#i may be a self identified hotch expert but i am not a religious expert

[maschotch]

Random Hotch q for the expert, but do you think he’s especially religious? I can’t recall if it’s been mentioned/touched upon in the show (currently rewatching) but I always envisioned him to not be practicing but maybe subconsciously Christian lol idk what are your thoughts

truthfully im not sure. from his vibes i could definitely see him being a hardcore christian, but considering the amount of american symbolism we see in his office, we definitely would see some sort of evidence if he practiced any kind of religion.

if i was to speculate, id say he’s uninterested in organized religion and spirituality on the whole. he seems more bemused when interacting with overtly religious pushy parents and clinical with abusive parents with a religious front, while morgan has a much more personal reaction, which makes me think hotch isn’t bothered by religion the way morgan is. but i imagine morgan, who grew up in a loving home that was disrupted, felt abandoned by a god he once loved whereas hotch, who grew up in a consistently abusive household, never bought into a benevolent god to begin with.

if we’re talking just my opinion? i think hotch’s childhood was littered with the omnipresent force of southern christianity: there’s a church on every street, sunday church was a weekly occurrence, bibles in every school, prayer during class, crosses in every room, etc. but i think he thought it was a sham. i think of his interactions in natural born killer with the guy who’s dad put up a religious front in public but beat his family in private, or the father in boxed in who would do the same thing. i think of it similar to that; religion was just part of the cover to maintain the appearance of a happy wholesome family. hotch doesnt seem like the type to pray every night for the abuse to stop—it seems more like he would just accept the way life was for him until he takes it into his own hands.

it’s been a while since i’ve seem cm so i don’t remember his house decorations or haley’s jewelry, but nothing stands out in my memory. i don’t think he’s religious but i don’t think he has a particular aversion the way morgan does. that being said, i could understand any religious headcanons for him since he really doesnt talk about it much. he even kinda dodges the question in demonology when morgan asks what he believes in: he believes in behavior and people and things he can understand. there’s no need for him to worry about the rest of it.