"Religion" in Robinson Crusoe

I have delayed writing an entry on this subject because I have had difficulty wrapping my head around exactly what Defoe was doing with religion in his first book. I imagine an 18th century England that is very senstive towards religion, not only values of the religion but also which group one associates with. As we have also learned, the idea of reading or writing a novel also presented a sensitive, precarious issue for those involved, not to soften the readers too much and present a "religious," moral message that makes reading worthwhile or meaningful. These summative statements really do a disservice to the many layers of the precarious situation of novel reading or writing at this early stage, but I imagine Defoe was in an exceedingly difficult position in trying to write a fantastic, yet plausible book that had a message (and that message of course should coincide with the maximum number fo readers). For this reason, I see Robinson Crusoe's religious overtone forced by Defoe, and transparent enough for any reader to feel connected to it tangentially. The true focus, to me, is in the industrious nature of Protestantism and how it fuels capitalism.

In Kim's report yesterday in class, she talked about Weber's thesis on Protestantism as the center of Capitalism. The rise of the individual in Prostentantism is exhibited in the personal diaries, the personal charting of good deeds, the self-realizations for callings in life, some are even called to "make money" (oh how things have changed since then). The development of this sense of self and the self's role in attaining salvation (or attaining knowledge if one will be saved or not) actually has a secular effect. The actually tenents of religion are almost completely irrelevant. Robinson Crusoe's enlightenment on the island comes from RANDOMLY opening the Bible to any page and reading a singular line and adopting that line as his temporary slogan. The same effect could come from randomly opening the Koran, the Torah, or even a non-religious text such as an anthology of William Shakespeare or Benjamin Franklin's almanac.

By using religion to fit the prototype of what a "Novel" should look like (interesting that a something considered "novel" had a prototype), Defoe actually shows how little associating with a specific Religion matters. The truly important task for religion to accomplish is sustainability and adaptability. We can see this idea today, where conversations across Religions about Religion are tenuous, awkward, and generally pointless (I would compare it to a political debate about abortion between two opposing sides, the conversation will almost never end with someone changing their view). And yet, as fiercely as people attach themselves to a specific Religion, the principles of all faiths seems to adapt to the economic system that we, in the United States, live in: Capitalism. The forced, awkward presentation of Religion in Robinson Crusoe previews the environment that we live in today, where it is not variations of Christianity that create sensitive issues, but total differences in religion. And yet, for as much as religion matters to the individual, Defoe shows that deep down it is as grounded and meaningful as flipping open a book, reading a sentence, and using that sentence for whatever purposes one wants.