All of the other elements come together to form Final Fantasy X’s theme, which is focused upon change, death, and the importance of accepting both. The church on Spira is the main emblem of stasis: first of all, it supports the temporary solution of sacrificing a summoner in every generation to defeat Sin but brands as a heretic anyone who tries to suggest or discover a more permanent fix. Furthermore, it eventually comes out that the most highly placed church officials are all unburied shades, deliberately kept alive so as to provide constant and consistent leadership within. Finally, Seymour’s ultimate aim is to harness the power of Sin to destroy all life and usher in an age of peace by way of an eternally unburied and lifeless citizenry. On all counts, the church of Spira supports mindless tradition and continuity; they have even perverted death itself and taken away its power to change.
Standing against them is Yuna, who is unafraid of real death if it means an end, however temporary, to Spira’s suffering; and Tidus, who seeks to do away with the whole ritual struggle and the false hope it brings. Their determination to bring about change causes some of them pain: those in the group native to Spira, who had grown up under the church’s teachings, flounder in uncertainty when their faith crumbles before their eyes. After being forced to take up arms against Seymour for the first time, one of the heroes remarks that “I've always walked the path of Yevon...but now, I'm a traitor. How could this happen?” In the end, though, by questioning the status quo—when Yuna asks the highest power behind the Yevon church if her sacrifice will make a difference, she refuses to follow that path any further after she learns that it will not—and making efforts to enact real change rather than placing themselves at the mercy of brutal tradition, Tidus and company can reverse the "spiral of death" and bring life to Spira.