Religion in The Yearling

I've just been looking at the discussion board posts regarding religion in The Yearling, and I am sort of surprised that so few of you see a spiritual message in the book. I suppose this could be because most of you are accustomed to thinking about religion in "formal" settings, like church or, as is the case for most of you, seminary classes. I thought The Yearling was full of lessons about The Golden Rule, especially as they were expressed through the character of Penny. He did unto others what he would have them do unto him, and that even extended to his feelings about animals that he was hunting. He didn't hunt for sport, but to survive, and if he didn't need the meat, he left the animals go. He was so soft on Jody much of the time because he remembered his own childhood of continual labor; he didn't want Jody to have to grow up too fast. He tolerated the Forresters, turning the other cheek to their strange ways and allowing his son to associate with them even though they were far from what he thought of as exemplary citizens. Penny was a truly good man, even though his life was a continual battle for survival. Even his trickery involving the sale of the feist to the Forresters was accomplished not by lying, but by telling the complete truth, and although he may have intended to deceive them, it was only to ensure his continued survival. And if you think about it, even Forresters were not without their "Christian" side. When Penny was bitten by the snake, they saved his life despite the fact that he had taken Oliver's side in the fight. If they were truly "bad" people, would they have done that?

Some provocative questions occur to me here: What is it that makes a person religious? Can a person be good without being religious, or is adherence to religious tenets required? Let's take this hypothetical example: A guy (like Penny maybe, but in the modern day) spends his life working to take care of his family; he doesn't kill, steal, covet, or commit adultery, and he does a lot of good for the community in which he lives; the world is a better place because he is in it. But he never goes to church. Is he a good man?

On the other hand, you have the proudly religious fellow who goes t0 worship services every week. He is extremely relgious, so much so that he doesn't associate or think kindly of people like the non-religious guy described above, and he won't let his kids play with that guys kids. Is he a good man?

Who is the better man? Why?

MRT