Religion & Politics

[EmilyMiller]

Where any of my heroines are religious, it's usually a veneer of Catholicism, that being my own background....

Me too .

Em

 

[Kumquatqueen]

And I go to politics now and then, but it's usually snide asides rather than anything overtly political. The same with politics. Where any of my heroines are religious, it's usually a veneer of Catholicism, that being my own background....

Thing with religion is it's designed to influence someone to having certain attitudes towards things like sex and relationships. If someone is religious there's generally a conflict between that and sexuality; if they shake off a religious upbringing there's a conflict between them and the religion.

Politics doesn't influence sex lives so much. It's less likely that a child is raised with explicit political beliefs; more likely that their upbringing, experiences and character will inform both their politics and their relationships. So the politics is generally less relevant to the sex, except in the sense that everything is politics.

I have a series where the four main characters are upper middle class, underclass, middle and working class, which informs a lot of interaction between them. To a Brit, that's political as hell. A foreigner probably wouldn't notice anything beyond the different wealth of their backgrounds.

I got a strong dose of the Church of England, which is often considered vaccination against religion and worked as such in my case, plus intermittent application of Catholicism. My main characters are generally irreligious with one conflicted Catholic, one American from a mild protestant sect, and a Muslim lad.

I had a housemate who age 25 considered herself a nice Catholic girl. She eventually asked if she could ask a question. Which was how many people I'd slept with, me being a bisexual polyamorous slut (and liked fetish clubs where people fuck, which she didn't know).

I still treasure the expression on her face when I told her, and she realised she'd slept with over twice the number of people I had! She was a good girl! She'd just get drunk on a weekend and end up with some guy helping her home, and it wasn't her fault, she'd been drunk... so basically a one night stand every couple weeks for a few years. Adds up. I tend to have very nice friends and see them again.

 

[gordo12]

Post removed

What part of my post didn't you understand? Knock it off. This is not a post for political arguments. There's a board for that!

 

[AH_Mod]

I've removed the off-topic political posts. There is a sub-forum for strictly political discussions, and such arguments should take place there.

 

[gordo12]

I've removed the off-topic political posts. There is a sub-forum for strictly political discussions, and such arguments should take place there.

Thank you!

 

[Bramblethorn]

Ah, pulp fiction full of Gary Stus is not dead after all!

I suspect Novels & Novellas and Non-Erotic get more of a pass to allow politics than other categories do. And that stories like this and the stories marked as 'gun fetish' or 'alpha male fetish' would have remarkably little crossover.


(Googles, learns) Most areas where Christianity spread to wouldn't have had any significant Jewish community in first, so from the point of view of the locals, Christianity was introducing the principle.

Perhaps so, and I'm not well enough informed about the non-Abrahamic religions which preceded Christianity in those regions, so I can't comment on their values. (I'm not sure if anybody here is well enough informed on that, TBH - in many cases our knowledge of pre-Christian European faiths is extremely limited, and filtered largely through the histories of their rivals.)

But I was responding there to a statement about "how much more humane [Christianity] was than the systems that preceeded it", and a follow-up remark where @TheStraightGuy made it clear that he was counting Judaism as one of those predecessors.

In that context, his remarks came across to me not just as "Christianity introduced these ideas to some places" but "Christianity invented these ideas, which weren't present in Judaism", which is definitely not the case. If that wasn't the intended meaning, I'd welcome clarification.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Well, I burnt the abusive ex of the heroine's older sister once.....it was a lot of fun. Except for him, of course....
https://literotica.com/s/halloween-in-the-cemetery

And I go to politics now and then, but it's usually snide asides rather than anything overtly political.

...huh.

I guess what this underscores is that people never consider their own writing to be "overtly political", because I would certainly have considered this political:

It was some sort of resettlement program funded by the Federal Government and set up by that goddamn illegal immigrant Kenyan Muslim so-called President. Two hundred Somali's in a large town with not much in the way of jobs! They'd caused nothing but trouble since they'd arrived.

According to Bethany's Dad, who was a cop, drug dealing and petty crime and random assaults had gone through the roof since they'd been shipped in. God knows there were enough problems at High School with them. Joe was already starting the truck up. Well, fuck those fucking ragheads and fuck running away.

Not to mention this:

Illegal Aliens.

I'd processed a few hundred of them today, along with the usual suspects. Ratdog party members. Criminals. Known and suspected antifa members. Activists. Social Justice Warriors and they were the easiest, coz we had a lot of website backups now that we had San Martinez and Santa Clara Valley, and the Security Service was real good at tracing them down. Cut and dried, most of them. The ones where there was any doubt, they were on their way to join the labor gangs cleaning up the damage from the fighting.

The others? That was why I was here.

I watched, coz giving the orders and watching those orders being carried out was part of my job. You didn't order your men and women to do what you wouldn't watch or do yourself. I always made a point of going down and watching at least once a day. I usually shot a few myself as well when I was down with the squad on duty. Setting an example to the men, and women of course, because we had both in my task force.

And this:

Tagg Yenmor. He'd been in the old fake news off and on. Knew who his dad was too. Tim Yenmor. Ran one of those frigging "global business consultancy's" that specialized in buying up companies, selling the assets and outsourcing the jobs overseas. He made billions. Thousands of people had their jobs and their lives destroyed. Ran for President once, when I was a rugrat. Sure I knew that fucker.

In the story, Tagg Romney Yenmor son of Mitt Romney Tim Yenmor ends up getting burned to death for raping and murdering a child.

 

[tenyari]

It's less likely that a child is raised with explicit political beliefs;

Having grown up in the 70s I'd offer a counter to that.

Being multi-racial and growing up in California meant exposure to a lot of people impacted by the events in Asia during the 60s and 70s. People over there were being heavily impacted by folks raised to have strong political beliefs. Counter to this is that I was raised in the USA where practically everyone has a flag coming out of their rear end. People in the USA get an extreme dosage in political slanting and don't ever really realize it until they travel abroad to someplace where folks barely give any thought to concepts like politics and nationalism.

In the 60s and 70s Asia was rapidly transitioning itself into a place where everything was political. You either were with all the communism or you were against it. And kids were getting raised one way or the other. Ideology went from meaning nothing to meaning everything in the span of one or two generations. In the modern era in at least one massive country over there it's been replaced with the same kind of hyper-nationalism that the USA has. Everybody in China is basically walking around with a flag coming out of their rear end.

Meanwhile in the USA - we're very strongly intensifying a split among ourselves - is that flag swinging to the left or the right? If your ain't swining the same way mine is - it's time for a fight. And Children are being raised to take this in and use it as the central flagpole around which to hang the entire rest of their identity.

Religion in the USA now only matters as a proxy to prop up politics. Folks don't go for the spiritual lesson, rather they alter that lesson into a political one designed to match which way that flag is swinging.

At this point in time, people in the USA and China are being raised with ONLY explicit political beliefs and little else.

 

[ChloeTzang]

...huh.

I guess what this underscores is that people never consider their own writing to be "overtly political", because I would certainly have considered this political:



Not to mention this:



And this:



In the story, Tagg Romney Yenmor son of Mitt Romney Tim Yenmor ends up getting burned to death for raping and murdering a child.

LOL. "Usually." I won't argue about the Unity Mitford ones. They were political from start to finish.

The Hayley's party one pretty much was an aside, and retrospectively, I'd edit that out. It didn't contribute to the story at all. Now American Dream had some snide comments in it, and of course, "Gavin." LOL.

Illegal Alien? That entire series was one big political diatribe, which was why I wrote it under a different pseudonym. They sure made their point about political polarization, dogmatism, righteousness, and the consequences thereof tho.

Tagg Yenmor? I still think Blood of my Enemies was the best "action" story of the 4, and Tagg's ending was well deserved, altho "And the Snow Fell" I still think overall was the best. They were all rather dystopian and meant to be.

https://scontent.fybz1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/340014164_612171243793774_2426230755474965730_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p526x296&_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=1mRnBkc-lVgAX8DFaUE&_nc_ht=scontent.fybz1-1.fna&oh=00_AfA2KAtNrX3V7Zs4TSD0jLXCS-rhIDwquGy__WbbU8UWiw&oe=644A350F

On the other hand, "I Married a Heptapod" has quite a lot of politics in too, but its more Chinese politics and the political bureaucratic infighting. I could probably go thru my stories and find snippets in a lot of them, which was what I meant about snide asides. I do enjoy writing those. LOL.

 

[XerXesXu]

I don't think of religions as discrete and I think of them as an evolving series of legends designed to impart wisdom (mostly...). A lot of Christianities evolved from the ideas of other religions or unincorporated legends. A lot of those ideas are common between religions that never encountered one another.

Yes, we all tend to make our God in our own image and likeness.

 

[XerXesXu]

I would somewhat disagree with that, but you've spoken laconic and I don't understand your exact meaning

All mankind make God/s to bless our common (shared) needs for the safety of our community and stability in our family and livings. Some have so many Gods you could almost name the days of the week after them. It would be surprising if religions didn't have much in common.

 

[Bramblethorn]

The first interpretation is more accurate that the second one. I'm not suggesting that the christians invented these ideas, but the christians did introduce them to unfamiliar with them (or, held them with lesser importance).

Cheers, thanks for the clarification. I have unfortunately had a few too many discussions with people whose position was the latter and so that's how it came across to me - glad to be mistaken in that!

 

[Grendelpuppy]

All mankind make God/s to bless our common (shared) needs for the safety of our community and stability in our family and livings. Some have so many Gods you could almost name the days of the week after them. It would be surprising if religions didn't have much in common.

some cultures have so many gods that you could name the days of the year after them.

 

[jaykaythree]

In one I'm working on, my male lead will at some point reference a direct quote from the Gospels to describe a relationship with a family member. He will not use it for preaching, but for illustration and illumination ... even for hopeful encouragement, but also "I've done what I can, ball's in your court" kinda feeling.

 

[mejau71]

Despite Literotica’s policy, Religious themes still make for a HOT AS FUCK story, especially if it involves mother and son characters. As a writer, I’m always thinking of new and creative ways to incorporate mental and moral barriers between my characters, and religion provides a plethora of possibilities. I call it Mental Parcheesi; a sequence of thoughts and dilemmas a character faces to reach the end result. The longer a character is steeped in religion, the sexier and harder it is for them to relent. At least, IMO. Inner conflict is priceless.

Sins of a MAGA Mom was a story I helped write and adapt into an audio series, so we just posted it somewhere else.

 

[gordo12]

Despite Literotica’s policy, Religious themes still make for a HOT AS FUCK story, especially if it involves mother and son characters. As a writer, I’m always thinking of new and creative ways to incorporate mental and moral barriers between my characters, and religion provides a plethora of possibilities. I call it Mental Parcheesi; a sequence of thoughts and dilemmas a character faces to reach the end result. The longer a character is steeped in religion, the sexier and harder it is for them to relent. At least, IMO. Inner conflict is priceless.

Sins of a MAGA Mom was a story I helped write and adapt into an audio series, so we just posted it somewhere else.

I'd forgotten I'd even started this whole thread. I don't know your book, but as far as I understand it, Lit's policy on religion and politics applies to proselytizing stories, not stories where a lousy priest or overzealous church abuses people. Lots of my stories have driveby swipes at religion and certain dumb as fuck political morons without a problem. Yours appear to be incest, which I believe would be perfectly acceptable. I use religious tension frequently and love it.
If anyone understands the Lit religion/politics standard here better, please share!

PS talking about Sins of a Maga Mom

 

[mejau71]

Mine wasn’t so much my spin on politics or religion, but a woman coming to terms with her ideological insignificance from within. My character is a bat-shit crazy Margery Taylor-Green type whose perceptions change only after accepting the fact that the love for her son is far more important than manmade ideology.

 

[AchtungNight]

I can and have parodied and satirized multiple real world and fantasy / science fiction philosophies in my work. Religions also. In doing so I try to give them the best respect possible that they have earned. In some cases that isn’t very much. Selfish fanatics get almost nothing. Unless you count encouragement to transform and renew their minds.

Same for politics with which I disagree, but I generally try to keep that craziness out of my life.

 

[TamLin01]

You know nobody has ever commented on what I think of as the explicit Satanism in my stories. Maybe it's not that explicit after all.

 

[MillieDynamite]

There seems to be a correlation in this country to ultra-right-wing politics and certain conservative churches. Not whole denominations, but splinters in many of them. Southern Baptist, any Baptist really, Church of God, large groups of so-called non-denominational groups. They seem homophobic, misogynistic, racist, and filled with white supremacist types. This group would ripe for cuckolding stories, don't you think?

@TamLin01 so, what do you see as explicit Satanism in your stories?

You know nobody has ever commented on what I think of as the explicit Satanism in my stories. Maybe it's not that explicit after all.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

There seems to be a correlation in this country to ultra-right-wing politics and certain conservative churches. Not whole denominations, but splinters in many of them. Southern Baptist, any Baptist really, Church of God, large groups of so-called non-denominational groups. They seem homophobic, misogynistic, racist, and filled with white supremacist types. This group would ripe for cuckolding stories, don't you think?

@TamLin01 so, what do you see as explicit Satanism in your stories?

Oh, I hadn't even thought of this.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

There seems to be a correlation in this country to ultra-right-wing politics and certain conservative churches. Not whole denominations, but splinters in many of them. Southern Baptist, any Baptist really, Church of God, large groups of so-called non-denominational groups. They seem homophobic, misogynistic, racist, and filled with white supremacist types. This group would ripe for cuckolding stories, don't you think?

I always assumed that was the main readership of LW. Any map showing where the most porn is consumed correlates with ultra-right 'Christian' populations.

I did enjoy writing about politicians and politics for the Crime & Punishment event, while not getting into real or partisan politics not allowed on the site - so I set it 5 years in the future, with characters saying things like "New Government, same as the last bloody Government" and "Yet another Home Secretary. Let's see if this one has a longer shelf life than a lettuce."

 

[lovecraft68]

I always assumed that was the main readership of LW. Any map showing where the most porn is consumed correlates with ultra-right 'Christian' populations.

I did enjoy writing about politicians and politics for the Crime & Punishment event, while not getting into real or partisan politics not allowed on the site - so I set it 5 years in the future, with characters saying things like "New Government, same as the last bloody Government" and "Yet another Home Secretary. Let's see if this one has a longer shelf life than a lettuce."

Generalizations based on YOUR political stance which is way left of reason as much as other factions are way right of it.

What you posted is a great irony as you are as judgmental to those you see as judgmental, but your judgment is fair and sound. This idea that anyone who sits on the left side of politics-especially men-are all okay is dangerous misinformation. If you pay attention you can see how some of the "liberal' men here act towards women. So good job influencing the upcoming generation of women that only men who go to church and vote right are a danger. Maybe put this in the sham of a "women's empowerment contest" The men posing there will love it.

I'm centrist-or try to be-in most things, and being that, as well as having no religion(or belief) and not adhered to either political side, which means I get to watch two equally preachy fear and hate mongering factions attack each other while calling the other side hateful, but being hateful themselves.

Hivemind is a dangerous thing. I know its imperative in the age of social media to have the support and adoration of likeminded zealots, but maybe try thinking for yourself and not regurgitating a preprogrammed agenda once in awhile. It can be refreshing...but its bad for the likes and retweets.