Religious Orientation of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Authors

A few years back I was searching the internet at random and found a list which claimed to give the religions of science fiction and fantasy writers. I eagerly started to read--- and was disappointed to find out that instead of giving the author's current religious orientation, it simply listed their childhood faiths. As if that mattered in the least.

The nominal or former faith of a writer makes little difference to his current writing. Particularly if they came from families which rarely if ever attended religious services and didn't send their children to religious education classes. It's what they are currently that makes a difference, and is therefore of interest.

I suppose the list makers simply presumed that if you wrote science fiction and fantasy, your current religious orientation was some sort of secularism, perhaps atheism or agnosticism, or perhaps something even less defined than that.

Since I was a Norse Pagan at the time and was looking for writers that were some sort of Pagan, I was disappointed. Some of the writers that were rumored to be Pagan, in Pagan circles at least, were listed as Methodists and such based on what their parents were, at least in a nominal way. And at least one of the listed Pagans was buried as an Episcopalian.

Of course at that time, most Pagans who wrote didn't share that fact with the public. It was a time where the national media would refer to a Wiccan as a 'self-proclaimed witch' and presume that such a person was too loony and psychotic to be a juror or to have any other responsibility in society.

Even at the current time, there are writers one might suspect of hiding their religion, though these days Christianity is something likely to be hidden by writers who write for secular publishers. Just look at the outpouring of hate toward writer Orson Scott Card because of his continued loyalty to his Mormon faith, and you can see why some people feel the need to keep quiet.

But one's religious orientation profoundly affects the content of writing, most especially in science fiction and some fantasy. Because, let's face it, what 'religion' really amounts to is a shared opinion on the really important things, the cosmically important things. If any. And particularly in science fiction which often touches on the cosmically big things.

Let's take an example of a typical secular writer. All of his well-educated and knowledgeable characters are likely to have secular point-of-view, and any characters who are people of faith may be either insincere and villains, or they are uneducated people who don't matter to the story much. But that's not all. In a sweeping science fiction saga by such a writer, the turning point of the story might be something beloved of the secular-minded--- the evils of religions and their blind cult-like followers, or the adventure of pure-chance evolutionary changes (which often, in sci-fi, don't seem to help in the whole 'survival of the fittest' thing) or an alternate history in which Jesus Christ was a famous serial killer or a woman or where the early Christians believed in human sacrifice and cannibalism.

On the other hand, there are writers of the Christian faith. Contrary to popular belief, they don't reject 'science', or even, necessarily evolutionary theories. What is different is that the Christian believes that the universe as we know it is directed by an intelligent, purposeful power--- God. Though our understanding isn't always advanced enough to see that. There is also the firm belief is that God has powerful enemies--- the fallen angels, AKA demons--- and that these enemies are highly powerful in the human world while the friends of God are little respected. And a particularly important belief--- every human life--- and the life of a non-human intelligent alien--- has a high value, and so there are no casually expendable or unworthy grades of people whose lives don't matter.

These two viewpoints lead to different types of stories, and both kinds can be of interest to the reader, as can the many OTHER viewpoints that a writer might hold. And THAT is why I believe a list of the current religious orientation or belief systems of science fiction and fantasy authors would be of great interest. If only someone had the desire, and the access to information, to create it.

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