Pierre was criticized for being an atheist by the freemasons in book 5. In Russia, in the 1800's it was expected that everyone would be a devout catholic, but it seems that religion doesn't play much of a role in the novel. I wonder what Tolstoy thinks of atheism. So far as we've read, we don't see any religious ceremonies except the last rights of Pierre's father. I wonder if Tolstoy assumes we understand where he is coming from, and has little to no comment on religion, or if he has other views that he has not yet expressed. Wikipedia says that he eventually came to the idea of non-violence and finding religious satisfaction by searching within yourself, but it appears that he didn't come to these conclusions until after he finished War and Peace. How should we view the characters's religious views?
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