How to tackle real world religion in fantasy

[jasperjheart]

Good morning to all,

I have been playing around lately with my WIP, trying out new settings and time periods, and I've become infatuated with setting my story in a fictional country, with the same advancements as England during the Victorian era. With that being said, I have come to the point in my character building where my protagonist has become a man of knowledge and science, and is not a believer of God or the supernatural.

My question is, how do I tackle the task of making my MC an Atheist, without being offensive? I'm not trying to start controversy, I've just come to the realization that he doesn't believe in God.

 

[Gryphos]

Who exactly are you worried about offending?

 

[jasperjheart]

Who exactly are you worried about offending?

Mainly Christians, seeing as it's the most wide spread across the region at that time. He's a professor of science and sort of sleuth. So he tends to use his feelings towards religion, and the "magic" behind it all, when teaching or debunking supernatural cases.

 

[Gryphos]

Well then don't worry about it. I like marmite, but I'm not exactly going to go on a rage because the MC of a book doesn't like marmite.

 

[Chilari]

Yeah, anyone who is offended by the beliefs of a fictional character isn't worth your time worrying about.

 

[KC Trae Becker]

Mainly Christians, seeing as it's the most wide spread across the region at that time. He's a professor of science and sort of sleuth. So he tends to use his feelings towards religion, and the "magic" behind it all, when teaching or debunking supernatural cases.

There are many ways to make an atheist MC more palatable to sensitive people of faith. Here are a few:
1. the MC could be humble about his/her disbelief
2. there could be a likeable side kick or important secondary character that represents a believer's viewpoint
3. the MC could have occasional doubts about their position

The main thing is to not stereotype people of faith as stupid for belief or to have your MC succeed in belittling a faith position unconditionally.
Fictional scientists and investigators are often atheist. It is not an automatic turnoff for believers. Just don't send the message to your believing readers that you the author think they are stupid or duped. That is a turn off.

 

[Philip Overby]

I wouldn't worry about offending people. You're always going to offend some people somehow. It could really be any number of things that trigger an emotion or reaction. Good literature typically does that anyhow.

 

[Noma Galway]

My fantasy setting offended one of my friends because there were different gods than God. If that made sense. She refused to continue reading because there was magic and other gods. I respect her decision, but it kind of bothered me. Since then, though, I haven't worried about offending anyone with my writing. It's my writing, and people who are going to be offended by it don't need to read it. That's my philosophy on the matter.

 

[Ophiucha]

There have been atheists since the dawn of time - no matter how ubiquitously religious we regard an era, there were always plenty of people who didn't buy into it. Several Greek philosophers were atheists, for instance, and there were definitely Victorian ones. Most Christians will not care unless he spends half of his time mumbling and grumbling about the 'sheep who follow their shepherd' or actively disproving Christian beliefs as his primary scientific endeavour.

And if he does do those things, well, there are plenty of atheists who read fantasy. You'll still have readers.

 

[Gryphos]

Of course you shouldn't shy away from criticising religion, which is a lot different from insulting followers of a religion. It's the difference between saying "I don't like you, I think you're stupid" and "I don't like your beliefs, I think they're stupid". Although you should never be that blunt about it.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

I'd suggest reading as a sort of primer for a fictional atheist "The Stainless Steel Rat" by Harry Harrison, and especially the internal monologs he goes through as justifications for what he does. It's also a brilliant read. And then look up the concept of Humanism.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[The Blue Lotus]

If I worried about who I'm going to offend with my work I'd never write. I twist every major religion there is, into something other than. I enjoy it, there is a point for my doing this and if the reader can't grasp that point oh well. Perhaps they should read a little more.

 

[James Chandler]

Atheists exist. Christians understand this. They will not be offended merely because your character is one.

 

[Michael J. Tobias]

I agree with what others have written. Personally, I'd give the MC a good friend who is a strong, intelligent, open-minded Christian who can give as good as he can get. This will alleviate any "anti-Christian" feelings some may want to see in your story.

 

[Noma Galway]

I still don't see how writing an atheist character is anti-Christian. I just straight up do not see it. Atheists exist. They don't need Christians to complete them. If Christians are going to find that offensive, that is their business. And I mean that really seriously. If you worry about offending people, you won't end up writing what you want to write.

 

[Steerpike]

I still don't see how writing an atheist character is anti-Christian. I just straight up do not see it. Atheists exist. They don't need Christians to complete them. If Christians are going to find that offensive, that is their business. And I mean that really seriously. If you worry about offending people, you won't end up writing what you want to write.

It's not anti-Christian. And I agree, you can't alter your writing to worry about the sensitivities of the most easily offended people out there. No reasonable person will be offended just because a character is an atheist.

 

[TWErvin2]

As has largely been stated, it depends on how you approach it, realizing that the portrayal and content can turn off some readers/audience while possibly appealing to others.

You cannot write a novel that will be favored/read and enjoyed by everyone. Just can't happen. But the choices you make do suggest which potential audience might be interested in the story.

Christians are not generally people who rail against atheists in real life, unless give a reason. Most Christians hope to encourage an atheist to question his/her choice--for reasons of faith and the afterlife, but they live and work with atheists every day without ranting or upheaval. So, if the portrayal of the atheist in the story doesn't denigrate those of faith 'unfairly,' or belittle them, then it shouldn't raise great concern, other than it won't appeal to some fraction of potential readers.

Of course, that doesn't mean you can't write the character to be condescending to those of faith, and/or write those of faith as hapless, dullards, for example, if that's part of the story you want to tell (I'm not saying this is your intent, just stating it to illustrate a point clearly). It will simply affect those who might read the novel...and it might garner some harsh reviews, which would warn others of like-mindedness away from trying the novel.

Yes, you might come across some 'rabid Christian' reader just as someone who portrays a Christian as a main character might have a 'rabid atheist' or two get a bit worked up over the novel.

 

[Devor]

There's more than one layer to it. There's "Would Christians be offended?" and then there's "Would Christians read it?" As for the first, it shouldn't be offensive nowadays unless the character is aggressive about their beliefs, or maybe just flatly wrong in their statements. That's pretty true in every direction. But if you want Christians to actually be interested in reading it, you should either play it down (how often does it really come up?) or else shoot for some of the type of back and forth you see in Bones, for instance.

The worst you can do, in terms of offending people, is to downplay it for half the book and then go into a big unexpected tirade about it towards the end. That's just asking for bad reviews. If by some chance it's something you happen to feel strongly about, and want to communicate, at least be upfront about it and give people the chance to just not read it.