Fahrenheit 451 reprise

I found this section of Fahrenheit 451 thought provoking, considering that this was 50 years ago and nothing I can find states Ray Bradbury is a Christian.

Years before, Montag had caught an older man with a contraband book. Montag overlooked the offense. In the book, Montag steals a book from a house he is supposed to burn that is full of books. We then find out that this isn't the first one he has stolen. He goes to the man, that he had caught in the park whose name is Faber, with a stolen Bible.

Excerpt:

Faber's hands itched on his knees, "May I?"
"Sorry." Montag gave him the book.
"It's been a long time. I'm not a religious man. but it's been a long time." Faber turned the pages, stopping here and there to read. "It's as good as I remember. Lord, how they've changed it in our 'parlors' these days. Christ is one of the 'family' now. I often wonder if God recognizes His own son the way we've dressed him up, or is it dressed him down? He's a regular peppermint stick now, all sugar-crystal and saccharine when he isn't making veiled references to certain commercial products that every worshiper absolutely needs." Faber sniffed the book. "Do you know that books smell like nutmeg or some spice from a foriegn land? I loved to smell them when I was a boy. Lord, there were a lot of lovely books once, before we let them go." Faber turned the pages. "Mr. Montag, you are looking at a coward. I saw the way things were going, a long time back. I said nothing. I'm one of the innocents who could have spoken up and out when no one would listen to the 'guilty' but i did not speak and thus became guilty myself. And when finally they set the structure to burn the books, using the firemen, I grunted a few times and subsided, for there were no others grunting or yelling with me, by then. Now it's too late." Faber closed the Bible. "Well--suppose you tell me why you came here?"

"Nobody listens any more. I can't talk to the walls because they're yelling at me. I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough, it'll make sense. And I want you to teach me to understand what I read."