinions are out of the way and the theory has been explained, there is the matter of whether or not this quote could mean a bright future for our generation. Now, heres the thing, from an analytical standpoint, one can see that this is a matter of, not so much facts, but opinion. Indeed this quote seems to be a very interesting quote, as the theory behind it previously mentioned that it can go either way, however, my view is that this quote is a ray of hope for humanity. This is based on the content of the book as throughout the novel, Roose mentions at multiple points in the text that he has felt himself changing. One such quote from the novel is when Roose writes Every time I go out with Anna, I ask myself: Do I really want to get closer to her? Isnt that just going to make things worse when I leave? Last night, when I sat down to write a few paragraphs about Jersey Joey, I heard him in my head, saying to me at the end of all this, Rooster, you were lying to us? (Roose 112) This shows that after having fallen for an evangelical girl and having spent time with friends who grew up with religion, he starts to question if writing about them is the right thing to do and starts questioning his own ethical beliefs. This also proves to us that the belief that Roose believes in is somewhere between Christianity in religious terms or goodness from a non-religious standpoint. In the end, Roose is saying that from his experiences, he advises his audience that he does indeed think that there is hope for humanity out there and that we can pick ourselves back up from tough situations when we find our own belief to believe in.

Steiner 5 To be honest, upon consideration, this quote has one of the biggest connections to our society as a whole than most quotes within the story. It can be interpreted in many ways, however it seems to symbolize much of what goes on in our world. Based on our little theory of what the quote means, we can infer that everyone believes in a belief. Not everyone believes in the same belief that may be true, but in comparison, many believe in the same belief that Roose chose. Many, on the other hand, may have found their beliefs differently than Roose, mainly those who have gone through troubles and maybe had some obstacles in life. These people may have gone to religion, hoping to find the answer to a question that they have been thinking about, or maybe for spiritual help after something bad happened to them. These people have chosen a temporary belief, but still, they have found the ray of hope that is presumably illustrated by Rooses quote. As a matter of fact, even I have fallen for the message behind this quote. I knew when I heard it that it was more than an interesting quote. In fact, I guess you could say that I myself believe in belief. The reasons and beliefs may be different for some, but everyone has their own beliefs and their own reasons. Maybe from a young age, a person had a very bad disease, presumably incurable and yet, they turn to religion for help, knowing that they may not be able to find help on Earth. Sometimes others feel as though religion is cheap and sometimes just go against it because our society doesnt really rely on religion like it used to. As a matter of fact, Roose writes in response to his feelings toward the Virginia tech shooting, After all, if God really is listening to these prayers, if he really is an omnipotent micromanager, then why didnt he just prevent the killing in the first place (Roose 235)? This shows that he still does question God and religious beliefs because they dont always make sense. In turn, everyone has their own thought

Steiner 6 and feelings about the subject, and therefore, it is almost always an opinion based selection of how a person will live their life. To sum up this paper in a few words, I guess it could be described as such; believing in belief is an opinion based matter. No matter what a person is told or taught, it will never officiate who you are as a person. Only you can choose how you will live your life and even though outside sources may affect your decision, your beliefs only pertain to you and will not have a negative or positive impact on another person. Therefore, Roose has told us that he believes in belief, but do you? If so, what do you believe in? In conclusion, one could say that they believe in Christianity, atheism or even something like a homosexuality. Truly, I would say that this quote shows us Rooses opinion and advises us to find our own and in the end, you will find out not just what you are told to be, but who you really are.

Steiner 7 Works Cited Roose, Kevin. The Unlikely Disciple. A Sinners Stay at Americas Holiest University. New York: Grand Central, 2009. Print. King James Version Bible: John 14:12-14 Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print. King James Version Bible: John 3:16 Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.