The Extension of Belief

American Gods portrays the loss of belief in America through the loss of belief in specific gods and as the loss of the more traditional interpretation of faith. Most people would define faith as believing in a god or some other higher power; however, faith and belief go beyond this limited perspective. A person can have faith in who they are or in a feeling or in the universe itself with no mention of a higher power. Many people believe that, because a person does not have a religion and does not worship a higher power, they have no faith and are missing something their lives. Faith is about seeing beauty in the world and believing in something bigger than the individual, not about believing in a single entity or even multiple entities. Religion and faith are completely different things. While religion is the organization of the a group of people who all believe similar things and can be used against people, faith is completely individual and can’t be used against anyone because it has nothing to do with anyone else. Those who judge people based on their beliefs are using religion and what others have told them to form their opinion and not their faith. If faith existed without religion there would be no arguments based on belief because differences in belief wouldn’t matter. By giving a names to different beliefs, people force others to define their own beliefs and judge the beliefs of others.