Essay Outline

Thesis: Success in religion is viewed as being closer to God; people feel they need to be
accepted by the community to acquire that power, to be worthy to go to heaven.

First Argument: The power gained is used to form one’s own understanding of the
religion, and to make stronger divisions between those who understand the religion, and
those who do not.
Evidence: “’I was drinking big time by then. [Reg] liked it because it kept me in one
place, and because when I was drunk, he didn’t need to speak to me’” (Coupland, 120).
Reg doesn’t feel the need to associate with his wife, because she is not as involved with
religion as he is. Reg is only focused on leading those who follow him, and does not feel
the importance of giving away his apparent wisdom to those who do not follow him.

Second Argument: People look up to those in higher power, who are seen as better and
closer to god, to be more like them so they are worthy to go to heaven.
Evidence: “He asked my father, ‘Reg, do you think a clone would have the same soul as
its parent, or perhaps have a new one?’… Another friend, Riley, cut in here: ‘But then
what about your twin grandsons… You think that one of them has a soul and one
doesn’t?’… [Reg had] obviously been thinking hard” (Coupland, 82, 83).
Others look up to him and ask questions like Reg knows all the answers. They have a
certain faith in Reg to know the answers to tough questions, because he is supposedly
closer to God, by being faithful to the religion.

Final Argument: By being a part of a religious community, people sometimes feel

hopeless for gaining power; to be unique, special and powerful within the crowd.
Evidence: Ralph is always beaten down by those of higher power because he has sinned
so many times. He feels excluded from the community, and if he is not part of the
religious community, he has no one to lead, and no leadership role to aspire to, from a
religious point of view.
Evidence: “Nothing makes a person less special than conversion… but then how special
can any person really be?” (Coupland, 32).
Cheryl reflects on when she became religious, and the irony of feeling special, yet not at
all unique. The religious community is looked at being an exclusive club of people, but
once one is a part of it, they do not feel at all unique. The uniqueness is non existent in
the community, because there are so many people with the same beliefs. Therefore,
people struggle to be different from everyone else, while still being faithful to the
religion.