“Every thing possible to be believ’d is an image of truth.” – William Blake
It’s a sticky subject. Along with politics, it’s a subject our mothers and polite society tell us not to talk about in public. Yet, is there any subject more defining to who we are as people? Yes, I’m talking about faith with the definition of the word being fairly broad. All of us believe in something. Some of us have faith in an entity or religion such as a belief in Christ, Allah, Jehovah, Krishna, Buddha, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, etc., etc., etc. Others believe in exclusively secular origins and explanations involving hypothesized dark matter and undiscovered (with the possible exception of the Higgs Boson) God particles to explain the mysterious forces that hold all matter together. Some theoretical physicists believe in variations of string theory, while others believe in Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG). Some of us believe in combinations of the supernatural and the secular and all sorts of strange amalgamations of various schools of thought. Everyone’s answer to the basic questions of “Why are we here?”/”What are we?”/”How did we get here?” is a little bit different depending on the individual’s worldview. Even those who proclaim a nihilistic — “I believe in nothing!” — worldview admit to believing in something by making that very proclamation, even if that something is “nothing.”
Therefore, faith, in this context, is the culmination of our interactions in this world and how we interpret those experiences to create our own unique worldview. This worldview directly influences how we experience the world around us. If we write, it will follow that our worldview will be expressed directly or indirectly in our fiction.
So, how do we best handle this combination of faith and fiction in our writing? I guess that all depends on the purpose of your writing.
Some write to further agendas. Others write to enlighten. Many write to entertain. All purposes for writing are valid and have their own target audiences.
Myself, I try to fall in the “entertainment” category whenever possible. Sometimes I find myself dipping my toes into the “enlightenment” category, but even then, entertainment comes first on some level. After all, how can one achieve an audience to enlighten if they do not first entertain on some level? Preachers, pastors, rabbis, and professors tend to rely on some measure of charisma to maintain and grow a flock. That charisma is what entertains and engages the congregation/classroom for the teaching to become truly effective.
Personally, I don’t work (at least not consciously) to further an agenda in my own writing. While I freely acknowledge my belief in the Christian faith publicly, I do not consider myself a “Christian Author,” at least not in the strict definition set forth by some mainstream Christian publishers. I don’t strive to preach (or write) to the choir. While I feel writing for those of faith is a noble endeavor, and there are many writers who do so well, this is not my own particular calling and all attempts to write in such a manner come out forced and contrived and … well … inauthentic, I guess. In real life people curse, and people do things that are immoral. This is the reality I perceive and see around me and feel compelled to write. In fact, my own faith does not always “win” in the course of my stories. Sometimes my faith does not appear at all (at least not on the surface). Sometimes I give beliefs different than my own center stage.
For example, I drafted a novel recently in which the protagonist wavers back and forth with his Christian faith. In the end, in his godless setting, doubt won out over Christian faith, yet he became somewhat of a Christ figure in the end through his own final acts of selflessness. This made sense in the larger context of this character’s story. It also dealt headlong and criticized the subject of persecution by those who hold tight to fundamentalist views that distort the Christian faith through their own interpretations of The Bible.
Are these messages a betrayal of my own faith? Some of my more conservative Christian brothers and sisters might argue that it is. Personally (and prayerfully) I see it another way. The book’s main purpose was to entertain and engage an audience. I wanted to tell an authentic modern story that explored issues that mattered to me. The matter of faith was only included because it became an increasingly relevant theme as the narrative progressed (the characters in a post-apocalyptic landscape are surrounded by death and it would stand to reason they would wonder what happens afterwards). By writing all sides of this character’s inner struggle with his faith, the audience is forced to confront and engage all sides of the issue.
In my own worldview, as a Christian, the main motivating factor behind all of my relationships and interactions on this earth must be, on some basic level, about love — loving God and loving my neighbor. How can I love my neighbor if I do not understand him? There is no loving without understanding. For fictional worlds to become authentic and realistic, I think one must be willing to acknowledge that faith does not always win out over doubt. Just as personal doubts sometimes lead to renewed faith, which was the case for me as I progressed from atheist (I seriously began questioning how there could be order in the universe without a creator in a college astronomy class) to agnostic (I wasn’t sure what to believe, but felt there had to be something larger than myself) to Christian (I found a Unified Theory of Everything that worked for me based on my life experiences and learning). I believe there are many winding trails leading to something resembling understanding, and we should frequently reevaluate our positions. I agree with William Blake who wrote “The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, & breeds reptiles of the mind.”
I believe fiction can be a wonderful and entertaining way to explore various faiths and matters related to various beliefs. For example, science fiction as a whole has done a wonderful job over the years of entertaining audiences while explaining scientific truths and theories.
As a writer, you have the freedom to step inside your own characters’ minds and examine questions of faith and various worldviews. I think we should be brave enough to take advantage of this position and tackle larger issues of faith and modern beliefs, and perhaps even use our fiction to explore modern viewpoints different than our own. After all, nobody wants to be the host body for “reptiles of the mind.”
Faith has always been an integral part of our fictions. Most ancient world literature deals heavily with matters of the faiths and beliefs of various individuals, races, and nationalities. Understanding those faiths in context is vital to understanding most classic texts and extracting cultural and historical significance. It would have been truly tragic if these authors played by the rules of polite society and did not discuss matters of faith and/or belief in their writing. Likewise, it would be tragic if we did not address and record the various faiths and beliefs of our day.
So, how about you? Do you address your faith and/or beliefs in your fiction? If so, how do you address these issues? Do you strive for a straightforward approach or does the matter of your own worldview present itself more organically?
T.J. McIntyre has seen his short fiction and poetry published in numerous publications. He is a member of various writing organizations, including the Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA), and serves as a moderator for the Lobo Luna and Western Writers writing communities on LiveJournal. Until last year, he published Southern Fried Weirdness, an anthology and web zine celebrating speculative fiction and poetry with a Southern perspective. He lives in a busy household in the muggy heart of rural Alabama with his wife, two young sons, an aging Doberman mix, five tiger barbs, and three salt-and-pepper catfish.
Related posts:
- Prepare for your daily Dark Faith: Devotion
- DARK FAITH: Introduction by Maurice Broaddus
- DARK FAITH Devotion: Linda Addison & Rain Graves
APEXOLOGY: Horror
[...] 10 07 2010 This weekend on the Apex Books Blog I explored matters of faith and fiction: “On Faith and F(r)iction” –http://www.apexbookcompany.com/blog/2010/07/on-faith-and-friction/ [...]
I tend to address or deal with my own beliefs in nearly all my fiction, even that which is basically just entertainment, not that I set up some high literary goals to meet. I mostly write horror and fantasy, but within those genres it’s no stretch to touch upon one’s own belief system, whether spiritual or secular. But then I believe even authors who purposely stray away from such material and try to focus solely upon entertainment value still bring something to say to their literature, even if they don’t mean to or even want to.
The above paragraph somewhat sounds as if I’m coming from the Orwell school of writing, or perhaps Tolstoy, but that’s not true at all. I don’t force religious or spiritual themes into my fiction, but I find they easily occur depending upon what I’m writing. Most characters, in any type of fiction, are facing conflict, and conflict tends to push one towards studying one’s own beliefs, whether about God or themselves or the world they live in or whatever.
Carl Sagan was an atheist and yet he wrote the book Contact which explored both the nature of religion and the nature of science. He drew a remarkable parallel between the two and had the main character come to a new understanding at the end.
I think the most important thing for authors in certain genres (mainly SF & Fantasy) more than others is the need to establish what the religion of the character is. By creating believable characters in realistic milieus then the author can step back and let the play unfold.
I think when an author tries to manipulate a “message”, whether by creating characters who are a mouthpiece for their beliefs or by creating a theme that preaches–readers are smart enough to notice. If that happens then the message, the story, and the trust in the author kind of dissolves into nothingness.
The idea/lesson must come from the heart of what the story is and not from the authors personal dogma.
I think Sagan did a sincere and fair job with portraying the various points of view in Contact. That’s a great example of how belief and faith can be used in fiction to give a story a greater depth.
And, yes, when creating a fully developed character, we need to at least think about our character’s tick (and a system of faith and/or belief is a huge aspect of most individual’s larger worldview).
I think we’re on the same page about not manipulating a “message.” That’s the sort of thing that should not be forced. If an examination of faith and belief needs to be in a story and presents itself organically or thematically, fine. If not, that should be fine, too.
Thanks for commmenting!
*edit on above comment*
That should read “… we need to at least thing about *what makes* our characters tick …”
Although, if our character’s do have actual ticks, we should probably examine that as well. ;)
I’m eclectic Pagan myself, with a wide interest in interfaith studies. I write fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
I often deal with matters of faith in fiction — but not always the same faith. I’ve written Pagan fiction. I’ve written about characters who followed other religions, such as Buddhism or Christianity, and for whom that was a key part of what they experienced. Other stories, a character’s religion might not come up, in which case I largely ignore it.
I write for intricate purposes: to amuse, to enlighten, but above all to engage. I want to make readers think. They don’t have to come up with the same answers I do, but they should be holding up some idea from the story to their own worldview for comparison.
If you read a LOT of my work, and then pull back to look for common threads, you’ll find them. I generally believe in making the world a better place, in taking care of the Earth, in handling divine energy with respect. But my characters not me, not necessarily like me, and not much like each other either; if you pick up any given story, poem, or article you may get a perfectly clear view of a cool image that has very little to do with my personal stance on a topic. *chuckle* And that itself is a reflection of the Eclectic tenet that everyone has a piece of the truth. Put together enough pieces and you begin to get an idea of the big picture, which is bigger than we can fully perceive from a mortal perspective.
Elizabeth, as someone who has read a fair amount of your fiction and poetry (especially the poems on LJ), I can vouche that you are not afraid to tackle these subjects, and do it well.
Regarding eclecticism, I can relate. I tend to go for eclecticism as well in my writing (just browse through my Southern Fried Shorts blog for proof). Yet, like you, I can see common themes in my work despite the fact many of my stories look different on a superficial level.
I deal a lot with faith in my fiction. And I write children’s religious nonfiction under a pseudonym. Ironic, as I think all religion is stories, but recipes and crafts are nonfiction.
I’ve written That Book. The “Watch Angel Work Out Her Religious Issues” book. I’ve also written what may be the first pagan inspirational romance.
I’ve written books with characters of my former faith and variants thereof, of my current faith and its variants, of faiths that aren’t mine, of faiths that don’t exist yet (Church of Christ, Programmer, an all-virtual church, services in the net) and of no faith at all.
The religion flows from the characters. It affects how they see the world, how they interact with it. There are a few where I start with an agenda (see pagan inspy above), but more where it just kind of happens. It can cause conflict, such as the observant Jew who is also an international jewel-thief and bisexual prostitute (his daughter calls him to wish him a good Sabbath, and he’s in a male client’s bed) or the Episcopal priest who falls for a vampire (not mine, alas). It can give depth. It can provide characters with a wiser mentor or unexpected allies.
I’d like to see more of it. So much fiction just postulates a world where religion plays no part in anyone’s life.
I write stories that show my characters crappling with issues of faith, but I do not serve it up steaming hot on a platter. I don’t like it when people shove their faith in my face, so I will not do it to others. I tend to use symbolism or teachable moments. I will admit that the book that I am currently revising has the strongest Christian orientation, but it does not say, “You must be Christian.” I do not want to be a Christian author. I want to be a writer who happens to be Christian. I want my books to entertain, but I also want their to be a message, a point. But NOT a look-at-me-see-my-great-life-lesson-aren’t you-different-now? kind of point.
To me, faith is how we reason and understand our purpose and the events/interactions in our life. All characters use some belief system as a guide for their actions. You don’t always need to show WHAT the belief system is, but the reader should see the character’s reasoning process, understand their motivations.
“I do not want to be a Christian author. I want to be a writer who happens to be Christian.”
I think we’re on the same page there…
Great post. I believe in “entertaining first” as well, T.J. Everything else is secondary. I love the issues/questions you pose. In fact, I just started writing a repsonse to this, but it became so unwieldy, I might just have to make it the subject of my next blog. :) Good job.
Ty — “…conflict tends to push one towards studying one’s own beliefs, whether about God or themselves or the world they live in or whatever.” Exactly! And that’s why I tried to indicate a larger, more inclusive definition of “faith” for the purposes of this blog post.
Angelia — I’d like to see more faith and belief intertwined with fiction, too. Especially in a multidimensional way. I’m a Christian, but that’s not all I am as a person. I know many Christians, and you know what, most of us are very different people who have different beliefs on a broad variety of topics. Christianity as a whole is not entirely homogenous, note all the different denominations. Too often, religious figures become mere stereotypes for the religion. I’m thinking Flanders in the Simpsons, any number of Islamic terrorists in current political thrillers, pedophile priests, etc. While (often sadly) there may sometimes be some measure of truth in these stereotypes, people are typically not that one dimensional. A young Islamic terrorist may be inspired by trying to help his/her family out of a desperate situation in combination with their particular faith, for example.
BJ — Thanks! Let me know when that blog post goes live! :)