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Ravenloft: Monsters vs Darklords
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<blockquote data-quote="Bedrockgames" data-source="post: 9277049" data-attributes="member: 85555"><p>I think there are a few different things going on here though. Also one of the things that bothered me about Pullman's writing, even though I thought his writing was good (especially his descriptions), was an inability to get outside his own belief system, even for a moment. Sometimes that can make writing feel weak to me. But I think there is writing in a way that reflects your values and religious beliefs. And writing in a way that goes against your values and beliefs. That is a lot harder not to do, and perhaps not even something most writers would or should seek to do. I don't think a writer who deeply believes in freedom, wants to write a novel about how great autocracies are for example. By the same token, I wouldn't expect a devout Christian like Tolkien to turn a character like Sauron into a hero. </p><p></p><p>But that isn't what we are talking about here. We are talking about the other thing that is going on here: writing outside your beliefs about reality, the supernatural, etc. I.e. being raised in one religion but writing a fantasy setting where that religion doesn't even exist or its assumptions about things like the soul are completely different. That is much easier and pretty common in a lot of fantasy. Arguably even Tolkien was doing that. So one could be an atheist but writer a fantasy setting that has gods. One could be a Christian and believe but write a setting where souls reincarnate century after century. Or be a Christian but make a setting featuring a god who isn't the God of the bible. </p><p></p><p>But this wasn't even really the point, the point was whether people could understand concepts in fantasy that don't match their own religion (the presence of souls in Ravenloft for example). I would argue it is very infantilizing to religious people, especially having been raised in a deeply religious household myself, to suggest something like this they wouldn't grasp (like I said, most people have more exposure to concepts outside their faith than you realize through things like media, but also through being around people of other religions; and the idea of a soul is something that exists, albeit in somewhat different form, across religions). Case in point, Tatianna clearly reincarnates in Ravenloft. That is not part of the Christian lore that underpins vampire legends and film, yet I found that instantly easy to grasp because I have seen plenty of films featuring reincarnation and have become aware of it because it something you are exposed to in the culture</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bedrockgames, post: 9277049, member: 85555"] I think there are a few different things going on here though. Also one of the things that bothered me about Pullman's writing, even though I thought his writing was good (especially his descriptions), was an inability to get outside his own belief system, even for a moment. Sometimes that can make writing feel weak to me. But I think there is writing in a way that reflects your values and religious beliefs. And writing in a way that goes against your values and beliefs. That is a lot harder not to do, and perhaps not even something most writers would or should seek to do. I don't think a writer who deeply believes in freedom, wants to write a novel about how great autocracies are for example. By the same token, I wouldn't expect a devout Christian like Tolkien to turn a character like Sauron into a hero. But that isn't what we are talking about here. We are talking about the other thing that is going on here: writing outside your beliefs about reality, the supernatural, etc. I.e. being raised in one religion but writing a fantasy setting where that religion doesn't even exist or its assumptions about things like the soul are completely different. That is much easier and pretty common in a lot of fantasy. Arguably even Tolkien was doing that. So one could be an atheist but writer a fantasy setting that has gods. One could be a Christian and believe but write a setting where souls reincarnate century after century. Or be a Christian but make a setting featuring a god who isn't the God of the bible. But this wasn't even really the point, the point was whether people could understand concepts in fantasy that don't match their own religion (the presence of souls in Ravenloft for example). I would argue it is very infantilizing to religious people, especially having been raised in a deeply religious household myself, to suggest something like this they wouldn't grasp (like I said, most people have more exposure to concepts outside their faith than you realize through things like media, but also through being around people of other religions; and the idea of a soul is something that exists, albeit in somewhat different form, across religions). Case in point, Tatianna clearly reincarnates in Ravenloft. That is not part of the Christian lore that underpins vampire legends and film, yet I found that instantly easy to grasp because I have seen plenty of films featuring reincarnation and have become aware of it because it something you are exposed to in the culture [/QUOTE]
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