Faith is hope and trust in a belief, person, or object. Initially, people were so passionate about believing in their beliefs that they felt the need to share their ideas with others. People began to discuss and interpret ideas, thus adopting their own beliefs to form their own personal faith. Then came religion; self-proclaimed “Holy Men” recorded and standardized the faith. Beliefs are a matter of opinion; there are no right or wrong answers. However, once we have decided to organize faith into religion, we have consolidated the beliefs and established how people should react to those beliefs. By establishing religious dogma, religion left less and less open to self-interpretation, causing faith to become less a matter of spirituality and the search for inner peace, and more of a manual on how to win the game of life. In When She Woke, by Hillary Jordan, the protagonist, Hannah Payne, sees her faith transform through her experiences as a Red. As she begins to question her religion and its hypocrisy, Hannah develops a newfound faith in herself and humanity as she begins to think for herself for the first time. Saying one thing and doing another, religion is hypocrisy at its best; at least the politicians know they are scum. Many religious people love to tell others how to live their lives, but fail to live up to their own examples and expectations. Religion was thought to teach us forgiveness and understanding, but for some reason many have taken on the role of Saint Peter themselves, as if their religion gave them the divine right to judge others. Many don't stop to consider another's situation or perspective until they're faced with a similar situation, as in the case of Hannah who, before her chrome plating, never quite made it... halfway across the paper. to look at ourselves. as better than someone else. Finally, it reminds us not to hide behind religion; It takes a lot more than belonging to a church to make us a decent person. We must follow the golden rule and treat others the way we would like to be treated. We must remain focused on our path of righteousness, but understand that walking away does not mean that God has abandoned us and certainly does not mean that we should abandon ourselves. Works Cited Freeman, Martin. "Our mission continues: the road to Jericho." http://www.themonastery.org/aboutUs. Universal Life Church Ministries. Network. April 13, 2014.Jordan, Hillary. When he woke up. 1st ed. 1. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2011. 344. Print."Petition Urges White House to Classify Westboro Church as a Hate Group." Reuters. Problems and controversies. Facts On File News Services, December 27, 2012. Web. April 13. 2014.