Athiest "Lore" in Novels

ArcadiaDarrell

tromping down the yellow brick road
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 12, 2010
Messages
206
Reaction score
20
Location
the dirty dirty
For my own amusement I like to sprinkle in jokes and references to atheist "lore" in my writings. I try not make it overt due to my persistent fear of lynching. For instance in my last book I have a group called Doomist that are obsessed with pineapple and their god is a purple oyster.

I figure other groups have books that push their ideals, therefore I can be playful with mockery of proselytizing literature.

Is any one else overt or subtle about their atheism in their writings? Does it even come up?

Edit: Yes, I misspelled the title. Luckily I have already cried and cut myself for the offense so hopefully we can all move on now.
 
Last edited:

Sarpedon

Banned
Joined
Jan 20, 2008
Messages
2,702
Reaction score
436
Location
Minnesota, USA
I think its better to keep a neutral tone on religion in writing. Characters should be religious or not based on their own situations and inclinations, not the author's.

I keep a sharp lookout for the creep-ins. Unless you are writing something to be deliberately satirical.
 

Maxx

Got the hang of it, here
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 26, 2010
Messages
3,227
Reaction score
202
Location
Durham NC
Is any one else overt or subtle about their athiesm in their writings? Does it even come up?

I find the best thing about atheism is that it allows me to have a wide range of religious experiences, so my atheism appears in my stories as relatively intense religious events.
 

ArcadiaDarrell

tromping down the yellow brick road
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 12, 2010
Messages
206
Reaction score
20
Location
the dirty dirty
I keep a sharp lookout for the creep-ins. Unless you are writing something to be deliberately satirical.

Most of what I write is satirical, and I really doubt that most people are going to have a clue regarding the significance of a purple oyster and pineapple. Its more for those who are already in on the joke.
 

richcapo

Knight Templar
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 8, 2010
Messages
953
Reaction score
49
Location
Fairfax, Virginia
I find the best thing about atheism is that it allows me to have a wide range of religious experiences, so my atheism appears in my stories as relatively intense religious events.
Same here. My atheism frees me up to play with religion and magic like they're silly putty. Since I believe in nothing, I have no qualms about abusing the hell out of a mythology. I can drag God through the mud, marry Kaballah and cannibalism, have Lucifer rape Jesus, have Jesus rape Lucifer, have the Greek gods return, have Christ return, have ... etc., etc., etc.

I can do whatever I want because I have zero faith in anything.

_Richard
 

Kitty Pryde

i luv you giant bear statue
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 7, 2008
Messages
9,090
Reaction score
2,165
Location
Lost Angeles
It's "atheist". A+the+ist. It's not "athiest". It's not a superlative.
 

Zoombie

Dragon of the Multiverse
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 24, 2006
Messages
40,775
Reaction score
5,947
Location
Some personalized demiplane
I wrote a book about an atheist and his guardian angel writing a revised bible, with an occasional cameo from his openly gay (closeted unicorn) best friend. The antagonists included a ninja, a load of heavily armed scientologists, Satan, Lord Xenu, some zombies, a hyper-dimensional house cat, and the physical avatar of entropy!

I was pretty subtle about the whole thing :D
 

fireluxlou

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
2,089
Reaction score
283
I didn't know we Atheist's had a lore? I'm confused.
 

zornhau

Swordsman
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 21, 2005
Messages
1,491
Reaction score
167
Location
Scotland
Website
www.livejournal.com
I think it's probably more interesting to portray religion as if real, but with no cosy fudging to bring it up to date with more liberal times.

Matthew Stover wrote a wonderful novel called Jericho Moon, where a Celtic warrior princess and a motley band of Greek heroes help defend Jericho against the rampaging Israelites.

The cool thing is that he portrayed the God of the Israelites as real and exactly as depicted in the OT, complete with massacres and tests of faith.

It was a great - "OK, so suppose the Bible is literal truth, what would it be like?"

Mostly, though, it was a damn good adventure story.
 

Marian Perera

starting over
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 29, 2006
Messages
14,333
Reaction score
4,578
Location
Heaven is a place on earth called Toronto.
Website
www.marianperera.com
Matthew Stover wrote a wonderful novel called Jericho Moon, where a Celtic warrior princess and a motley band of Greek heroes help defend Jericho against the rampaging Israelites.

I enjoyed that book a lot. And yes, the OT god was a superb adversary because of the way Stover portrayed him.
 

veinglory

volitare nequeo
Self-Ban
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
28,750
Reaction score
2,933
Location
right here
Website
www.veinglory.com
I am not sure way it is more in interesting to portray religion as if it is real. In fiction anything can be real, no religion, religion as we know it, religion as if to was real, real gods but no religion etc etc. It all has the potential to make a good story.
 

Zoombie

Dragon of the Multiverse
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 24, 2006
Messages
40,775
Reaction score
5,947
Location
Some personalized demiplane
That's the basic idea of my previous book's idea: What if every single form of religion was real?

Well, the world would be a very very strange place.
 

fireluxlou

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
2,089
Reaction score
283

ArcadiaDarrell

tromping down the yellow brick road
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 12, 2010
Messages
206
Reaction score
20
Location
the dirty dirty
Ooo! and I forgot about the suborbital teapot, too!

^I did read them, and I gotta say I just don't believe that nipple clamps will be particularly effective on Rush Limbaugh. That's just my opinion though.
 

Max Vaehling

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
1,133
Reaction score
75
Location
Bremen, Germany
Website
www.dreadfulgate.de

Max Vaehling

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
1,133
Reaction score
75
Location
Bremen, Germany
Website
www.dreadfulgate.de
As for the original question, religion doesn't appear much in my stories. Neither as a crackpot belief system nor as an explanation of anything. I think the less you rely on religion to achieve anything, the better you serve Atheism's evil scheme to take over the ... ahem, the better you advocate Atheism.

I do like authors playing with religions as either all true or all equally false, and of course I enjoy authors playing with religious lore and creating fun new stuff from it. But in my own stories, as in my lfe, religion is pretty much a non-entity, nothing I think about much, certainly not enough to feel the need to make stories about it.

Actually, that's not entirely true. It used to be a non-entity, but religious people have been pushing the topic enough for me to a) think about it more than I would otherwise, and b) commit to Atheism rather than my original agnosticism.

Also, I do enjoy poking fun at flat-earthers and book burners. But it hasn't surfaced much in my fiction (yet).
 

Dawnstorm

punny user title, here
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 18, 2007
Messages
2,752
Reaction score
449
Location
Austria
Well, take a look at this. It's currently going through Austrian media. Mr. Alm makes an atheist victory out of this, while the police say the regulations are actually fine with head gear, which makes Alm counter that - as that's indeed the law - the official information from the ministry is wrong (which means a discrimination of atheists without even legal backing), and so on.

So: should Pastafarians wear a pasta strainer on their driver's licenses or not?
 

Dawnstorm

punny user title, here
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 18, 2007
Messages
2,752
Reaction score
449
Location
Austria
Pastafarianism is not atheism.

Well, no. But it's the sort of "lore" that the OP talks about. And the incident is most certainly about the discrimination of atheists, at least from Mr. Alm's point of view. He had to take a medical examination to see if he's sane enough to drive. That - in itself - shows that "pastafarianism" is insider knowledge (or "lore"): the authorities didn't get it (and it seems they still don't).

And this is why I find this sort of stuff ineffective to achieve any goals. It communicates mostly in-group, while the out-group is baffled.

Atheists aren't (and have never been) a coherent belief-group. As soon as the theists aren't looking, we quibble amongst ourselves. Practically the only possible lore "atheists" can have is based on the common foe. And even then, that doesn't mean we all have to agree, or that every atheist is a pastafarian.
 

benbradley

It's a doggy dog world
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 5, 2006
Messages
20,322
Reaction score
3,513
Location
Transcending Canines
There's a new movie "The Golden Compass" named after a book of that name in which the MC is an out atheist. It appears to be getting a good bit of attention, but from what little I've heard, it's not just sprinkled with "athelst lore," it uses an atheist sledgehammer.

I think its better to keep a neutral tone on religion in writing. Characters should be religious or not based on their own situations and inclinations, not the author's.

I keep a sharp lookout for the creep-ins. Unless you are writing something to be deliberately satirical.
I have to admit there's something to this. It's "authorial intrusion" and it often or usually spoils the story.
Pastafarianism is not atheism.
Technically it night not be, but for practical purposes it has become a popular faux-religion among atheists (and I haven't heard of anyone who believes it as a REAL religion), such as this one:Austrian driver allowed 'pastafarian' headgear photo

An Austrian atheist has won the right to be shown on his driving-licence photo wearing a pasta strainer as "religious headgear".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14135523

ETA: Now I see it was that story that prompted the reference, but I stand by what I said.
 
Last edited: