This is important, and goes in line with Adah's discussion of mistranslated Bibles at the end of Book Six. In her view, the Bible isn't God's word straight to our ears but more like a game of telephone that's lasted for centuries.

Here we go: this is probably the main point of The Poisonwood Bible when it comes to religion. There are wonderful people who adhere to the good tenets of Christianity: tolerance, patience, charity, world without end, amen. Then there are those that use religion as a means to power. (See: the Crusades, Nathan Price.)

It might seem like the Congo, at just a fraction of the size of the U.S., should be able to get its political eggs into one basket. However, imagine if every state in the U.S. had its own language. (And we're not just talking about the great "pop" vs. "soda" debate.) Communication and cooperation would be next to impossible.