Formal religion is depicted in Cold Mountain in the figures of two preachers, Monroe and Veasey, and comes off as ineffectual, if not repugnant. Monroe studies theology in England after a failed romance and is happy with the vocation, but he is obsessed with the meaning of death. His quest renders his sermons repetitious and unsatisfying to rural congregants who want only to be entertained by stories from the Bible. Emerson and philosophers of all age vie with the Bible for Monroe's attention. There are evident confessional clashes with intolerant and ostensibly benighted Baptists on Cold Mountain. Their clergy refuse to bury the heretical Monroe.
Veasey prides himself in pulpit work that saves many souls, while his own lustful passions destroy his own. He realizes he has no calling to ministry, but continues to construct his.....
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