On characters struggling with religion

[Duleigh]

Alright so I'm writing a character who happens to be Jewish. He's not practicing as the belief that God has good intentions got kicked to the curb when his mother was moved into a hospital full time due to MS.

Is that allowed to be explored or is Literotica gonna make me dial it back?

IMHO I would say yes, do it but don't make it the central part of your story, everyone will struggle with that from time to time, especially when one is faced with a crisis like this, but keep in mind that this is litEROTICA not litTHEOLOGY

 

[AchtungNight]

I agree with the above statement. That said, there are some reviews and essays here about religion vs sex, so maybe the rules are different in that section. I think for most stories, the central theme needs to be about the erotic content. I also should note that if Laurel changes her mind about my stories at some point in the future and takes them down, she will be within her rights to do so. I have them backed up elsewhere, so it’s fine with me. There’s also a lot about the series referenced that I won’t discuss here, including some things that can’t be published on Lit and others I’m just plain not interested in publishing (burnout, respect for my characters and the inspiration behind them). Interested parties are free to contact me privately if they have concerns.

 

[KeithD]

I think that including elements of religion in your story has been overblown as a submissions problem at Literotica over the past couple of days. Suggest you include it as you wish and take your chances on submission. I think most of the stories will get through.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I think that including elements of religion in your story has been overblown as a submissions problem at Literotica over the past couple of days. Suggest you include it as you wish and take your chances on submission. I think most of the stories will get through.

Agreed. Can't speak to every last story that may have been submitted but IME Laurel has generally been pretty sensible in how that policy is applied. Stories that acknowledge religion as part of the characters' lives, without being written primarily to proselytise, seem to be okay.

 

[LegendInMyOwnMind]

Religion has played a role in various ways in some of my stories, from various angles. In a brother-sister incest story, the siblings become agnostics in reaction to their excessively restrictive conservative Christian upbringing and had a laugh or two about it, saying "we were taught men and women don't grow genitals until their wedding night", but the sister retains her inherited opposition to abortion, which plays a role in the plot. I wrote a disclaimer for that. At the end the brother starts to "doubt his doubts" about God. I never have advocated pro or con for any religious viewpoint and will not do so in the future, and no religious figures (Jesus, Muhammed, Buddha, etc.) appear in my stories. I suspect a similar tack would work for any author. We are not advocating--we are creating multi-dimensional characters.

 

[Voboy]

Again, the rule of thumb: just don't go out of your way to offend anyone's faith.

Should do fine.

 

[AchtungNight]

Multi dimensional characters was my motivation for including religion in my stories also. I consider it self evident that every religion is interpreted differently by every follower, and it’s an unfair practice to try to force fundamentalism on people or assume they all should be the same. Real life dealing with such people, acknowledging various agendas and perspectives, has convinced me of this. At the end of the day, I support the first amendment of the US constitution regarding religion. I hope Laurel does too.

 

[Wifetheif]

I was corresponding for a while with a Jewish gentleman who wanted to rewrite one of my stories https://www.literotica.com/s/angel-38 about a beautiful exo-archeologist who becomes a stolen wife on an alien planet. I gave him permission but I never saw the final result, if there was one. The conversation was fascinating. He really had no idea why my story struck a deep chord in him. He is an Orthodox Jew and comes from a very conservative background. I used to be an Evangelical Christin but now I'm skeptical about everything. Even so, we were able to discuss Biblical characters like Esther and Ruth, and their importance and symbolism. Esther saved her people by marrying outside her faith. He saw echoes of that in my heroine. The point is that everyone who writes for this site and visits this site has their own unique spiritual or lack of spiritual belief and being open-minded and accommodating to everyone is the very best policy for all.

 

[SoCalAshley]

Alright, good luck. Hope that things work out for you. Satire is protected speech, so that may be important also. [knock on wood]

My story posted without a hitch. I think it helped that it was in the Humor and Satire Category. If you get a chance, I would love for you to read it and let me know what you think.

https://www.literotica.com/s/coming-to-know-god

 

[AchtungNight]

My story posted without a hitch. I think it helped that it was in the Humor and Satire Category. If you get a chance, I would love for you to read it and let me know what you think.

https://www.literotica.com/s/coming-to-know-god

Done. I 4ed and commented on the story linked above and 5ed all 3 chapters of your Heather story. Enjoyed reading them all, very hot stories, just felt the H&S story didn’t flow as well. Glad you were able to post w/o trouble. Up to you if you want to return the favor. Hope you’ll keep up the good creative work.