Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: He Karaitiana ingoa a Gorton i te tīmatanga o tona oranga, engari ehara ia i te karakia. Ko ētahi pūtake i tohu ia hei agnostic, he atheist rānei. I haere ia ki nga kura Anglican, a i whakaawehia e nga tirohanga hapori Karaitiana a James Ralph Darling, tana tumuaki i Geelong Grammar. I roto i tētahi kōrero i te tau 1948, ka mea a Gorton ko "te kōrero o te Karaitiana te mea tino nui i roto i te hītori o te ao". Heoi anō, i te wā o mua ki te
I te pooti i te tau 1999 i whakakāhore ia ki te whakahua i te Atua i roto i te kupu whakataki. E ai ki tana kaituhi koiora a Ian Hancock: "Kaore pea a Gorton i te whakapono, me te kore e mahi, Karaitiana, a, i a ia e korero ana mo te haahi o te 'wairua' kaore ia i te whakapono motuhake. Engari, ko tana karakia i takea i runga i te whakahau i roto i te Pukapuka o te Deuteronomy: 'E kore te tangata e ora i te taro anake.' "