Huh. You know, in many ways I think there are several fictional stand-bys that serve a somewhat similar function for me. One of them is Star Trek. I watched Star Trek TNG with my parents when I was younger, it was a weekly ritual. As an adult, I can recognize that it really isn’t very good TV: the acting was often poor, the writing poorer, and don’t even get me started on the technobabble. But it has a comfortableness to it that I find soothing in times of stress. LoTR, also. I do not think LoTR is great fiction. Tolkien was not a great writer. But it like to read it. It is a comfortable story, and has been with me for most of the years I could read.
I think its interesting that perhaps atheists and rationalists can find some of the spirituality we are allegedly so bereft of in the pages (or fast-moving frames) of an acknowledged fictional work. I would not be surprised if this has come up before on LW, but I must have missed it if it has.
EDIT: I also wonder if part of the difficulty in leaving religion is leaving the comfortable stories. To be taught for your entire life that the stories are true, and then realize that they might be false… to acknowledge such a realization might horribly taint the stories in ones mind. Humans seem to be very storytelling oriented, and it may be more powerful than we imagine, to reject ones storytelling tradition.
One of them is Star Trek. I watched Star Trek TNG with my parents when I was younger, it was a weekly ritual. As an adult, I can recognize that it really isn’t very good TV: the acting was often poor, the writing poorer, and don’t even get me started on the technobabble.
Lots of people do, in fact, give a special status to Star Trek and Star Wars. Not quite the same kind of special status that people try to give to [insert religious book here], but it seems to go beyond normal fandom. For example, people declaring their religion as “Jedi” on census forms.
Huh. You know, in many ways I think there are several fictional stand-bys that serve a somewhat similar function for me. One of them is Star Trek. I watched Star Trek TNG with my parents when I was younger, it was a weekly ritual. As an adult, I can recognize that it really isn’t very good TV: the acting was often poor, the writing poorer, and don’t even get me started on the technobabble. But it has a comfortableness to it that I find soothing in times of stress. LoTR, also. I do not think LoTR is great fiction. Tolkien was not a great writer. But it like to read it. It is a comfortable story, and has been with me for most of the years I could read.
I think its interesting that perhaps atheists and rationalists can find some of the spirituality we are allegedly so bereft of in the pages (or fast-moving frames) of an acknowledged fictional work. I would not be surprised if this has come up before on LW, but I must have missed it if it has.
EDIT: I also wonder if part of the difficulty in leaving religion is leaving the comfortable stories. To be taught for your entire life that the stories are true, and then realize that they might be false… to acknowledge such a realization might horribly taint the stories in ones mind. Humans seem to be very storytelling oriented, and it may be more powerful than we imagine, to reject ones storytelling tradition.
I think I assign special status to Star Trek, too. Sure, it might be full of gaping plot holes and inconsistencies, but—but—it’s Trek!
Lots of people do, in fact, give a special status to Star Trek and Star Wars. Not quite the same kind of special status that people try to give to [insert religious book here], but it seems to go beyond normal fandom. For example, people declaring their religion as “Jedi” on census forms.
This is not surprising. Religion is a special case of fandom, not the other way around.
I have a post on this somewhere in the depths of my entry-bunnies, but no idea when I’ll post it.