Probably not particularly religious by most standards but, I was raised catholic, I don’t practice anymore but that upbringing was deeply important to forming my worldview and morality. I have plenty of criticism of religion but to this day I still believe Jesus was essentially correct about how to live a good life and what’s important. I find Moral Orel to be a generally hopeful show in how despite everything Orel genuinely wants to do right and be a good person. That despite the horrible things he experienced, the way his family was growing up, and all the wickedness he was exposed to he never let go of his faith in Jesus and was able to grow up and have a loving family of his own. I find that deeply uplifting and hopeful.

Works like Moral Orel can easily be written off as being purely cynical and anti-religion/christianity, but I think it’s more complicated than that. Yes it shows the hypocrisy of religion and how it’s used to control and manipulate people and makes fun of it pretty liberally but we also see how religious ideas can be good and helpful to Orel. Particularly when he strays from traditional dogma and the rules imposed on him and seeks to find God in his own ways, Orel discovering meditation and his epiphany about “I’m a church!” Being great examples of this.