Would Using Real Religion in My Series Be Distasteful?

[RavenRunes]

I stay away and just keep religious practices vague with no reference to real world religions or gods. Regardless of my personal views on religion (complicated), I don't want to offend anyone. It will probably happen anyway because there are always people who go looking for something to take offense to, but...I would do my best not to take direct influence from RW religion, or to paint every follower as stupid or evil, for example. Or balance it with depictions of other religions. I'm talking about fantasy here. If I'm writing a real-world or historical book I'd go ahead and use what is fact. I mean...it's fact. Any negativity is on them. Just make sure there are some decent characters within it.

I don't know much if anything about Mormons, although there are some in the American branch of the family. They have an interesting view of the family tree, that I do know

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

Well, it depends on who you ask. One Christian may not care if you make the church evil, but a different Christian might take offense to that. However, if you make it clear that this is completely different from the irl church them people will probably be okay with it

Pretty sure it depends on more on how you make them evil rather than if you make them evil or not

 

[KevinStann]

Sorry to necro this thread; I figured I'd tell people the conclusion I came to. Even though not removing mention of Mormonism won out, I decided to go for a more measured approach. Although the origins of the cult will remain the same, and there will be explicit mentions of the Bible and the history of the church, I will never mention the LDS church by name. I'll also make apparent that the cult is different from any current versions of Christianity, and is instead a bastardization of those ideas.

And that's it. Thanks for all your help!

 

[Anon2024]

Sorry to necro this thread; I figured I'd tell people the conclusion I came to. Even though not removing mention of Mormonism won out, I decided to go for a more measured approach. Although the origins of the cult will remain the same, and there will be explicit mentions of the Bible and the history of the church, I will never mention the LDS church by name. I'll also make apparent that the cult is different from any current versions of Christianity, and is instead a bastardization of those ideas.

And that's it. Thanks for all your help!

Actually the main question is who is your audience?

If your audience are atheists then you shouldn't try to justify christianity in any way.
If your Audience are Christians then yes, differentiation is needed.

 

[Armored99]

Feels unoriginal at this point. Far cry already did it.

And you'll be really constraining your story. Christian cults seem to only exist in a handful of ways.

Maybe try making it a jewish cult. Out of all the Abrahamic faiths I Don't think I've ever seen a story written about a cult from that branch. I have seen catholic, muslim, christian, protestant, baptist and nation of islam.

 

[Deleted member 57675]

Regardless what religion you use, its gonna be distasteful to at least some of the people who believe in that religion depending how you portray it.
Keep in mind someone may be ok with you presenting one religion the wrong or odd way but not when it comes to their religion.

Many can write Greek myths, Vikings, Egyptians, etc. Some religions become just myths and tales to others. But when you hit mainstream religions many people modern day still fall under, that's where you may hit a wall. Sometimes an aggressive wall.

Research is great because some people are ignorant in whatever religion they are writing on. In some cases, its different in that you want make a twist. It all depends how the story is done, and how the audience perceives it.

Imo, if you think it might offend people, make it vague and make a religion based off a real religion, but with references or symbolism to it. Or if its one of those myth retellings, do research and then decide.

 

[Ai-chan]

In my main series, I intend on introducing a cult that is an offshoot of a notorious midwestern Christian religion. I'm not sure how far I should go in explaining the roots of the cult and how its policies are tied to that religion, or if I should even mention the ties at all. I could easily write out the fact that the cult is tied to a real religion, but I would prefer not to if it isn't something that I need to do. The ties to this particular religion are actually where the initial idea for this novel came from in the first place, so I don't particularly want to write it out, but I'd also prefer to not offend a bunch of people with a negative portrayal of this particular flavor of Christianity.

Not necessarily. Some of the more popular authors are not shy of pissing off the religious groups. Look at the Da Vinci Code for example, even to this day there are fanatics trying to ban it despite it clearly being a fiction. Nobody cares, shitting on religion in a fictional book is not a criminal or civil offense.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

I just combine Keanu Reeves with Jesus Christ and have everyone worship Keanu Christ.

 

[InterestingLad]

Yeah, the religion in question is Mormonism. The idea was the cult in my novel was an offshoot that occurred during the fracturing in that church's past. Some people didn't like how leadership was decided, followed their own new leader back east, and stumbled across a divinity they probably shouldn't have. The ensuing cult is a mish-mash of Christian & old Mormon ideology, as well as something a little more sinister. That's the idea anyway. I'm not really sure how offensive that is, so I guess we'll see.

Also, my story is smut so I can't imagine that's helping my case :L

I find "evil religion" about as overworked as "evil corporations." "Evil government" in the form of some power-mad general or senator is also pretty lame.

Are there "good guys" who also have a serious religious motivation? That would help balance the story and make it more interesting. Otherwise, beating up on caricatured religion, just like beating up on caricatured politics, is boring and offensive.