The first review I received for Demergence was a pleasant surprise. Of course, I appreciate any compliment. It was a 5-star review to boot, which can only help my effort to find readers for my work.
The review ended a little unexpectedly, though. The reviewer commented about growing “tired of authors who make up a religion” and admonished me gently to make up one that resembles Islam instead of Christianity to avoid the “evil” of improper Christian teaching. Admittedly, my first response was “huh?” My daughter had to remind me of the final chapter in which the main character comes face-to-face with God following his demise. What perplexed me was the idea that I was inventing a religion. In my own head, I had utilized the universal character of God in my story. And yes, it is a western conception of God, but it is certainly not specifically Christian.
It occurred to me that reading Synchronicity would give a reader some additional context. (That was prior to noticing that this reviewer also left a review for Synchronicity – a bit harsher in that it was fewer stars.) While there is an element of religiosity inherent to this series, specifically the idea of a maker conferring grace, I’m doing my best to avoid preaching or fixating on any particular established religion. In Synchronicity, Carl Jung learns that the entity he calls God is presented as an archetype. It is Carl’s own choice to give God a name and his unconscious that is putting an appearance to God. To another person, God might look and act somewhat differently. Though not a theme in the novel, it’s a bit of a statement that we make God in our own image, or at least the image of our choosing. That’s certainly not inventing a religion. I’d say it is more of a general observation, demonstrated by the prevalence of a white, European Jesus in western churches, for example. Religions are defined primarily by their doctrines, and I hope to avoid any specific doctrinal orientation in the Social Science Icons & Grace series. Yes, the God references will be western in nature, but that is simply a reflection of the time and locale of the characters.
I don’t belong to any faith myself, though I’ve been drawn to mainline Christian faith and its history since I was a child. If I’ve done my job given my goals for this series, I will be faithful to the broad characteristics of western faith in the Judeo-Christian tradition (which includes Islam) without calling out one faith in particular. Time will tell, since I have two books yet to write.
Happy reading!