/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.4100712]

Let's talk about your personal religious views and your writing, /lit/.

For example, I am currently in the seminary and my training and education influences my writing heavily.

What about you, /lit/?

[Anonymous No.4100721]

Well I suppose my poetry is heavily centered around my spiritual and religious ideas, usually involving animistic and pagan themes.

[married oldfag !VqaXcWQC4Q No.4100720]

>>4100712
I am a Catholic Systematic Theologian.
I write non-fiction, mainly theology or 'specialty gaming products'

[OP No.4100739]

>>4100720

I hope you understand how important your work is, anon. You are the mortar that holds the bricks of faith we seminarians rely on together.

[Anonymous No.4100736]

My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs) – or to ‘unconstitutional’ Monarchy. I would arrest anybody who uses the word State (in any sense other than the inanimate realm of England and its inhabitants, a thing that has neither power, rights nor mind); and after a chance of recantation, execute them if they remained obstinate! If we could get back to personal names, it would do a lot of good. Government is an abstract noun meaning the an and process of governing and it should be an offence to write it with a capital G or so as to refer to people. If people were in the habit of referring to ‘King George’s council, Winston and his gang’, it would go a long way to clearing thought, and reducing the frightful landslide into Theyocracy. Anyway the proper study of Man is anything but Man; and the most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity. And at least it is done only to a small group of men who know who their master is.

J.R.R. Tolkien

[OP No.4100743]

>>4100721

Do you find that the style of the texts that influenced your beliefs seeps into your writing style? Does your work draw any influence from the Edda or the Merobingian?

[Anonymous No.4100749]

>>4100712
What faith tradition? What kind of position are you thinking of going in to?

[Anonymous No.4100760]

>>4100743

Hmm well a lot of my beliefs (which aren't in any way organized or systematic) stem from personal contemplation (and also psychedelic drug use...) so in that sense I'm not sure.

I've avidly enjoyed the poetry of the old norse and ancient greece and both probably served as models for a certain kind of religious verse I wanted to do but tbh the romantics and later aesthetes probably influenced me more than they ever did.

[Anonymous No.4100758]

Ex-Catholic. No animus towards the Church, though, nothing but respect for it.

[Anonymous No.4100772]

Orthodox Malickian. We're a sect of Heideggerianism.

[OP No.4100773]

>>4100749

Benedectine and I'm planning to become a priest.


>>4100758
That's cool. Don't worry, I won't jump your shit ;) Does your loss of faith influence your writing at all?

[Anonymous No.4100792]

My religious views go hand in hand with my work. I'm mainly a visual artist, though I occasionally write and in both occasions I'm always trying to reach a sense of spirituality, whether conscious or not (as I have perceived in retrospect). People as varied as director Tarkovsky, Kierkegaard, Alan Watts, Jung and others had a great influence in the way I see religion, even though I have no name for my religious believes. My best friend, almost a brother to me, knows an awful lot on alchemy and astrology and our talks also made an impact on my work. My ex-fiance was a very religious person, protestant christian, who often went to church and, at the same time, did everything differently from what one imediately interprets from the preachings. Her understandings on God and life clashed with mine at my most atheist moment and we were both changed by this for the better, we learned a lot from each other.

But my main influence on that matter was my father, who is strongly atheist. He was raised catholic, lost his faith as he reached adulthood and he writes all about that in subtle remarks and nods throughout his work. He has seven books published and I believe him to be a very good writer. They are all deeply atheistic. Today, he is even more aware of it. He is very fond of Dawkins, almost unaware of the controversy surrounding him, because to my father, his books meant that, for once, he could speak out, given we live in a very religious country, in which atheists are non-people.

[Anonymous No.4100796]

>>4100792 cont
I had absolutely no religion as a child. I was taught very early on to see religion as either myth or lie. At the same time, my father was very well read and I also gained from him the notion that all myth holds truth inside them, otherwise these images wouldn't exist. But because of this upbringing, I could only see religion as a foreigner. I didn't understand why it existed at all, I had a completely secular perspective to the point of being naive. It took me a lot of time to get to know certain aspects of faith and I had to translate it to myself in new ways all the time. I think it is the reason why I am quite comfortable with syncretic and ignostic views on religion. The African tribe, the christian and the muslim are just as exotic to me. And so I raised a profound admiration for all of them in equal measure. Even though I don't speak about it much verbally, I think I cannot help but to express religiousness.

And that leads back to my father. Because I think that below the surface of the cold scientific vision of the world he also has a heart for the magic and the mystery, he has faith. I interpret his own work much differently than himself. I see him much differently than how he describes himself. And that also taught me to respect atheism and non-religion, granted one could have a perspective like his.

And to paraphrase Thompson in my own manner, "I hate to advocate drugs..." but they also opened doors for religion to me

[Anonymous No.4101216]

>>4100712
Former Catholic who turned Lutheran at a young age, was deeply religious until I decided to give up my faith in high school. Loss of faith brought about it loss of a "higher appeal" for ethics and meaning I'd come to expect, and after reading more of the existentialists and studying the Greeks more intensely I decided that existential and moral nihilism made the most sense to me even though it was depressing in contrast to Christianity. At first it just made my writing darker, I started focusing on more self-destructive, isolated characters who essentially mirrored my own doubts, fears, etc., but eventually I gave up writing altogether. It's been probably 3 years since I've written anything, tried to start back up a few times but every time I start to get into the process it seems futile.

[Anonymous No.4101257]

>>4100712
pic related changed my life. i really identified with dimitry and father zosima continues to inspire me.

[Anonymous No.4101260]

>>4101257

[Anonymous No.4101309]

>>4101257
how did you make that last though? i always sympathized more with Ivan's and (although it's not the same book) Raskolnikov's doubts. i briefly held to the love that Dostoyevsky described, i just couldn't make it last. how do you?

[Anonymous No.4101353]

I basically don't see any good reason to believe (i'm not good at faith and don't see a good logic for it either), and so I don't

I'm actually (hopefully soon) going to start on my first novel, and the MC is a christian going through a crisis of faith, which is really not what I expected to find myself writing about initially

[Anonymous No.4101370]

>>4101309
>i just couldn't make it last. how do you?

i'm not sure what you mean. i sympathized with dimitry because he suffers from sensuality. he loves with the world (women, alcohol etc..) even though it's the source of his troubles. he knows he should act better but gets seduced by his vices. i understood him.

i found ivan too cold to identify with but that's just me.

i still sometimes feel that transcendent love but it's rare. god knows why.

[Anonymous No.4101380]

>>4101353
>I basically don't see any good reason to believe

you're going to die. what if eternity is real?

[Anonymous No.4101421]

>>4100712
Raised in fundamentalist Christianity. Now trying to stave off non-belief by looking into a variety of Christian strains including the Orthodox Church and Gnosticism.

In the novel that I've been working on, though who knows if I'll ever finish, I'm trying to sort out how the divine is perceived or made tangible to people (through experience, doctrine, culture, saviors etc.).

[Anonymous No.4101463]

>chesterbum
>retarded blog thread

[flying traps !CZH70CEASE No.4101514]

I'm strictly against theism and my writing is full of christian characters. I'd say they were mostly crazy and reprehensible if it weren't for the fact that all of my characters are crazy and reprehensible.
The most pronounced of my christian characters enjoys hunting his own food with nothing but his bare hands and the nature around him, and vies for an un-industrialized world. Also he was probably being forced to have sex with his mother.

He believes god made the Earth and all of it's inhabitants but that the industrialized world is a man made machine that is killing the Earth. He also believes that the Earth itself has it's own interests, and that it is trying to kill humanity.

A few of my characters are atheists as well. One of them is a nihilist who one day decides that there's really no reason for people to exist (specifically that the planet would be better if humans didn't exist) and he decides to committ genocide, but only gets as far as his family and best friend before killing himself.

[Anonymous No.4101534]

>>4101514
>He also believes that the Earth itself has it's own interests, and that it is trying to kill humanity.

then he needs to read his bible more. god created earth for humanity.

[flying traps !CZH70CEASE No.4101540]

>>4101534
I'm sure you know some people who preach some things and turn their head from others. Or others who interpret the bible.

[Anonymous No.4101543]

i swear this shit comes up every day

[Anonymous No.4101544]

>>4101540
craft your characters however you want kimosabe. i'm only pointing out that your 'christian' character seems more like strawman for you to grind an axe on than an authentic human being.

[flying traps !CZH70CEASE No.4101551]

>>4101544
I didn't craft him to grind an axe on christians. He's supposed to be idealistic and crazy because it plays a part in the story - the stories theme has to do with parenting and the multitude of ways it plays into the development of the children. I don't need to make things up if I'm angry about christians - I can just make a westboro documentary.

[Anonymous No.4101571]

>>4101380
what if god exists but actually everyone was wrong and he only likes and rewards atheists. what if those who get into heaven are those who are true to themselves instead of trying to force themselves to follow him (if they are not capable otherwise). Noone ever mentions possibilities like this, and I think it's pretty fucking ridiculous to pretend we could know how god thinks.

I don't think I'm capable of faith, it doesn't really matter any way, it'll be kind of bullshit if I'm snubbed from heaven because of how he or my environment made me, but I guess he doesn't have to be fair anyway

[Anonymous No.4101589]

>>4101571
>it's pretty fucking ridiculous to pretend we could know how god thinks.

unless god sent someone to tell us

[Anonymous No.4101598]

>>4101589
so many people have supposedly been sent that it's probabalistically ridiculous to trust any one of them without them having some edge over the other

which I don't find

[Anonymous No.4101613]

>>4101598
>so many people have supposedly been sent that it's probabalistically ridiculous to trust any one of them without them having some edge over the other

some have been more influential than others

[Anonymous No.4101630]

>>4101613
that's a pretty frivolous edge though

[Anonymous No.4101644]

>>4101589
>unless god sent someone to tell us

[Anonymous No.4101707]

>>4101644
Fog Horn Leg Horn

[Anonymous No.4101712]

>>4100720
Can you recommend me an introduction to Catholic theology or Thomist philosophy?

[Anonymous No.4101722]

>>4101613
>some have been more influential than others

Doesn't make them more true, and considering humans have been around for so long, trusting a guy sent so late in the game sounds really counter-intuitive for me.
Also, why take Jesus' word in literal terms, why not just live life like he taught us to and leave the superstition for someone else... I'm pretty sure God would want us more to be happy here than anywhere else.

[Anonymous No.4101726]

I-I just think God is the joy of living

[Anonymous No.4101741]

>>4101726
God is Nature, the Law we abide.

[Anonymous No.4101746]

>>4101741
i abide your mother

[Anonymous No.4101747]

Hindu (Ex-Catholic)

The scriptures and worldview just chimes more accordingly with me. Politically I'm an anarcho-ecofascist - I like mixing anarchist ideas with primitivist thought and some Penti Linkola for good measure.

Hinduism is helping me understand a lot of Catholicism, albeit through a different lens.

My writing is a poor attempt to reflect these thoughts which I find very hard to articulate without more research and study, so most of my writing centres around Borges styled scifi shorts, and domestic situations.

I'm a dancer, rock-climber and gymnast so movement is very important to me. Sometimes I choreograph poems to music and I'm looking for ways to do this with Eastern thought.

[Anonymous No.4101912]

>>4100721

would you mind sharing one of your tribal poems mate?

[Anonymous No.4101980]

A bit too much, I am afraid. Sometimes it becomes rather tasteless-- refraining is difficult, though, with the Godhead nagging your neural cervix whenever it gets the chance.

[Anonymous No.4102311]

Orthodox Chestertonian here.