How we cite our quotes: The main text of the story is cited (Chapter.Paragraph). The date headers are not counted as paragraphs. The verses in the chapters with a single passage from the narrator's religious texts are cited (Chapter.Verse.Line#). In chapters with multiple passages, the verses are cited (Chapter.Verse#.Line#). The four section pages with the years and passages are cited (Year.Verse).
Quote #1
At least three years ago, my father's God stopped being my God. His church stopped being my church. And yet, today, because I'm a coward, I let myself be initiated into that church. I let my father baptize me in all three names of that God who isn't mine any more. (2.1)
Many people stay with the religion they were raised in. Not so Lauren: at about age twelve, she ceases to believe in the Baptist God she's been taught about by her father. Yet she continues to go along with the ceremonies of her father's religion—and she calls herself a coward for it. Is it really cowardice? After all, she's only fifteen, and she doesn't have much control over her life. Was it a good idea for her to go along with the ceremonies, or would it have been better if she spoke her mind?
Quote #2
A lot of people seem to believe in a big-daddy-God or a big-cop-God or a big-king-God. They believe in a kind of super-person. A few believe God is another word for nature. And nature turns out to mean just about anything they happen not to understand or feel in control of. (2.43)
Here Lauren is differentiating her own beliefs from popular beliefs held by others, specifically the ideas that 1) God is an authority figure, and 2) God is nature. The first view is based on hierarchy, the notion that some beings are superior to others (in this case, at the very top is the Big-Daddy-God outranking everybody). The second view, that God is nature, can be found among many different groups, including the American Romantics. Even the way some people think about evolution—like the idea that it explains everything about everything—kind of comes close to being a religious belief.
Quote #3
Some say God is a spirit, a force, an ultimate reality. Ask seven people what all of that means and you'll get seven different answers. So what is God? Just another name for whatever makes you feel special and protected? (2.44)
Just think of how many commercials tell you that you'll be a better, happier, more empowered person if you purchase whatever they're advertising. Lauren is kind of wondering if religion is the same thing. If so, God becomes the name for whatever it is that makes people feel special and safe. But Lauren is aware of how her society is falling apart, and she wants people to recognize and deal with that very lack of safety. So, sometimes, change isn't a God that helps you feel special and protected. Sometimes life just isn't very safe.