Christian tropers, join together!

Blended Together.

For Our Health.

Chinese Proverbs.

Random rambling.

As I was writing a story, I got a troubling question.

Is it okay for a Christian to write a story with the main character who is an atheist and condemns the crap out of Christianity?

I'm of the opinion that your writing should be limited only by the extent of your imagination, but all the same, Strawman types tend to be received poorly regardless of their affiliation.

I concur. If these issues are important to the story, be VERY careful. It is difficult for anyone to write characters who are diametrically opposed to them on issues they feel strongly about without there being a scent of straw in the air.

To take an example (of the opposite) done well: I'm not exactly a "Wheedonite," but I did enjoy Firefly and a large part of me will always respect the hell out of Joss Wheedon simply because of his creation of and handling of Shepherd Book. Wheedon, from what I hear, is very strongly atheist and would have had no trouble and have gotten no flack if he'd made a typical stereotypical strawman stupid and/or evil Christian character. The TV industry doesn't bat an eyelash at that and it's almost an expected norm these days. Yet, what did Wheedon do for that series? He created a devout Christian (for some kind of future sect) character and made him reasonably intelligent, a good guy (looking for redemption), and even a bit of a badass ("The Bible's kind of fuzzy on the subject of kneecaps." ) In other words, when a creator could have gone with the usual "enemy-impulse" and made a character with views different and in many ways opposite of his a strawman, he buckled down and made him a human being.

So, just think about that. Unless your goal is to set up dummies and whale on them with your authorial sword as a cathartic exercise, think about the essential "human like me" parts of the character and put emphasis on the complexity of human beings.

Welcome Ironic Handle.

What Money Can't Buy.

Habits of a Healthy Mind.

dRoy, your characters don't have to share the same views you do, and it can be better in some cases if they don't because then the work is less likely to come across or be taken as preachy. Also, like what Shadsie said above, if you write a character with an opposing view to your own, but write them respectfully and well, that's brilliant. I know when I come across a Christian character who is actually respectfully and realistically portrayed, I feel really good. People of other/no faiths would feel the same way.

In Disguise.

I attended a Christian funeral today. The hymn played, "Abide with Me", was beautiful.

Birthday Celebration.

Who's the Boss?

The Girl in the Yellow Coat.

The Visitor.

Back From the Dead.

The Well Watered Life.

[The Word Among Us.

I'm a 'christian' as I follow the christian god and believe in Jesus or at the very least a son of god, but I don't believe the Bible is terribly accurate as far as exacts of history goes and several things are either blown out of proportion or written in terms that ancient humans could understand. Really, the reason I identify as a christian at all is because it's the religion that most fits in and gives by far the most understanding for ancient history that virtually all others lack.

welcome Lightspeed, and happy Valentine's Days everyone.

A Matter of Love.

Happy Valentines Day, may everyone have a good day with their friends and loved ones Thank you Crimson and those with people they are romantically involved with have a good day with them too

edited 14th Feb '15 2:23:35 PM by phantom1

Bring the Boy to Me.

I came back from Winterjam, boy it was awesome.

Winterjam, what's that about?