Martin Crane - Religion

Religion

Spiritually, Martin is also hard to pinpoint. He appears to have been raised a Christian, and to possibly hold Christian beliefs. Soon after moving in with Frasier, he is surprised to see his sons not say grace before they eat. However, as the series went on this no longer becomes an aspect. It is also not clear if he attends religious services regularly, if he did at one point and left a church, although he appears to have been Protestant since he claims to have been married by a Minister (which, given the time he was married, was impossible for a Catholic). There is a time that while walking past a church he is spotted by a priest who asks him to perform in a Christmas Pageant, a task which he reluctantly accepts.

In the episode featuring actor Michael Keaton as a shyster whose con of the moment was parading as a paralyzed born-again evangelist, Martin accepts an invitation to watch a sermon preached by Keaton's character. This is one of just three times in which Martin is seen at a religious event, the other ones being the bar mitzvah of his grandson, Frederick, and the funeral of Frasier's Great Aunt.

When Daphne and Niles got married, Martin commented that he favored a church wedding, but respected their choice to be married by a judge.

Since Frasier mentioned in an episode of Cheers that he was Episcopalian, it is assumed that Martin and Niles are Episcopalian as well; however continuity issues within Cheers throw this conjecture into jeopardy, as Frasier also mentions in a Cheers episode that he had no formal religious upbringing (in one episode, he stated that his father was a scientist who died before Frasier became a psychiatrist).