Presence

Life of Rubin has an interesting post comparing Locke and Eko, and the nature of their faith (if you haven't been following Lost, you're missing some of the best and most intelligent TV to come along in years; his post has a good summary of what's happened so far). While I liked his question, his answer rang a little hollow, so I left a comment with my own thoughts:

I understood the distinction between Locke and Eko a bit differently. Locke has always been looking to be part of something, something bigger and greater than himself. His flashbacks all revolve around his relationship with his father, and his attempts at trying his best to play an important, significant role in his father's life (giving him a kidney, getting his money from the bank). Time and time again, the faith he has invested in these greater causes has betrayed him. Everything for which he has thought meaningful has ended up being meaningless because it was either a lie or went nowhere. His response upon finding out that the button and hatch are a fabrication is along the same lines; he viewed the island as a greater cause of which he was a part of, and the hatch was his role in keeping it running. Now that he finds out it is all a joke, he is ready to give up, once again viewing his life as meaningless.

Eko is different. Recall that until now, he has been unconcerned with the button. Only once he has receives a message from his brother, finds the Question Mark, and sees the work John has done interconnected with his own history (and his brother's history) does he take up the burden that John has cast aside. For Eko, the meaning comes from within, from his own experience and understanding of the events and how they fit together. Eko is not pushing the button because he thinks that he has to, or even that it will accomplish anything; he pushes it because he believes he was meant to push it, that the events that he has experienced have inexorably led him to this point, and their meaning is clear.

John is a Man of Faith, willing to devote, and even sacrifice himself to any cause that will absorb and assimilate him into it's greater purpose, allowing his indivdualness to be swallowed and obliterated, becoming just another cog in the machine. Eko is also a Man of Faith, having faith in himself, and trusting in his experiences to guide him to his ultimate destiny, and along the way, becoming the Man he was always meant to be.

The Locke's of the world end up as suicide bombers; the Eko's, on the other hand, end up changing the world.