Does Religion Alienate Readers?

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Kunz on November 1, 2009 at 6:25pm

No offense taken, lol. Most of the books I read, however, do seem to have male main characters, but I've read a few where the main character was a female. Most of my stories have both male and female characters, but if I don't have both I tend to make the main a female. Not too sure why.

Callie Leah said:

That reminds me of something. Do you ever notice how girls will read any book, no matter who it's about, but a boy will usually only read a book where the main character is a guy. No offense to any of the men here, I don't mean that as an insult. I just realized it. At least, that's just the majority of boys.

Kay Elizabeth said:

I'm in the same camp as you two ladies. I don't think it alienates people any more than it would if say you mentioned your character was a vegetarian. It's just another part of their makeup.

If a person looks hard enough for a reason to be offended, they will find it in any book. You can't please all of the people all of the time and neither should you try to or you'll dilute your writing.

Jasmine Andrade said:

This is exactly how I feel. It basically builds on the character's personality, and it probably wouldn't be offensive to anyone, as long as the character doesn't say anything to offend other religions. But just putting tiny hints or mentions of going to church or prayer couldn't hurt anyone, in my opinion. That's just me. Some other people are very sensitive about their own religion and it might seem offensive to them, although the majority of readers wouldn't mind.
Viviana Arteaga said:

To tell you the truth I don't think it actually matters, unless the religious preference is part of the plot. I guess it helps to build character depth and understand the characters thoughts stereotyped ( I don't mean to use this word in a negative way) by people of the religion. I don't mean to offend anybody but I'm agnostic and I never really thought too deeply when I read that the character was this or that and some of my friends seem to skip over that too and most of them are really religious. I even write in at random that my characters are catholic or christian because, to me, gives me more to build on. To give it more of a persona. If you understand what I mean, I think I babble too much.

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Permalink Reply by Callie Leah on November 5, 2009 at 2:16am

I read this one book that was both. It was by Gail Carson Levine. I love her. It sort of traded between chapters. In one chapter, it was first person for the make, next it was first person for the female. It traded out, and they were both equally important characters. But that was one of the only books I've ever read like that.

Andrew Kunz said:

No offense taken, lol. Most of the books I read, however, do seem to have male main characters, but I've read a few where the main character was a female. Most of my stories have both male and female characters, but if I don't have both I tend to make the main a female. Not too sure why.

Callie Leah said:

That reminds me of something. Do you ever notice how girls will read any book, no matter who it's about, but a boy will usually only read a book where the main character is a guy. No offense to any of the men here, I don't mean that as an insult. I just realized it. At least, that's just the majority of boys.

Kay Elizabeth said:

I'm in the same camp as you two ladies. I don't think it alienates people any more than it would if say you mentioned your character was a vegetarian. It's just another part of their makeup.

If a person looks hard enough for a reason to be offended, they will find it in any book. You can't please all of the people all of the time and neither should you try to or you'll dilute your writing.

Jasmine Andrade said:

This is exactly how I feel. It basically builds on the character's personality, and it probably wouldn't be offensive to anyone, as long as the character doesn't say anything to offend other religions. But just putting tiny hints or mentions of going to church or prayer couldn't hurt anyone, in my opinion. That's just me. Some other people are very sensitive about their own religion and it might seem offensive to them, although the majority of readers wouldn't mind.
Viviana Arteaga said:

To tell you the truth I don't think it actually matters, unless the religious preference is part of the plot. I guess it helps to build character depth and understand the characters thoughts stereotyped ( I don't mean to use this word in a negative way) by people of the religion. I don't mean to offend anybody but I'm agnostic and I never really thought too deeply when I read that the character was this or that and some of my friends seem to skip over that too and most of them are really religious. I even write in at random that my characters are catholic or christian because, to me, gives me more to build on. To give it more of a persona. If you understand what I mean, I think I babble too much.

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Permalink Reply by Alex Davis on November 7, 2009 at 8:37pm

I think it depends on the person, if the person is truely religious or unreligious, they could make their writing go the way they want. But I am in between, and, I think, even if I was very religious, then I'd make my characters both religious and non-religious to have a sort of balance. Right now, though, I dont really make it obvious if my characters are religious or not. So I guess it depends on the persons personal thoughts and such.

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Permalink Reply by Callie Leah on November 7, 2009 at 10:16pm

It sort of also depends on the character's creature profile. Like for instance, some people say that a vampire is the most unholy creature on earth.

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Permalink Reply by Alex Davis on November 7, 2009 at 11:59pm

Yes, that's also true, and if you're talking about angles and demons. :) I guess its just a never concluding question.

Callie Leah said:

It sort of also depends on the character's creature profile. Like for instance, some people say that a vampire is the most unholy creature on earth.

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Permalink Reply by Callie Leah on November 8, 2009 at 5:16am

I guess that this one question has about, what, twelve hundred answers.

Alex Davis said:

Yes, that's also true, and if you're talking about angles and demons. :) I guess its just a never concluding question.

Callie Leah said:

It sort of also depends on the character's creature profile. Like for instance, some people say that a vampire is the most unholy creature on earth.

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Permalink Reply by Aries on November 14, 2009 at 3:40am

I don't think it does. I don't mind characters being religious, but it does add a bit of depth to them. Only a small percentage of people in the US are atheist or agnostic, but I doubt they'd feel left out. A book that was aimed at Jews or Wicca would be largely wasted on me, since I know very little of either of those religions, but then again I'm not the target audience.

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Permalink Reply by Kay Elizabeth on November 14, 2009 at 5:13am

I think you're right Alex. Our personal beliefs and the strength of them influence our writing to a degree. When it's part of your life , even when you don't always consciously incorporate it, it can still be there.

Alex Davis said:

I think it depends on the person, if the person is truely religious or unreligious, they could make their writing go the way they want. But I am in between, and, I think, even if I was very religious, then I'd make my characters both religious and non-religious to have a sort of balance. Right now, though, I dont really make it obvious if my characters are religious or not. So I guess it depends on the persons personal thoughts and such.

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Permalink Reply by Callie Leah on November 14, 2009 at 4:04pm

Now that I think about it, I did something like that subconciously. In one of my books a make character dies, and to homor his wishes, his family and friends pray at his funeral. Even though his parents had shunned him for being a christian. Little things like that don't really matter. It's also an example of how much people care about you, even if they don't show it.

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