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Revelation takes on many forms yet the form it takes in religion is in discovering the sacred in a deeper more mysterious reality. Though religion is not the central theme in this particular movie, it is crucial to the meaning the movie is trying to project. When the viewers are introduced to the detached and obsessive Eleanor Arroway who is in search of extraterrestrial life, one is taken aback by her logical approach to religion and life in general. Eleanor, unlike 95% of the world's population, is opposed to the belief of a "higher being-. She is convinced solely through data, facts and logic. She states that "there is no proof of existence [of a God]- and cannot be made to believe in something that is not real. For society, religion has become a practice of faith and the belief that humans are part of something far superior than they have any knowledge to conceive of or any means to prove. Yet, it stops at that point. Revelation in religion does not focus on statistics, signals and data to confirm their faith "the faith is already there. In comparison, religion and science seek to uncover profound mysteries that have complicated great minds, yet they seek it in different ways. McConaughey, who fulfills the role of Palmer Joss, a spiritual man, states bluntly to Eleanor: "Science killed God-. Science probes and analyses, and although religion does the same, science relies solely on these answers while religion relies on faith. It is in this sense that this movie neither attacks religion nor supports it, as it is neither saying that religion is futile nor does it say it is essential to individual fulfillment. .
The second type of revelation is associated with science and experimentation in order to solve worldly puzzles. In this sense, revelation is a secular term and truly represents what theme this movie is trying to confirm. Eleanor is consistently stating throughout the movie that she demands proof of existence of a God and finds it foolish to believe in something that society has created just to form an answer and feel comfortable in knowing that there is a higher power.