Hello folks.
So I'm working on a story about two boys off on an adventure around the year 1000. Obviously this was a time when religion was a big deal in people's lives, and since my protagonists come from two different religious traditions (Sami paganism and Islam,) logically I think they'd discuss it at some point, or one of the characters would pray, reference a deity, or just drop an inshallah into a sentence.
But I am well aware that grownups are touchy about religion and the target market for chapterbooks is probably whichever grownup does the ordering for public schools, and no one wants to get a bunch of parents mad at them.
I am perfectly happy writing the book either way. The characters' religions don't impact the plot in any way; they happen to have just traveled a long way. There's definitely no intention of "promoting" one belief or the other. If I get lucky and write a whole series about these kids' adventures, though, they would travel to even more lands, and it does seem a little weird to have characters crossing through Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Muslim, Hindu, etc., lands without mentioning religion.
So I'm appealing to collective wisdom. If religion is like swearing, then I assume any religious content is an auto-ding, and I'll be happy to keep it out. But if you think editors/agents would think it odd to have characters in a time and place where religion was obviously a big deal not mention their beliefs even in passing, then I'll be happy to have some references. This is just a totally practical question.
Thanks!
So I'm working on a story about two boys off on an adventure around the year 1000. Obviously this was a time when religion was a big deal in people's lives, and since my protagonists come from two different religious traditions (Sami paganism and Islam,) logically I think they'd discuss it at some point, or one of the characters would pray, reference a deity, or just drop an inshallah into a sentence.
But I am well aware that grownups are touchy about religion and the target market for chapterbooks is probably whichever grownup does the ordering for public schools, and no one wants to get a bunch of parents mad at them.
I am perfectly happy writing the book either way. The characters' religions don't impact the plot in any way; they happen to have just traveled a long way. There's definitely no intention of "promoting" one belief or the other. If I get lucky and write a whole series about these kids' adventures, though, they would travel to even more lands, and it does seem a little weird to have characters crossing through Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Muslim, Hindu, etc., lands without mentioning religion.
So I'm appealing to collective wisdom. If religion is like swearing, then I assume any religious content is an auto-ding, and I'll be happy to keep it out. But if you think editors/agents would think it odd to have characters in a time and place where religion was obviously a big deal not mention their beliefs even in passing, then I'll be happy to have some references. This is just a totally practical question.
Thanks!