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James Bond's Spirituality and Religion

joshdeese93joshdeese93
in Bond Movies Posts: 352
Does James Bond believe in God or practice any particular religion?

In the new Spectre TV spot, we hear Bond replying to Swann's question of "Why does a man choose the life of an assassin?" to which he retorts "Well, it was that or the priesthood." In OHMSS, Bond gets married in a religious ceremony, and in For Your Eyes Only, we see Bond visiting Tracy's grave, in a Christian graveyard, and a priest (Catholic?) blesses him as his helicopter leaves. In Skyfall, his childhood home has a priest hole and a chapel on site.

In the movies or books, is anything hinted or expressed that Bond believes in God, has a spiritual belief, or practices any religion?

https://mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/bond-24-tv-spot-2-spectre?t=&s=&id=03962


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Comments

  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    edited September 2015 Posts: 17,691
    M: The Americans are going to be none too pleased.
    Bond: I promised them Le Chiffre and they got him.
    M: They got his body.
    Bond: Well, if they wanted his soul, they should have made a deal with a priest.

    IMO spirituality is a dead language to Bond.
  • joshdeese93joshdeese93
    edited September 2015 Posts: 352
    What do you make of the other examples listed?

    I feel he used that rhetoric with M, as he is still wrapping his head around what happened to Vesper, and was acting coldly, as a defense mechanism/not giving a damn about what happened to Le Chiffre.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    I grew up Episcopalian & went to Sunday school, but none of that old school stuff stuck with me either. Like Bond, I believe in what I can see.
  • CrabKeyCrabKey
    Posts: 1,517
    I interpret the choice between assassin and priesthood as choosing which life of isolation best suits Bond. None of the examples cited above make the case for me that Bond is a religious man. I have bibles in my home, church wedding photos, and perhaps a few items of church iconography, none of which are proof that I believe in God--I don't.
    Occasionally I use phrases such as "Oh, God," "Oh my God," or "Goddamn." God is part of our languages and cultures. My use of such phrases are not a subconscious desire to believe in God. I enjoy visiting the great cathedrals. I am thoroughly impressed with the works of man. I like the serenity of those places and the peace, they are a testament to the spirit of mankind, yet I have no interest in listening to sermons and worshipping an entity I don't believe exists. I can co-exist quite nicely with the religious community, until it wants to come knocking on my door, or when it tries to expose me to its dogma against my will in much the same way as cigarets expose me to second hand smoke.







  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    CrabKey wrote: »
    Occasionally I use phrases such as "Oh, God," "Oh my God," or "Goddamn."
    *Smacks @CrabKey*
    That's for blasphemy!
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    Posts: 4,399
    @CrabKey

    BhSUufA_zpsfpygeglv.gif

    LOL
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    Posts: 4,399
    hmm... if i had to put my guess on it, because i don't know if it's ever expressed in any of the Fleming books, or even the continuation novels..

    but I going to say that religion is sort of superfluous to Bond - but at the same time, i don't think he disregards it, or condemns it.. he just strikes me as the type that doesn't have time for or can't be bothered by it..

    a man who kills for a living can't be bothered too much by religion.
  • CrabKeyCrabKey
    Posts: 1,517
    That's for blasphemy!

    Thanks for the laugh.


  • RC7RC7
    edited September 2015 Posts: 10,512
    Given Bond's Scottish roots are courtesy of Connery; a catholic, I like to imagine our trajectories are similar. Catholic upbringing, shunned in later life. SF and now SP's 'priesthood' line allude to it too.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    edited September 2015 Posts: 17,691
    Birdleson wrote: »
    Another being in DOCTOR NO, where he wonders where Dr. No's and Quarrel's souls have gone, and decides that no just God could send them to the same place. This leads to his reflecting upon where his own soul will go.
    I took that as a reaction to upbringing and not entrenched faith. Simple musings of a person with no fixed beliefs...
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    Birdleson wrote: »
    But you ignoring the GF bit.
    Explaining to the dead girls? The definition of "tongue in cheek" I'd say.

    :))
  • PropertyOfALadyPropertyOfALady Colders Federation CEO
    Posts: 3,675
    I like to think that he's Catholic... because I am.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    Birdleson wrote: »
    think that it is clear that he believes in a literal Heaven.
    Or plays with the belief...
  • SoundofthesinnersSoundofthesinners
    Posts: 3,236
    I wouldn't be surprised if Bond believed in some kind of God, at least in the novels and the earlier days. Britain is quite secular today (alarmingly so, if, like me, you believe in God), so perhaps Craig's Bond is more up in the air.

    Regardless of whether he believes in God as a passive, metaphysical sort of question, though, the existence of God doesn't have much of an effect on his life, given that it's filled with violence, death, sex, and hedonism.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    Soundofthesinners wrote: »
    Britain is quite secular today (alarmingly so, if, like me, you believe in God)
    How is it alarming? I believe in reincarnation whilst most of my country doesn't... what alarms me is indiscriminate war for profit.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    edited September 2015 Posts: 7,314
    Bond definitely isn't a religious person. Perhaps he might occasionally contemplate about his place in the universe but I doubt he believes in any sort of higher power. Craig's Bond, in particular, doesn't seem to give a second thought to any of his actions. He exists purely in the moment. I'd prefer if they kept the whole thing ambiguous anyways.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    pachazo wrote: »
    I'd prefer if they kept the whole thing ambiguous anyways.
    I'd like Bond to go Buddhist & not kill anyone...
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    Now we know where Bond will go after Craig!
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    pachazo wrote: »
    Now we know where Bond will go after Craig!
    Bond-Chang Caine?
  • Ed83Ed83
    Posts: 1,181
    I like to think of Bond as a practical agnostic, which is where I sit. I'm not a hardened atheist, but I am certainly not a practicing member of any religion. I was brought up as a Christian, but as I got older I realized I didn't really believe in much of what I was told/taught at church. Like it was said earlier, I believe what I see. I like science and hard evidence. That's not to say that there's nothing that would make be a believer though.

    Bond has dealt with all types of evil. He's not a perfect person, but in his own way he has done a tremendous amount of good in the world. If Bond is religious, it wouldn't change my love for the character. If he isn't, then it's fine as well. I kind of get the feeling it's the latter.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    In Casino Royale, Bond refers to God and Satan as symbols or allegories. If he has religious beliefs, he certainly doesn t swallow the story as traditionally told by the Church.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    To some extent, I do think Bond has a belief in God, but isn't a practicing one or any of sorts. Like Ed said, I don't think he is a practical agnostic nor an atheist, but most likely someone who is brought up with a religious belief and principals, but forgotten it as life took him to different paths in his teen years. He doesn't really care about the traditions of the Church, but has some respect, I think. At least, that's the impression that I've got.

    However, in the films, it's safe to say Roger Moore's Bond has a stronger belief in God than the others do, particularly in Moonraker when he utters "Good God!" as he sees Drax's mansion, and another time when he tells Holly "Thank God you're safe." with a relief.
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    edited September 2015 Posts: 11,139
    And taking the time out to visit Tracy's grave.

    Then again, Bond stance on religion simply isn't important just like it's not important to see him needing to use the toilet facilities or to wake up, stretch and sit down for a nice Sunday breakfast or pick up a duck wrap and coffee on his way into work.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    doubleoego wrote: »
    And taking the time out to visit Tracy's grave.
    Precisely.
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    Birdleson wrote: »
    doubleoego wrote: »
    And taking the time out to visit Tracy's grave.
    But that is something most people do. I have no illusions about God or an afterlife, yet I sometimes visit graves.

    And I say "God Dammit" all of the time.

    Fair enough but some people who don't believe see visiting a grave as a complete waste of time.
  • SarkSark Guangdong, PRC
    Posts: 1,138
    I interpreted Bond's "it was either that or join the priesthood" comment as a bookend to the "so you want me to be half-monk half-hitman" remark from CR.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    You certainly don't have to be religious to visit someone's grave. It's a natural way to grieve a loved one. That being said, if Bond found comfort in thinking that his wife had a wonderful afterlife then I wouldn't blame him.
  • CrabKeyCrabKey
    Posts: 1,517
    Birdleson wrote: »
    By the way @joshdeese93 , amidst a sea of repetitive, unnecessary and ridiculous threads being manufactured by a handful of new members, this is a good one.

    Yes, thank you for that comment. I often see potentially interesting discussions go nowhere. However, no shortage of rank this, that, or the other, elimination games or pointless speculations of what if this had happened, but didn't.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,804
    For anyone who is interested I opined on the Literary James Bond and Religion some years ago on my blog here:

    http://thebondologistblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/musings-on-james-bond-and-religion.html
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    For anyone who is interested I opined on the Literary James Bond and Religion some years ago on my blog here:

    http://thebondologistblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/musings-on-james-bond-and-religion.html

    That was rather fascinating- thanks!
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