SeverinR
Vala
I believe it is their opinion, not saying it can't be done, the op did ask. IMHO anything a writer can make believeable can be done. In the world of fantasy, why set limits?I think there is some truth to this, but I find it interesting that, in answer to the poll, at least two writers said it "has no place" in Fantasy. Think about that. You've basically got two writers telling other writers that they don't think it can be done in a Fantasy world, of all things. It is absurd, when you think about it.
I'm a little surprised nobody's said anything, but I'm one of the two who voted "no" in the poll and I posted about it pretty much right away. It's on page two and opens with "I voted 'no,' but I don't really mean it."
I was mostly reacting to a number of threads with poor details of a religion that is "essentially" a real-world religion, followed by a terribly ignorant, lopsided or shallow portrayal of said group. But honestly, if the question simply asked "Does religion have a place in fantasy writing?" I'm not sure my answer would be much different. The number of D&D-style religions saddens me. The culturally-wrong portrayals of Greek, Norse and other religions makes me wonder at our inability to capture a historical mindset.
I think handling religion poorly is a good way to get your manuscripts in the garbage bin, and that most writers would do better to leave it aside until they've developed better skills at handling the subject. As I said earlier, if I had to set a rule, the rule would be "No, skip it," because I think, on average, you're more likely to have it harm your work than improve it. But I think rules are meant to be broken once you know what you're doing.
I'm aware that's not really what the question was asking. I figured it was better for the discussion to take the question less literally.
I try to stay away from real world religions, because to honor a religion, even an ancient religion, you have to study it fairly well. And there are some followers of old gods that will complain about inaccuracies.
So far I have created only the Elven gods, and I think I mentioned a Mythic God, but nothing specific. Human people worship human gods, so I mentioned it. I could create my own human gods, or even god, but we have so many to chose from already...