Religion as Seen in the Novel Bone Black by bell hooks
...acist and condescending. This idea comes up again, when her mothers faith is discussed. "She has been told that a man should obey god, that a woman should obey man, that children should obey their fathers, and mothers, particularly their mothers. I will not obey." bell refuses to be under the command of a god that will use his power to hurt, the way her father hurts her mother. She will not obey because she wants to be loved by god, not punished by him. When bell is younger, her idea of god and religion is very sensual and romantic. Before she was to join church, she felt an intense desire to be accepted by him. "She was so sure he wanted her, had lain awake nights wondering when this soul like a ripened plum would wet his holy bed with unforgivable sweetness...She knew she was ready to be the bride of god, ready to shed her blood in his honor and name." This idea that religion and the central force driving it works as a partnership is very different from a conventional Baptist view. bell’s experiences lead her to believe that this is how god should be, and it is an important step as she climbs upwards to find her inner spiritual calling. When bell is on the edge, ready to die of loneliness, what catches her is religion. It is not the religion of her heritage though, it is the faith of someone else that keeps her safe. This is when she is introduced to writing, and finds that it comforts her soul and makes the pain of living more bearable. "I am a young poet, a writer. I am here to make words. I have the power to pull myself back from death-to keep myself alive." She finds the true meaning of faith and spirituality, after one man allowed her to find what was inside of her. Literature had always been one of her passions, and because she had been denied it, she never discovered the power it held. Expressing herself through this media as well as art, as she had earlier in the book, gives her the feeling of completeness. It allows her to be in contact with the emotions inside her and it connects all her images of a peaceful religion. Being an artist may not qualify as a practicing religion, but the freedom it brings to the spirit gives one enough reason to have faith in it. Spirituality, though associated with organized religion, means much more than worshipping in a church, or avoiding sin in order to go to heaven. Spirituality is being spiritual, which is affecting the spirit, or spiritual needs. A spirit is an idea of what gives life to physical organisms. So spirituality is doing something that affects the spirit, w...