Fantasy and Religion

1 -Why do you have to tackle God in your story?

2- If it's a fictional place it'd be a bit daft to have something from this world no? They have a different world, different things are going to be important to them, and things will be done differently - including religion.

If you feel guilty ( and I don't see why you should) then just don't include any religious bits. Problem solved.

Why worry about it?

No one knows anything about God, Allah to Zeus, take your pick. We all have things we believe but no one knows this side of death. And maybe not even then if those beliefs that include reincarnation are correct.

So write about God anyway you choose. God won't be offended. She'll probably just smile and say, "Nice try."

NOTE: This is written from the perspective of a Christian and is not intended to judge or otherwise cast dispersions on anyone's choices. If you have a problem with things said here, contact me outside this thread and we can discuss it there. I am simply addressing the question that was asked.

Zipotes said:

It seems I have to tackle the subject of God, etc. when writing fantasy/paranormal. Is this wrong? I try to do it all in a non-offensive way but being Christian I feel like I'm committing a crime by creating this fictional world with stuff contrary to the Bible.
Any thoughts in this area?

Click to expand...

If you have to tackle the subject of God, that is a good thing. Whatever it is that forces itself out in your writing is something inside you that is rising to the surface. Something that is itching to be explored and talked about. That is what will make your writing sing. And if you're asking this question you've already hurdled the biggest obstacle, proselytizing. Some writers will try to alter your religious views and that is not IMHO the place of fiction. (And the reason I don't care for DA VINCE CODE.) If you want to write polemic narrative then write non-fiction. For any Christian though, spirituality is something that will naturally rise to the surface in anything you do. And that is the way you should think about it.

You are writing fiction. What you write is made up and others should view it as such. You're not trying to deceive anyone. But that doesn't mean you can't tackle questions of spirituality that are important to you. Creating alternate supernatural systems is not wrong for a Christian unless you are creating them and doing things with them that would be wrong for a Christian to do. For example, taking the characters for which you want your reader to have sympathy, and giving them anti-Christian attributes as if these attributes are a good thing. It is fine to make one of your God's cruel, or obsessed with sex, as long as these aren't portrayed as desirable and useful traits, but are things that cause problems. You should also avoid using your writing as a forum to live out personal fantasies which are in contradiction to your beliefs.

Never forget, the choice to become a Christian was yours, and when you made that choice you accepted the existence of God as an axiom. It can't be proved so you have accepted it on faith. In so doing you have also accepted the Bible as his will. This limits what you can say and do in all areas of your life. A limitation Christians must accept or their spiritual convictions are meaningless. That others don't have them is not a point of argument because we can't 'prove' that we are right. Rather it is a difference in how each of us views the world. And that's okay.

As a good example, consider the work of Tolkien. All of his Middle Earth writing is heavily infused with spirituality. Remember when Galadriel didn't know what Sam meant when he asked about magic? That's because elves aren't magical beings, they are spiritual beings. Which is why you don't see much 'magic' from Galdalf but rather a hidden 'force.' Gandalf's power is spiritual. Saruman's power was spiritual but became more and more magical as he lost his faith. And you never see any 'magic' from Sauron for he too is a spiritual being, but clearly on the other side. Tolkein devised a very detailed and elaborate supernatural realm fully populated with Gods, demigods, devils, demons, etc., but never crossed the line a Christian shouldn't cross. There is nothing anti-Christian in his work. Rather he used his universe to explore and illuminate those spiritual qualities which he felt were important to understand - something fiction is very good at. If you haven't read THE SILMARILLION, you should. It is an excellent example of doing what you are asking about, yet staying firmly within the bounds of Christian ethics.

George Lucas has done something similar in STAR WARS with the Force. Granted his work doesn't come close to the quality of Tolkien's, but the Force does allow him to examine spirituality without violating any religious 'rules.' Though the introduction of midiclorians sort of utterly destroyed what he had going. If you chose to believe in the Force for real, or Tolkiens spiritual realm, fine. But blaming the writer for it is tantamount to blaming cigarette manufacturers for your cancer.

So in short the answer is 'yes.' You can do this without betraying your Christian vow but you are limited in where you should take it. Just ask yourself if the values being expressed are "...contrary to the Bible," as you state, or is it just an alternate spiritual realm where Biblical virtues are expressed in a different way? As a final thought, consider a physically beautiful person. It is not an un-Christian thing, or wrong in any way, to admire the beauty of that person which God created. But it can become un-Christian for you to take that admiration beyond a certain point.

Good luck in your writing.

Zipotes said:

It seems I have to tackle the subject of God, etc. when writing fantasy/paranormal. Is this wrong? I try to do it all in a non-offensive way but being Christian I feel like I'm committing a crime by creating this fictional world with stuff contrary to the Bible.
Any thoughts in this area?

Click to expand...

Just be honest with your views on religion as you "tackle" (I prefer the word "explore" myself) the subject of God. That can be hard to do, since that gets very personal at time, but that kind of honesty only enriches the story it's part of.

Best of luck to you.

I come from a very strong Pentacostal background, and my family is extremely conservative. So I often get funny looks when I tell them my books have vampires, goblins, weres, fairies, and demons in them. Really funny looks. But my view of the whole thing is this (and this is only my opinion): the existence of evil proves the existence of good, and by extension, God.

We're writing in fantasy worlds. It's not like we're saying "Vampires exist in this world, I don't care what the Bible says!" That's not what I'm saying in my fiction at all. I'm creating a make-believe setting in which good kicks evil's ass.

Everyone will react differently to what you write, especially coming from your background. For a little more insight, check out the blog of urban fantasy author JF Lewis. He writes about vampires, and his church had a strong reaction to that.

ChaosTitan said:

We're writing in fantasy worlds. It's not like we're saying "Vampires exist in this world, I don't care what the Bible says!" That's not what I'm saying in my fiction at all. I'm creating a make-believe setting in which good kicks evil's ass.

Click to expand...

And there you have it.

As a Christian I have had the same questions as the OP and have thought on it a bit. Religion and how it affects people is fascinating to me. Because of this, I have to explore it. The important thing is keeping a check on your religious bias.

First and foremost, like others have said, you’re writing fiction. There is leeway in that, especially in sf/fantasy because your story doesn’t take place in the real world. You most likely won’t be writing about Jesus and/or blaspheming our God, so I wouldn’t be worried in that respect.

So how does one keep their religious bias from overrunning a story?

You have strong Characters that can enable you as the author to explore all sides of an issue. Do you have a highly religious character that reflects you and your beliefs? Have a character that is agnostic or atheist. If you don’t set up strawman views with these characters, it creates interesting conflicts between them and allows you to explore multiple angles of an issue. Each character has their own views, yet you as the author don’t have to say which is right. It can remain ambiguous which goes a long way toward not preaching to your readers and keeping your bias in check.

You can still have good kick evil’s ass, but you’ll be able to do it in a way that isn’t force feeding your views down your reader’s throats. Remember, fiction is about entertainment and strong characters with contrasting views goes a long way towards providing it.

Zipotes said:

It seems I have to tackle the subject of God, etc. when writing fantasy/paranormal. Is this wrong? I try to do it all in a non-offensive way but being Christian I feel like I'm committing a crime by creating this fictional world with stuff contrary to the Bible.
Any thoughts in this area?

Click to expand...

Tolkien was a devout Christian. Stephenie Meyers wrote a bestselling vampire series and is Mormon. C.S. Lewis created Narnia (alright, Narnia maybe not the best example since it's a big ole' advertisement for Christianity).

I'll admit that I've sometimes had a similar worry cross my mind but I'm fairly certain it's a holdover from a cult-like youth group I attended in my teens.

I am curious, though, about how much fantasy you've read and whether you have problems reading books which had alternate realities/mythic structure.

Characters like people can have varying beliefs: monotheistic, agnostic, atheist, polytheistic, or believe themselves to be gods. Adding spirituality gives another dimension to the character and that's always a good thing.

Fantasy can be a great way to explore different aspects of humanity, highlighting or exaggerating things beyond what you encounter in reality.

Want to question the value of organized hierarchy in a world where gods literally walk amongst men? Want explore the challenges to faith when those gods allow bad things to happen?

Or if you write about acts that might be offensive, it does not mean you are committing or even condoning them.

Do you care about offending readers? Many Christians would not be bothered by things that happen in a work of fiction. Hysterical reactions, like about the witchcraft in Harry Potter, are overblown nonsense. Usually it's perpetuated by "churches" that have more interest in fear-mongering and publicity than actually having reasoned debate, or, heaven forbid, actually trusting that the indoctrination of their children wouldn't be overturned by a few books.

Zipotes said:

It seems I have to tackle the subject of God, etc. when writing fantasy/paranormal.

Click to expand...

Also, I'm not quite sure what you mean by "have to tackle". Some fantasy and sci-fi authors authors do mention or incorporate a religious structure (doing so can make a world seem more fully developed), some do not.

MattW said:

Do you care about offending readers? Many Christians would not be bothered by things that happen in a work of fiction. Hysteria about witchcraft in Harry Potter was overblown nonsense, perpetuated by "churches" that had more interest in fear-mongering and publicity than actually having reasoned debate, or, heaven forbid, actually trusting that the indoctrination of their children wouldn't be overturned by a few books.

Click to expand...

When The Golden Compass hit theatres, Roger Ebert wrote: The books have been attacked by American Christians over questions of religion; their popularity in the U.K. may represent more confident believers whose response to other beliefs is to respond, rather than suppress.

Not strictly related to the original post but your response reminded me of it.

And don't forget the religious backlash against Harry Potter. "Witches! Oh no!" It was like those idiots in Salem. My father railed against the Potter books and my wife, who had read the books, asked him if he had. He said, "No, but I've heard blah blah blah." Typical. My lovely wife, who is a practical and devout follower of Jesus, proceeded to set him straight.

Christians are funny things. I simultaneously love them, hate them, are one, and sometimes wish I'd never heard of it!

Zipotes said:

It seems I have to tackle the subject of God, etc. when writing fantasy/paranormal. Is this wrong?

Click to expand...

I was intending to thread about a similar topic this week.

Ultimately, it's going to depend on the world. Belief in God today is different from how it was 500 years ago. My WIP is set in a 15th century like medieval era time and I spent quite some time deciding whether to include a religious structure in the book or not. Eventually I decided to do so.

I went through some history related articles that explained why religion was so important at that time and found that those reasons would apply to my own world. Hence I had to setup a religious system (which I found to be quite fun) and work my way from there.

Do note that it is not a must. Jordan's Wheel of Time and Martin's Song if Ice and Fire are set in the typical medieval-like era but one has no religion at all while the other has various detailed and complex religious systems. It's all up to the writer.

Darzian said:

Do note that it is not a must. Jordan's Wheel of Time and Martin's Song if Ice and Fire are set in the typical medieval-like era but one has no religion at all while the other has various detailed and complex religious systems. It's all up to the writer.

Click to expand...

I've read both series, and while the focuses may be different, both dealt with religious issues to some extent.

I'm not exactly a religious person, but I've always been of the opinion that controversial topics which challenge your beliefs are good things. If you are as firm of a believer as you say you are, a good intellectual debate should strengthen your convictions.

And that, my friend, is one theme of my novel. My story took a religious tangent after the first few chapters, and I've been pleased with developing Gods and teachings and hierarchies of priests and denominations and heresy. It's all in good fun, right?

You probably chose the genre of fantasy for the promise of escapism. If you are willing to accept elves or demons or magic, you should accept the characters you create might have a different set of values from your own.

I disagree with one of the above posters--Don't limit your content because you might disobey the tenants of Christianity. Remember, a few hundred years ago writing anything fiction was a major league sin. (Puritans and the like.) Write what you want to write, what you feel would be a good story. If you aren't comfortable, the writing will reflect it.

Besides, there's nothing wrong with sneaking in a few Christian themes or symbols, people get a kick out of spotting/analyzing that stuff.

Gene Wolfe is a Roman Catholic, and he's tackled religious themes in his work - apparently in the Book of the New Sun, with a torturer as a protagonist. Admittedly I haven't read it - it's one of those monolithic Great Works in the genre I haven't got round to (and it's very long as well).

Though not a fantasy/SF writer/film director (the remake of The Wicker Man apart), Neal LaBute is a Mormon, and that has not prevented him including some really edgy stuff in some of his plays and films. His film Your Friends & Neighbors includes a scene where a man reminisces about taking part in a male-on-male gang rape in the school showers. LaBute's comment, and I agree with him, is that his characters swear and do bad things because people in life do - depicting something on stage or on film is not the same as endorsing it, assuming an audience of adults.

Darzian said:

Ultimately, it's going to depend on the world. Belief in God today is different from how it was 500 years ago. My WIP is set in a 15th century like medieval era time and I spent quite some time deciding whether to include a religious structure in the book or not. Eventually I decided to do so.

Click to expand...

This presents an interesting conundrum. In the 15th Century the Roman Catholic Church represented Christendom to a large degree, but was hopelessly corrupt. So in this case writing about religion you would almost have to have the religious leadership of the day being the bad guys. (Similar to the time when Jesus was alive.) Nowhere is the gulf between spirituality and religion more clear than in the Middle Ages Church. Spirituality was as important as ever, but the self-proclaimed arbiters of religious inclusion had set up a monopoly that quickly descended into embracing pretty much every vice you can think of.

Things in the Catholic Church are better now (if you ignore the pedophile-priest scandals) but it is difficult to live down such a black period in an organization's history.

Zipotes said:

It seems I have to tackle the subject of God, etc. when writing fantasy/paranormal. Is this wrong? I try to do it all in a non-offensive way but being Christian I feel like I'm committing a crime by creating this fictional world with stuff contrary to the Bible.
Any thoughts in this area?

Click to expand...

If you write something constantly worrying about what other people will think, then it will be no good at all. However, if you are having an internal struggle with it, then rethink that aspect of the story. If you don't, you just won't be happy with it.

Zipotes said:

It seems I have to tackle the subject of God, etc. when writing fantasy/paranormal. Is this wrong? I try to do it all in a non-offensive way but being Christian I feel like I'm committing a crime by creating this fictional world with stuff contrary to the Bible.
Any thoughts in this area?

Click to expand...

By all means, offend if need be. I'd rather be offended than not take an interest.

Butt if you're concerned about blaspheming your faith through your writing, I suggest asking your local pastor.

I love AW! I was debating starting a similar thread myself today. I had a brainstorm along the lines of the paranormal/spiritual realm and couldn't decide whether or not to follow the idea through, since it wasn't really Scriptural, but took parts of Scripture into it--spiritual warfare and the like. Eventually, I decided to write it and see where it took me. It is fiction, after all, and I think the important thing is that the readers come away with the point of the novel and the mental images that linger. Anyone here read The Oath by Frank Peretti? THAT kind of mental image. Apologies if no one's read it...but you should!

I'm not sure why it would be more difficult to write something that is contrary to the Bible than something that is contrary to actual reality. Indeed if you write a story that takes place in our universe, it's going to be different from the one described in any religious myth. I have even thought about creating a fantasy world based on the "cosmology" from one of the religious myths, and have the characters make observations of the world and through the method of science form a world view drastically different from our world.

Gynn said:

By all means, offend if need be. I'd rather be offended than not take an interest.

But if you're concerned about blaspheming your faith through your writing, I suggest asking your local pastor.

Click to expand...

Well, that seems to approach it both wisely and with caring about the writer's sincere feelings and concerns!

We all probably worry about what sorts of energy we put out into the Universe, are we saying something ultimately "positive" or "negative" with our creativity and hard work?

Scripture speaks of not becoming a stumbling block to others' faith ... and yet isn't there also the obligation to help others mature in their faith?

To fear to ASK THE QUESTION (or to offer our readers a challenge to ask an important question) ... does that mean we FEAR that God cannot have an ANSWER ??? I doubt there is any question that Man can ask that the Divine cannot answer ...

Certainly, Jesus said and taught Truths which gave 'offense' to the religious leaders of his time ... and we call his challenges to their entrenched dogmas a Greater Truth.

Certainly, Jesus embraced STORY-TELLING and PARABLES as a valid method of teaching REAL TRUTHS ...

Cannot a sincere fiction writing do the same?

Myself, I agree with the comments offered above, that EVIL exists in the world and can be fairly DEPICTED as a way to EXPOSE and COMBAT Evil.

And that needn't be in any mindless or sugar-coated depiction. EVIL seduces ... and (imo) it's valid to communicate that Seductiveness, if depicting it helps the reader OVERCOME or RECOGNIZE it.

People like to hate on the pedophile scandals of certain religious institutions, or the sexual depravity of this televangelist or that one ...

But we all KNOW that Power corrupts, that Evil tempts and seduces, and man is fallen and weak ... that is SCRIPTURE.

The greatest shame is to hypercritically DENY it or COVER IT UP when we discover it! The disgrace of some is the enlightenment of others!

That said ... there is the Jewish folklore saying I'm fond of:

"We are not guilty if the bird of Temptation flies over our heads or sings into our ears ... But we are guilty should we allow it to build a nest in our beard!"

Click to expand...

So, imo ...

Write, and let your conscience guide you: Listen to its warnings but also let it instruct and encourage you to speak the truth and goodness as you understand it!

PS

I loved BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. It was a very dramatic and character-rich Fantasy romp, full of humour and thrills and emotional heartache!

Oddly, I can only think of ONE TIME that this show, which had a deep moral core (imo) and dealt with all sorts of "evil" fantasy creatures and human emotional angst, ever mentioned anything about "religion" as Christians would see it:

Buffy said something like "Note to self: Religion Bad."

I was like ... what?! I was disappointed and puzzled. Also, I sort of thought: then WHY, exactly, have crucifixes and holy water been killing your demons for the past SEVEN YEARS or so, again?

We live in secular times, in which good people have been deluded about the bad side of institutional religions.

Correction is due. OVERdue. But it is due from those who can approach the seductions of this world with eyes wide open, not squeezed shut with fear or ignorance or prejudice or self-righteousness.

There is nothing wrong imo with preaching to the fallen by first admitting you understand the falleness personally.