In defense of an atheist line of romances

Posted by Candy on April 16, 2002 at 16:47:53:

In Reply to: Where do you all get off, anyway? posted by Maureen Bothe on April 15, 2002 at 21:48:23:

I'm just addressing the paragraph about readers wanting more atheist characters in their romance, which I'm quoting here:

"So do you want a new line just for the sensitive atheist hero now? Why do you want it? Because it will bash Christians by putting them in their place? To show that no, they're not the only ones who can be good and kind to kittens or something? Christianity isn't ABOUT being "good" it's about JESUS CHRIST. You are not going to find a perfect Christian. So stop looking for and expecting them."

Hey, if Christians get their own romance line, I don't see why people who don't believe in Christianity (or in any kind of God) shouldn't get their own special little niche. Not because we want to bash Christians; but because it would be nice to see the characters go through some of the same emotional, philosophical and intellectual struggles we "non-believers" have gone through. It would also be nice for more books to portray these people coming to the conclusion that, nope, there's no overarching, all-powerful deity, and still have a straight-up happy ending, instead of becoming a) the villain; or b) incredibly depressed/cynical/hard-bitten, only to be spiritually rehabilitated by some other protagonist.

It seems that many novels confuse atheism/agnosticism with anti-theism, with the characters assuming that stance after some kind of trauma/series of traumatic incidents in their lives. Just because we don't believe there's a Big Kahuna Who Ruleth the Heavens doesn't necessarily mean we HATE the idea of one. Personally, I adore the idea of a deity/several deities creating the universe and ruling with a benevolent hand; however, I cannot justify that argument to myself with any intellectual honesty, hence my current stance. The average atheist/agnostic is an empiricist, not a cynic, nor a nihilist, and certainly not a psychotic (or at least not the ones I know, ha), and it'd be nice for fiction in general to acknowledge that.

And I would argue that yes, being a Christian IS about being good, and not just about Jesus Christ. Why drag concepts like sin, Hell, a just yet merciful God, the Ten Commandments, ad infinitum, into the whole shebang, then? But that's another can of worms, which I'll happily debate for hours on a forum NOT dedicated to romance. Feel free to email me. I love debates about religion and philosophy.

As a side note, which might possibly be completely irrelevant, one of my all-time favorites is To Love & To Cherish by Patricia Gaffney, and my all-time favorite hero is Christie Morrell, the hero who just happens to be the pastor. HUBBA.

But you DO have a point about the ease of being misquoted and being put out of context. In which case, I would like to apologize if my posts come across as more than sardonic; I don't necessarily mean to attack, although I do love to needle...

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Re: In defense of an atheist line of romances Rebecca 09:56:20 04/17/02 (0)

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: I'm just addressing the paragraph about readers wanting more atheist characters in their romance, which I'm quoting here: : "So do you want a new line just for the sensitive atheist hero now? Why do you want it? Because it will bash Christians by putting them in their place? To show that no, they're not the only ones who can be good and kind to kittens or something? Christianity isn't ABOUT being "good" it's about JESUS CHRIST. You are not going to find a perfect Christian. So stop looking for and expecting them." : Hey, if Christians get their own romance line, I don't see why people who don't believe in Christianity (or in any kind of God) shouldn't get their own special little niche. Not because we want to bash Christians; but because it would be nice to see the characters go through some of the same emotional, philosophical and intellectual struggles we "non-believers" have gone through. It would also be nice for more books to portray these people coming to the conclusion that, nope, there's no overarching, all-powerful deity, and still have a straight-up happy ending, instead of becoming a) the villain; or b) incredibly depressed/cynical/hard-bitten, only to be spiritually rehabilitated by some other protagonist. : It seems that many novels confuse atheism/agnosticism with anti-theism, with the characters assuming that stance after some kind of trauma/series of traumatic incidents in their lives. Just because we don't believe there's a Big Kahuna Who Ruleth the Heavens doesn't necessarily mean we HATE the idea of one. Personally, I adore the idea of a deity/several deities creating the universe and ruling with a benevolent hand; however, I cannot justify that argument to myself with any intellectual honesty, hence my current stance. The average atheist/agnostic is an empiricist, not a cynic, nor a nihilist, and certainly not a psychotic (or at least not the ones I know, ha), and it'd be nice for fiction in general to acknowledge that. : And I would argue that yes, being a Christian IS about being good, and not just about Jesus Christ. Why drag concepts like sin, Hell, a just yet merciful God, the Ten Commandments, ad infinitum, into the whole shebang, then? But that's another can of worms, which I'll happily debate for hours on a forum NOT dedicated to romance. Feel free to email me. I love debates about religion and philosophy. : As a side note, which might possibly be completely irrelevant, one of my all-time favorites is To Love & To Cherish by Patricia Gaffney, and my all-time favorite hero is Christie Morrell, the hero who just happens to be the pastor. HUBBA. : But you DO have a point about the ease of being misquoted and being put out of context. In which case, I would like to apologize if my posts come across as more than sardonic; I don't necessarily mean to attack, although I do love to needle...