C Johnson
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Are there atheists in the World of the Five Gods? From your characters POV, the gods seem so obvious and incontrovertible, and we are told that there are those who don't allow the gods "in", as it were - but are there some who say, "Nope, it's all bogus"?
Lois McMaster Bujold
Sure. People can convince themselves of anything. And the appearances of the gods are usually subtle, through the material world or in visions and dreams, uncheckable by outside observers. (The Temples do have systems for sensitives to check each other, which reduces false positives and negatives greatly -- much, much harder for witch-hunts or spiritual con artists to gain traction -- but a sufficiently determined person could dismiss this.)
Ta, L.
Sure. People can convince themselves of anything. And the appearances of the gods are usually subtle, through the material world or in visions and dreams, uncheckable by outside observers. (The Temples do have systems for sensitives to check each other, which reduces false positives and negatives greatly -- much, much harder for witch-hunts or spiritual con artists to gain traction -- but a sufficiently determined person could dismiss this.)
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Raff Kingsbury
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Hi Lois. I've been wondering about nonromantic relationships in your writing. It seems to me your intense friendships pretty much all have complex power dynamics -- you don't do simple strong friendship without either romance, or guardianship and authority and different sorts of control? Am I wrong about that, and if not are there conscious reasons for it? (I really enjoy the way you do handle power dynamics, btw.)
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