Ehrenreich is certainly very critical of modern Christianity in the United States. She discredits the sermon she hears in Portland because she feels the church does not actually help the poor in the way Jesus did and are therefore not the caring organization they make themselves out to be. It seems only later does Ehrenreich realize the importance of God to some of the poor people she meets. Caroline believes the lord is responsible for her luck turning around, but Ehrenreich, as shown through her sarcastic commentary, is skeptical. Moreover, Melissa, a coworker at Wal-Mart, views that the “disorganized patches” in her past are over because she has accepted Christ in her life. Since Ehrenreich has not spent a great deal of time working as a low wage worker, perhaps she cannot criticize the tendency to cling to God. Clearly, this is a tendency among some of the people she meets.
2 thoughts on “The role of God in the minimum wage worker’s life”
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Here, Stephen makes a very good observation in regard to spirituality and the poverty level. I once read a study that showed that economic wealth directly effects one’s level happiness ONLY until the poverty line is passed. In other words: a $30,000 salary and a $5,000,000 would in theory, have a similar level of happiness in regard to each persons level of economic freedom. This seemed surprising at first but is beginning to make sense.
Perhaps since these impoverished coworkers are notably below the poverty line, they cling to religion in order to compensate for being poor. Maybe it is the fact that Ehrenreich does not need spirituality to counteract her temporary poverty, that it ultimately does not wholly benefit it her as it does Caroline and Melissa. I think this brings about more provocative topics like whether religion and faith are linked with a specific socioeconomic status. Does anyone think that economic comfort and religion could possibly be related?
I don’t believe that there is an economic comfort with religion. I believe that the economic discomfort forces the reliance on religion which ultimately makes dealing with being in a bad economic a little easier since they have faith of better days or spiritual security to rely on.