In which we stretch an analogy a little ...

[blamebrampton]

I was talking with a lovely young person earlier today about her idea for an hp_religion fest. Despite the fact that I am a godless heathen, I find religion endlessly fascinating and think that it works very well as a lens through which to view the Potterverse (obviously, since the author was consciously constructing a Christian allegory in parts).

Thinking about this, I had an epiphany of sorts, which relates strongly to the current brouhaha* on mpreg among my fandom friends.

My atheism does not affect the religiosity of some of my friends. Their beliefs do not affect my atheism. I would consider it the height of rudeness to tell them they cannot believe in their sundry gods, and they, after a cursory effort to convert me in a few cases, do not tell me that I must believe in one of their religions.

Some of them do believe that I am going to hell. Some of them believe that I am missing some basic truth of the universe. I believe that they believe in something a bit basically odd. Every now and then I have one of those conversations that goes: 'But how can you believe there's nothing?' 'How can you believe in something that is obviously an anthropological artefact?' 'No seriously, nothing? How?!'

However, in both cases, it doesn't matter. My lack of belief, my friends' beliefs, they are things that are important to US, not things that we need each other to adopt. The things that unite us, that bind us, are far deeper and more important.

Similarly, I think that there are lots of things in fandom that we take very very personally, but they are important to us as individuals, and when we try to make the personal public, it's just a recipe for disaster.

One of my friends loves mpreg because it soothes her soul, one of them loves it because it allows her to investigate whole new ideas in stories. I think it's fairly daft because I think stories about babies and pregnancy are essentially daft, just as I don't like avocado and am the least romantic person in the world. It doesn't matter! I leave more avocado for pushdragon ! My mpreg atheism does not weaken anyone's mpreg faith! It's exactly the same as the way that gay marriage doesn't weaken straight marriages.

Anyway, heathen_archive , come back! Maggie and Liz, chins up! And everyone else, like what you like, even if it's not me ;-)


* It's certainly more than a kerfuffle, but not yet a schism, and too personal to some to be considered wank.

Comments

[calanthe-fics.livejournal.com]

*cough*

I just wrote a fic on religion and not one person left a comment screaming at the way I bashed organised religion!

I thought Heathen created two separate identities? A personal one and an art one? Have both gone?

[vaysh11.livejournal.com]

*coughs, too*

I just wrote a fic on religion and not one person left a comment screaming at the way I bashed organised religion! Obviously, it's going to be the pro-religion fics that will be bashed. ;)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Beneath Boundless Skies (or possibly Sky) was v gently pro-religion and there was only one critique on that, which people rebutted very nicely before the Worldcup reveals that year. I think it could work!

[vaysh11.livejournal.com]

Oh, I am absolutely sure it can work. BBS is a perfect example of it. I am thinking of outright pro-religion fics of a fundamental vein. Or fics like cura_regis' "Veiled Threats" that some people saw as glorifying veiled women in Islam.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I hate to mention this, but I really, really feel like buying a burqa so that I can go to work in my undies on hot days. A tent of airy linen could be just the thing!

[vaysh11.livejournal.com]

*grin*
You don't know how odd it is (or more likely, you do know!) to have winter approaching here and you (and many others on my flist) complaining about the hear. It's COLD here.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Heatwave here. Yay. *Is sarcastic*

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

YES! Which is why I think a religion fest could well be fine. And BBS has loads of it at the start and the one person who complained about that was gently and reasonably reproached by others well before the reveals for that fest went out. Fandom can be grown-up!

I think only the 'art' one, which was her main fandom identity. But khateh is back, all may yet be well!

[calanthe-fics.livejournal.com]

Just goes to show I have my head in the sand. Who complained about the religion?

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Not head in sand at all, it was a teeny tiny complaint: just one World Cup commenter who said that they found it out of place, and that the intrusion of my personal beliefs was an odd authorial choice. They were actually quite polite, as were the people who said 'Hang on, Christmas, godsons et al sounds rather Christian, you know ...' and I was able to say 'I see your point, but I have to say that ...' in a reasonable way and that was that.

Which is why I have hope for sanity!