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As authors, our influences can come from many places. Religion is definitely one of many influences on people's work. I believe a work should be a reflection of its author, yet religion can be really polarizing. How can I bring aspects of my personal belief system (Christianity, if it matters) into my writing without marginalizing my audience, who may not feel like I do?

For instance, some of the fiction I've read feels like thinly veiled propaganda (Pullman's His Dark Materials), while some has a lot of hidden meaning without being obstructive to the point (Card's Ender Saga). How can I express my viewpoint in my fantasy world without seeming propaganda-ish? To clarify, I'm not interested in writing an allegory; that would be marginalizing. While they have their uses, and can be wonderful on their own right (Lewis' Narnia), that's not what I'm doing.

If there is a particular example of writing that illustrates your point, I'd like to know what it is, and have a small summary of it. :)

Gabe Willard
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  • Can you be more specific? As it stands, this question is really looking to start a discussion, and would be difficult to answer without speculating about what you're writing. – Goodbye Stack Exchange Mar 13 '12 at 05:15
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    Related: Sympathetic portrayal of devout characters. Does that cover your question? – Standback Mar 13 '12 at 05:19
  • I don't think it needs to be more specific. I'm asking how one can incorporate religion into their writing without being hamfisted about it. I'm not interested in discussion. I'm interested in answers from people who have thought about it before, and have examples to back themselves up. Style != discussion. – Gabe Willard Mar 13 '12 at 05:20
  • As this question is written right now, the answers on the linked question seem to address it. Gabe, is there anything about your situation this question does not address? (Possibly the "polarizing" aspect?) Unless you have something unique, I'm thinking we should close this as a duplicate. – Goodbye Stack Exchange Mar 13 '12 at 05:22
  • @Standback not really. I mean in a more overarching sense than just characters. Like whole mythologies. Or in a non-fiction setting, how you can state your case from a religious background without being obnoxious. – Gabe Willard Mar 13 '12 at 05:22
  • The two questions are about different things. Simple. I'm failing to see what about the question isn't clear, honestly. I'm talking about influencing work, @Standback is talking about writing a religious character. – Gabe Willard Mar 13 '12 at 05:23
  • Okay, then to address my original point: Can you be more specific about the work in question? What are you writing? Are you world-building? Outlining a plot? Without knowing this, the question is very general. – Goodbye Stack Exchange Mar 13 '12 at 05:32
  • This discussion has been continued in chat. – Goodbye Stack Exchange Mar 13 '12 at 05:57
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    Sorry, Gabe, if you don't think this needs to be more specific, I strongly disagree . Do you want to invent a religion in your book and do not want that it looks awkward? Many fantasy authors make up religions for their books (Eddings would be one to name). Do you want to write about existing religions and their interactions in your novel (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, ...)? Do you want to write a novel about Scientology and do not want to chase people away from this sect topic? Your question is broad and unspecific. – John Smithers Mar 13 '12 at 09:44
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    Some clarifications, please. (A) Is your question is about including your own religious views in your work? You say "my belief system," but I'm not sure if you mean "the things I believe in" or "things I made up which my characters believe in." (B) If your own beliefs- in what way/sense do you want to include them? Do you want representatives of your faith? A cosmology based on a literal interpretation of your faith? A thematic connection? Something else? (C) I'm not sure if you're discussing fiction or nonfiction - comments imply both, but those are extremely different issues. – Standback Mar 13 '12 at 10:04
  • @JohnSmithers - "if you don't think this needs to be more specific, you failed miserably" - Keep it civil, please. – Goodbye Stack Exchange Mar 13 '12 at 16:42
  • To people asking for the question to be made more specific - I agree that this would make it a better question, but you might want to read this discussion if you haven't already. – Goodbye Stack Exchange Mar 13 '12 at 16:44
  • Excellent examples: Bruce Marshall's "All Glorious Within" (and his other novels) or Franz Werfel's "Jeremiah". – Nerevar Mar 13 '12 at 11:11
  • @Standback The motivation for the question was regarding incorporating my beliefs into my fantasy world, but I think the idea carries over to other types of writing: nonfiction, critical review, modern fiction, science fiction, and virtually anything else you could name. That's why I didn't want the question focused on one genre. If it will get the hounds off, I will, but that isn't the spirit of what I was asking. – Gabe Willard Mar 13 '12 at 18:11
  • Gabe, from reactions, it seems that the question as-stated isn't as clear as you'd like - or you'd be getting more helpful answers. I'm closing the question temporarily until we can clean this up; I'll go over the chat discussion and your comments here and see if we can edit into something that's both answerable and compatible with your original intentions. Hope I'll have something ASAP. – Standback Mar 13 '12 at 18:23
  • Some more thoughts on clarification on chat: http://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/3806221#3806221 – Standback Mar 13 '12 at 19:08
  • I've edited it further. Any better? – Gabe Willard Mar 13 '12 at 21:49

2 Answers2

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Present your views as the views of a character, who is also "human" ( i.e. normal, fallible ). Present other views alongside, from other characters. Don't push your views as the narrator or other super-being within the context.

Also, show the doubts the questions, why your character has come to believe what they do. Not in depth, but at least demonstrate that they have thought through their views.

If you need a character with strong, extremely polarising views, make sure they are seriously challenged.

The reasoning is that if you present an argument for a religious view, and explore how it impacts a person, that is a better way of reflecting the holistic nature of their belief than simply explounding dogma.

If you are writing SF or fantasy, then you may have to modify some of these ideas, but the principles apply just as much.

Schroedingers Cat
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My suggestion is that you introduce characters with views that oppose your own, and don't try disproving their views.

By doing this, you'll make your readers more accepting toward your own views for two reasons:

  • By being willing to accept other views within your work, you remind the readers that each is entitled to his own opinion - and that includes you!
  • Readers who disagree with your viewpoint will still have "representation" within your work, and won't feel that by having your own view you are disqualifying their views.
Yehuda Shapira
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