History Main / ReligiousStereotype

* Film/{{Carrie}}'s mother, Margaret White, in the movie but more prominently in the book, is a psychotic religious nut who believes ''periods'' are punishments from God. It's not clear if she's a fundamentalist with some very whacked-out views or a member of a vaguely Christian cult. Regardless, it's not the most flattering portrayal.

* A particularly hated storyline in ''ComicBook/XMen'' had an anti-mutant group planning to have Nightcrawler elected as Pope (!) and then cause a false Rapture to ruin both The Church and mutantkind. A horrible research flub, since the Roman Catholic Church doesn't believe in the Rapture, and it certainly doesn't have any end of days prophesies about the Pope being a demon (while, ironically, Nightcrawler is a devout Catholic-he would never go along with such a scheme, even assuming it ''were'' possible).

* This trope is the reason behind the OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions trope in science fiction and fantasy: the assumption that smart people can't be religious. BeliefMakesYouStupid is part and parcel of the same thing. On the other side of things, atheists will often fall into the HollywoodAtheist genre-evil, hateful, bitter, etc.
* Creator/StephenKing has indulged in this in just about every novel he's ever written; you can pretty much always expect at least one nasty (at best) or psychotic (at worst) fundamentalist Protestant character, who often doubles as the "overbearing parent", without any more positive examples to provide a contrast. To be fair, though, he averts this quite heavily in ''Literature/{{Desperation}}'', ''Literature/TheStand'', and ''Literature/{{Cell}}''. It does have that crazy bible lady at one point, but Alice averts this. King himself has said he believes in God. Also of note is Father Callahan, who becomes one of the most sympathetic and, ultimately, heroic characters of ''Franchise/TheDarkTower.''

* Similar to the ''Literature/{{Caliphate}}'' example above, in ''Literature/InTheYear2050AmericasReligiousCivilWar'' Muslims apparently live only to oppress and murder non-Muslims, as even after they secure Congress, the Presidency, and a majority of the population of the US, there are still weekly suicide bombings President [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Osama bin Muhammed]] needs to call off to trick the infidels into believing Islam is a peaceful, friendly religion, while imposing brutal Sharia law.
** Creator/IraTabankin is fond of this in general, his book ''Literature/TheLastCrusade'' features a world war against Straw Muslims fitting every negative stereotype you've ever heard of or imagined.

And it doesn't get any better when you leave Christianity, oh no! As we all know, If you're a Muslim, then you're a [[SuicideAttack terrorist]] - or if female, completely wrapped in a burqa because any form of skin exposure is [[SexIsEvil evil]]. Jews will probably be... well, many times Jews will be found [[InformedJudaism where you least expect it in your characters]], but to be a real stereotype, expect them to be [[JewishAndNerdy nerds]] [[AllJewsAreCheapskates obsessed with saving money]]. More generally, though, Jews will get assigned the [[PositiveDiscrimination more positive (or at least funnier) stereotypes]] these days rather than [[GreedyJew the awful negative stereotypes of the past]].

* Ned Flanders in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' became this over time, going from a nice guy who happened to be Christian, to being a living stereotype as WriterOnBoard increasingly asserted its presence, [[{{Flanderization}} naming a trope]] in the process. And all Buddhists will be the [[PositiveDiscrimination positive]] stereotype where they're all super enlightened peaceful people with no desires and no trouble getting on with anyone ever. However Lisa, the most relevant Buddhist character, is not always presented in a good light either, and Ned himself is hardly presented as a bad person (a little bit of a religious nut, but not mean or evil) and it's very popular among Christians themselves in a probable case of MisaimedFandom. Marge is ([[DependingOnTheWriter sometimes]]) presented as a moderate Christian in contrast, so that may help a bit.

* The president in ''Film/EscapeFromLA'' is a Christian theocratic zealot who [[PresidentForLife now serves for life]] and instituted repressive laws punishing everyone who doesn't abide by his moral strictures (or are non-Chirstians), sending them to a {{penal colony}}.

* This trope is the reason behind the OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions trope in science fiction and fantasy: the assumption that smart people can't be religious. BeliefMakesYouStupid is part and parcel of the same thing. On the other side of things, atheists will often fall into the HollywoodAtheist genre-evil, hateful, bitter etc.

* Played with on an episode of ''Series/VeronicaMars'' where Veronica's investigation involves the conservative preacher father of a friend. The preacher's assistant fits the fundie stereotype to a T [[spoiler: as well as being the villain of the episode]]. On the other hand the friend's father turns out to be both honest and compassionate.

* Seymour of ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'' is definitely a caricature of the stereotypical evangelical Christan. Lil' Evil could also count, as your average evil Satanist stereotype. CharacterizationMarchesOn for both, though that likely because of the comic's shift away from religious humor.
* Gil Marverde from ''Webcomic/AvasDemon'' has several stereotypes regarding his worship of [[CrystalDragonJesus TITAN]]. On the negative side he is nigh-fanatic, misguided, a bit out-of-touch with reality and doesn't take well to people pointing out the logical flaws of his religion. On the positive side, he's the genuinely nicest and most selfless of the main characters as well as an aspiring doctor.

Still, note that all stereotypes [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools are not bad]]. Just as common a stereotype is that of the Buddhist monk who literally knows everything worth knowing and helps the Hero, while another common one is the Hindu guru who is "in tune with the universe".

If a negative stereotype was created just to make the hero look good, or the Creator's views seem right, then it is a [[TheWarOnStraw Strawman]]. See also ChristianityIsCatholic, and any of the UsefulNotes series on the religions for what the religion is ''actually'' like. See also [[CorruptChurch evil religions]], [[SaintlyChurch good religions]], HeelFaithTurn... ah, just go check out the ReligionTropes. Religious Stereotype is a part and parcel of ''all'' of them.

* The characters of Ruth and her father in ''Film/{{Paul}}''.
* The president in ''Film/EscapeFromLA''.

* ''Literature/AWolfInTheSoul'' presents barely-religious Jews as leading somewhat meaningless and hypocritical existences.

* Ned Flanders in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' became this over time, going from a nice guy who happened to be Christian, to being a living stereotype as WriterOnBoard increasingly asserted its presence, [[{{Flanderization}} naming a trope]] in the process. And all Buddhists will be the [[PositiveDiscrimination positive]] stereotype where they're all super enlightened peaceful people with no desires and no trouble getting on with anyone ever. Lisa, the most relevant Buddhist character, is not always presented in a good light either, and Ned himself is hardly presented as a bad person (a little bit of a religious nut, but not mean or evil) and it's very popular among Christians themselves in a probably case of MisaimedFandom.