#who is carlisle to decide what creatures don't have souls

[vintageseawitch]

eddie boi was at the peak of "him being interesting in any way, shape or form" when he was feeding on baddies & he did more for the sake of humanity than the Cullen & Denali ✨️ecological disaster✨️ clans put together 🥰🧛‍♂️🩸

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Sorry if you already answered this, but I can't find it in the master post: what do you think are the Cullens opinion on religion? If you were to write a POV of them thinking about religion and such what would they think? Like, if they were to take a side, who would be more of an atheist and who would be more of an agnostic? Carlisle is a theist, but what about the others? Did Emmet hear about the  Flying Spaghetti Monster and decided he was a believer? Is Jasper the type that'd go with the idea that Hell is life on earth? Does Esme think this is her paradise? What about Alice, does her gift influence her, does she think there is no life after death?

Interesting question.

First off, I'm one of those that doesn't read that much religion into the books. There's a lot of people on this site, and elsewhere, who can and do and specifically see Stephanie Meyer's faith in many aspects. I'm going to assume you've come to me for this question in part because of that.

Which is to say that it's hard to tell because save for Edward and Carlisle, most of the characters don't discuss religion at any length. Bella, as an atheist, is pointedly not interested beyond this being yet another obstacle for Edward to turn her as she has to somehow prove that he totally has a soul. Which she totally believes in.

So, all of this is going to be my... guessing based off what we do see.

Alice Cullen

Alice doesn't seem to care. If Alice has a religion, it's guided by her visions (as most things in her life are). It has led her to this blessed future and seems to continue to do so. She gets to see how it all might go terribly wrong along the way, and very quickly at that, but she also gets to see how it goes right.

I think she then would be very mindful that there's no overarching destiny to our lives and whatever good things happen are due to either chance or Alice herself manipulating events to get what she wants.

Who or what created the universe to look the way it does likely doesn't interest her all that much. The world is the way it is and what Alice does is make the best of circumstances.

Carlisle Cullen

@therealvinelle and I have him pegged for a theist at this point.

Edward Cullen

Oh baby, we know where Edward stands. I wouldn't say Edward's particularly devout, or even believes in a God per se, but he certainly believes in the Devil and the Devil is him. Edward cherry picks aspects of religion that suit his beliefs, such as his being denied access to heaven and the afterlife and being an eternally damned creature.

Beyond that, he seems to have very little familiarity with any religious doctrine and doesn't spend all that much time thinking about religion. He just puts a rubber stamp on it to give him justification of "I'M A MONSTER AND YOU'LL BE ONE TOO".

Emmett Cullen

Another "doesn't care/doesn't think about it much". Given that Emmett thought he saw an angel and God when Rosalie carried him to Carlisle to be turned, he was at least mildly Christian/religious upon his death. I imagine he's kept that in that if you asked he'd probably say he's Christian but he doesn't go to church, doesn't think about it all that much, and doesn't do nonsense like ponder whether or not vampires have souls.

Esme Cullen

Esme's another "I thought I was in heaven" upon being turned. However, like Emmett, she doesn't seem to think about it or fret over it much. We don't see the Edward style angst from her on whether or not she's been turned into a demon, what turning would mean for Bella Swan, or even what Bella's baby might turn out to be without fully human DNA. I think she just doesn't think about it much though might opine "Things usually work out in the end".

Jasper Whitlock

Again, we don't get much from him, but I imagine he's extremely atheist in that he's seen horrific things take place, participated in them, and does not see himself as worthy of any kind of redemption religious or otherwise. Alice is his saving grace, per her gift, and without her he would have likely died. I don't see him attributing her appearance in his life to a higher power.

Rosalie Hale

Similar to the others, likely was brought up to believe certain things, but doesn't spend much time thinking about it these days. If anything, she's casually religious though would likely admit that she just doesn't really think about it or believe in it.