In The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger conveys that although organized religion is contagiously corrupt, spirituality itself can provide a base in an otherwise depressing world.
A good example of this would be in the way Holden talks about Christianity. On page 131, Holden talks about how he hates ministers, saying “The ones they've had at every school I've gone to, they all have these Holy Joe voices when they start giving their sermons. God, I hate that. I don't see why the hell they can't talk in their natural voice. They sound so phony when they talk” (131). Although Holden hates the artificiality of religion, he finds solace in his belief in Jesus Christ, earlier in the tangent saying “If you want to know the truth, the guy I like best in the Bible, next to Jesus, was that lunatic and all, that lived in the tombs and kept cutting himself with stones” (130).
The fact that Holden identifies most with the lunatic and Jesus’s ability to heal him while still recognizing the artificiality of the Christian faith argues that although religion can be corrupt, it can also fill one with determination.