A new episode airs tonight. Here's a great site that features all the songs (I like to listen to them in advance to get in the mood). Tonight's show centers on religion.
I know some people don't feel comfortable talking about religion because it's such a personal matter, but I happen to love it. That and politics (I am fun at a dinner party). It's not so much the telling-people-what-I-believe part, but just the general discussion of how faith shapes and influences our lives that interests me. I have my master's degree in theology so I love reading and learning about other religions and understanding why different people believe what they do.
Most of my writing has some kind of religious element. Faith is something that's constantly turning around in my head, so it's natural that my characters should be preoccupied with this, too. In fact, part of the planning I do for a novel is determining what religion my characters are and how serious they are about their spiritual lives. That tells me something about them and helps me understand how they will move through the story.
Many of my favorite books ask religious questions (Harry Potter, The Road, How to Be Good, The Abstinence Teacher, East of Eden, heck, even Jane Austen was a clergyman's daughter). I like plenty of books that have nothing to do with religion, too (in fact, my current WIP is pretty religion-free), but the ones that say something about belief and spirituality always seem to touch me in a special way.
What do you think? Does religion play a role in your writing? Do you enjoy books with religious themes? Any recommendations for me?
-- Lisa
* Seriously, you don't like Glee? It's adorable!
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