History Main / GodBeforeDogma

-->As I burst forth from the belly of the beas

* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'', Lady Meyneth is a kind and benevolent deity who only wants the best for Mechonis and Bionis. Her disciple Egil, however, thinks that she's not going far enough to defend their world and becomes the WellIntentionedExtremist KnightTemplar BigBad of the game.

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* ''{{Series/The Chosen|TVSeries}}'': Nicodemus cares much more about honoring God and seeking to do His will than about his own importance or societal rules and expectations.
** When his wife tells Nicodemus that for people to be his guests at Shabbat dinner, "it will be like sharing loaves with God Himself," he mutters, "Am I the only one hearing this?"
** He reassures Mary that he is "not here to enforce Jewish law," as he is concerned with learning about her redemption, not the fact that her head is uncovered.
** His Pharisee colleagues bristle at John the Baptizer's condemnation of them. Nicodemus doesn't care because it's a potential lead in his investigation into who cured Mary, which is much more important than their bruised egos.
** After witnessing Jesus heal the paralytic man, Nicodemus realizes that the established interpretation of scripture regarding the coming Messiah may have been wrong and God might be carrying out His will through this new street-preacher. His stance puts him somewhat at odds with the rest of the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin.

* The plot of ''Film/{{Saved}}'', which contrasts selfish, hypocritical belief with honest, genuine piety.

* In the original version of ''Film/TheWickerMan1973,'' when the protagonist, a dogmatic, virginal conservative policeman, and a young cop see graffiti spelling out "Jesus Saves," the young cop comments approvingly of it while the protagonist demands it be wiped clean.

* ''Literature/TheBooksOfEmber'': Nickie rejects the absurd restrictions set by Mrs. Beeson on behalf of ''The Prophet of Yonwood'', but she still believes that God is good and would honor people's differences instead of marginalizing them.

* Dorry Stevens in ''Leaving Fishers'' by Creator/MargaretPetersonHaddix, who rejects her old creepy Christian cult but still believes in God and values religion, as opposed to fellow escapee Zachary, who literally says that religion is evil.
* In ''Literature/JustElla'' by Margaret Peterson Haddix: Jed Reston, the son of Lord Reston, priest to the king, says state religion is all "smoke and mirrors" and has nothing to do with true faith.
* In Chris Crutcher's novel ''Literature/StayingFatForSarahByrnes'', the liberal Rev. Ellerby is contrasted with the uptight and hypocritical Christian Mark Brittain.
* Friar Tuck in the Myth/RobinHood mythos is a 'good' religious foil for the villainous Bishop Hereford.

* This is a recurring theme in Katherine Kurtz's ''Literature/{{Deryni}}'' novels, because members of the Christian hierarchy claim that Deryni are evil by nature (hence justifying persecuting them), but a schism eventually occurs within the Church when some clerics, led by Cardiel and Arilan, dispute this assertion. Things get complicated when some few Deryni discover they have Healing abilities and as everyone knows Christ healed. A rebel leader who has been attacking mages' estates and tenants (particularly those of a certain Deryni duke) is forced to confront this when he gets a demonstration of Healing; Cardiel [a human bishop] is there to emphasize the contrast between the religion and some of its self-styled followers. Later, a guilt-stricken and self-hating Deryni [King Kelson's mother, Queen Jehana] has her anti-Deryni religious indoctrination overcome by Deryni clerics Arilan and Father Nivard. It's important to note that the Deryni are true believers, at least in part because of the evidence of experience. They sometimes perform rituals for powerful workings that summon beings taken to be angels (and specifically named: Raphael, Gabriel, Michael and Uriel). They mostly see coloured light and fleeting impressions of wings, and of course they could be mistaken or rationalizing their experiences, but they do believe. It also helps that their powers are triggered by an altered state of consciousness akin to meditation or prayer. Human Queen Richeldis suggests that Deryni may be above ordinary humans and just below angels on the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_chain_of_being Great Chain of Being]].
* ''Literature/SmallGods'' has Om discovering that his "followers" believe in the organization, hierarchs, high exquisitors, prophetic texts, rituals... anything but Om himself. Since GodsNeedPrayerBadly, this means he ended up starved into near-oblivion by his own church and doesn't even have enough juice to perform the only miracle he wants now -- which is, obviously, braining the guy currently responsible for this state of affairs. It's implied that this is a common fate for Gods in the Discworld, made worse ''because'' they care about the prayers more than the people doing the praying; they're uncaring, indifferent and arrogant about their followers and the religions they create, meaning that all kinds of horrible systems, institutions and atrocities get created in their name... which means that people lose faith in the Gods but keep the institutions going out of fear, leading to the Gods getting starved of faith while being trapped within the same religions that are starving them and unable to adapt into a new form that might sustain them (the prevalence of OddJobGods in TheVerse is hinted to be because less powerful but smarter Gods instead adopt forms and beliefs that may give them less power but enable them to more easily evolve when belief systems change).
* In ''Peaches for Monsieur le Cure'', one of the sequels to ''Literature/{{Chocolat}}'', this is the central theme of the narrative: that all the rules and laws and dogma and strictures separate people from God, and the only really important parts of religion are faith, compassion and pursuing happiness.

* In the ''Series/{{CSI}}'' episode "Alter Boys", Grissom tells a Roman Catholic priest who suggests that he should start attending Mass again that whilst he [Grissom] believes in God, he doesn't accept the doctrine of the Church, and that too many people have died for particular interpretations of religion. Word of God confirms that this was intended as a comment on 9/11, which had recently taken place at the time the episode was made.
* On ''Series/MadMen'', when the priest tells Peggy that she should repent before nuclear war breaks out (during the Cuban Missile Crisis), Peggy answers that she can't believe God would be so cruel as to condemn her to hell just because she had an affair with a married man.

* ''Series/Tyrant2014'': Season 3 introduces a moderate Islamic faction aiming to elect their own candidate in the upcoming presidential election of [[{{Qurac}} Abbudin]] that opposes both the Al-Fayeed dictatorship that has reigned for decades and the radical insurgency led by the Army of the Caliphate.

* ''Series/ThePower2023'': The convent which takes in Eve is run by Sister Veronica, a "rebel nun" who supports LGBT+ people (like Sister Maria, a trans woman), which had gotten her excommunicated by the Catholic Church. It didn't stop her, and she's now apparently set up a sect of her own to help people the Church wouldn't, currently taking in "wayward" girls who had run off or been kicked out over their developing the power.

* The song "The Light" by Music/TheProclaimers is a condemnation of [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalists]], while at the same time the singers establish, "I believe in God all right/ It's folk like you I just can't stand."

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', GoodShepherd and BadassPreacher Sebastian will take this view if he's convinced to side with the Mages: stating that Andraste and the Maker don't want their [[TheChurch Chantry]] to be used to imprison and torture the magic-users of the world.
** Leliana is this in the [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins first game]]. Chantry dogma holds the Maker to be remote and uncaring about human suffering. Leliana believes the Maker can be found in the beauty of the world, and takes an active role in bringing an end to the Blight.

* It's ambiguous but still implied in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics''. While the main villains are members of a CorruptChurch, there are a few hints of benevolent divine intervention scattered around the game.

* In ''Franchise/DeadSpace'', there is one, single Unitologist in the franchise who is devout in his beliefs yet a calm and reasonable person: Engineer Samuel Irons. He makes an appearance in ''Dead Space: Downfall'' helping to calm down a group of Unitologist crew members shirking their work and demanding to be allowed to worship the Marker, basically by saying "Guys, StopBeingStereotypical, calm down, and do the work you promised in your contracts you would do. [[ShamingTheMob Are you civilized people or are you savages?]]" He does ask to be allowed to worship the Marker himself, but when told no he just smiles and walks away without complaint. He later helps fight the Necromorphs, not believing for a moment that they are the salvation that his religion has promised.
* Tonauac the Avian from ''VideoGame/{{Starbound}}''. He's a whole-hearted believer in Kluex, and guards one of his biggest temples, but appears to have rejected the destructive elements like sacrifice of sentient beings and ritual suicide. (To be fair, it's heavily implied Kluex - or whatever NeglectfulPrecursors technologically elevated the Avians without also accelerating their social advancement - would be horrified by this as well.) Best shown at the end of the Great Temple quest; when he catches up with the PlayerCharacter after they ignored his request to not go further into the temple, worked their way to the inner chamber, and destroyed a Kluexian Avatar, he concludes they couldn't have possibly gotten that far unless Kluex wanted them to and hands over the Artifact willingly.
* ''VideoGame/Vampyr2018'': In one hand you have Father Tobias Whitaker, an {{ax crazy}} old priest who genuinely believes the plague ravaging London is divine retribution for godlessness, [[KillItWithFire advocates using fire to "cleanse" it]] and [[AntiIntellectualism looks down on scientists]] like the main protagonist [[ScienceHero Jonathan]], stating that "he must be more lost than he expected". On the other hand you have Father Sean Hampton, a GoodShepherd that manages the night asylum at the Docks and genuinely looks after the district's people even after [[spoiler:he turns into a vampire - in fact he got himself into this situation by voluntarily offering his blood to ease a hungry vampire that used to be his friend]]. Standing above all is [[spoiler:William Marshal, a ''[[RealMenLoveJesus Christian]]'' [[ReligiousVampire vampire]] that served as GreaterScopeParagon for the story and the fact he wears a crucifix around his neck without burning like other vampires makes his faith unshakable]].
* ''Franchise/FarCry'':
** A minor version with Longinus, the BadassPreacher and ArmsDealer in ''VideoGame/FarCry4''. He's working with the [[LaResistance Golden Path]], one of whose co-leaders, Sabal, is a religious devotee of Kyrat's FantasyPantheon bordering on TheFundamentalist. Longinus himself has a rather... [[ArtisticLicenseReligion warped view of theology]], and it shows, saying things like "What gun would Jesus use?" and naming his guns after Biblical passages. That said, if Ajay brings Sabal to power by killing [[TheCaligula Pagan Min]] [[spoiler:and Sabal's partner Amita]], Sabal ends up [[spoiler:[[FullCircleRevolution becoming a tyrant just like Pagan Min]], who enforces Kyrat's worst traditions on the populace and decides to enact ThePurge on anyone in Kyrat who did not follow his religion, which is likely a large percentage of Kyrat's people since Pagan Min made it an IllegalReligion]]. Longinus, on the other hand, is not interested in converting the Kyratis to his religion, he's just [[spoiler:searching for blood diamonds that he sold back when he was a [[AfricanTerrorists warlord]], so that he can be TheAtoner]]. Once Ajay finds all the [[spoiler:diamonds]] for him, he thanks Ajay for his help and leaves Kyrat [[spoiler:to find the rest of the blood diamonds]]. And in contrast to [[spoiler:Sabal,]] Longinus never betrays Ajay.
** ''VideoGame/FarCry5'': The main antagonists are a [[WesternTerrorists militaristic Christian terrorist cult]] known as the Project at Eden's Gate. Among the player's allies that opposes the them is [[BadassPreacher Jerome Jeffries]], a Catholic priest who used to be friends with its [[BigBad leader]] [[SinisterMinister Joseph Seed]] before he kidnapped and brainwashed Jerome's congregation and tried to have him killed.
* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUsPartII'': Abby runs into Lev, a young boy being on the run from the Seraphites, the cult he grew up in and who has named him an apostate. At first he keeps identifying with them, acts offended when Abby uses the slur 'Scars' only for Abby to point out that he is calling the people actively trying to kill him 'Us', and him conceding this point. Despite this he stay resolute in his faith to "The Prophet", regularly praying to her and quoting her teachings. When pressed on this by Abby, he explain that she preached no violence, that The Elders twisted her words and that they started mutilating and hanging people ''after'' her death!
* ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'': Two Russian warlords serve as the {{Foil}} to one another; the "Blessed Regent" in Komi and "The Father" in the wastes of Siberia. Both of them are {{Walking Spoiler}}s (hence why their actual names weren't noted yet) so get ready for a big spoiler tag. [[spoiler:"The Father" is [[GoodShepherd Alexander Men]], a priest that seeks to [[MessianicArchetype emulate Jesus Christ]]. He leads the Divine Mandate, a group of egalitarian communes founded on Christ's teaching of charity [[AllLovingHero regardless of class, ethnicity, sex, or even religion]], and believes the lack of this to be Russia's problem. The "Blessed Regent" is [[EvilRegent Sergey]] [[EvilReactionary Taboritsky]], a politician who seeks to [[ANaziByAnyOtherName model his country after Nazi Germany]]. He believes the only way to save Russia is through purging it of anyone who doesn't fit [[AbsoluteXenophobe his very high standards]], so God can [[RightfulKingreturns bring back the Tsars]] to rule a Holy Russian Empire. Safe to say they both have ''radically'' different understandings of the same religion. Should the two meet each other, Men will denounce Taboritsky as TheAntichrist in a [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TNOmod/comments/k7r52u/alexander_mens_reaction_to_taboritskys_russia/ special event]] - special interactions between specific Russian warlords are a rarity, so you know this conflict is serious.]]

* Timothy/Camellia in ''Webcomic/ButImACatPerson'' spent several of his teenage years in a cult focused on one of the series' resident {{Mon}}s, and as an adult considers himself a Catholic with a strong aversion to any imposition of one person's dogma beliefs on another.