a question on spirituality

[Salma]

no, no- this isn't the wrong folder;-p
I just was curious about one thing- if you're writing a story that involved the spiritual 'awakening' lets say, of a protagonist, how do you make the story appeal to atheists? I know the last thing a writer should do is think of pleasing her audience during the actual process, but I really want to know.

[Wes, Moderator]

Let the protagonist be a paleontologist.

[Salma]

ha ha, I like that.

[Danielle]

I know I am a bit late to the party but a spiritual awakening should totally appeal to an atheist if you consider one of the most "famous" non believers, Jean-Paul Sartre .He always rejected the concept of an existing God, not to mention his thoughts on "Being and nothingness".

Yet in a 1974 interview with Simone de Beauvoir, Sartre said that "I do not feel that I am the product of chance, a speck of dust in the universe, but someone who was expected, prepared, prefigured. In short, a being whom only a Creator could put here; and this idea of a creating hand refers to God." But immediately adds that "this is not a clear, exact idea…"

So something along those lines could have universal appeal.....
My 2 cents!

[Steven]

Hi Salma, tell the athiest that we are spirits living in a physical world. When we die, the spirit crosses over to the spirit world and its only the body that fades away.

If they are ignorant to this, anything you say wil bounce of them as really they are not listening. If they think about it, you're half way there!!

Best Regards

Steven Preece
Author of Amongst The Marines
and
Always A Marine

[Salma]

"If they are ignorant to this, anything you say wil bounce of them as really they are not listening."

I think that's been the case with most atheists I've met...lol

[Bishop]

I am not a black man, but The Invisible Man (Ellison) is one of my favorite books.

I am not a magician, but I found myself interested in Harry's magical ability.

I am not a woman, but I think Kate Chopin is absolutely fantastic.

I am not a believer in God, but I fell in love with A Prayer for Owen Meany.

If your story is compelling and your characters are worth a damn, we will read it. If not, we won't. If athiests really avoided reading anything with a "spiritual" angle, we would have very sparse bookshelves. Get over it and write what you want to write.

Best of luck.

[Jodi]

Write about what you believe. People are accepting of what comes across as true to you.

[EJ]

I am not an atheist so I love getting in the mind of an atheist.
I would read and watch movies having to do with "spiritual awakenings" For instance before CS Lewis' conversion he was an athiest. John Newton was a captain of slave ships until his huge conversion which resulted in writing amazing grace.

I love researching why people believe or do not believe.

Although I love Wes' idea of making him a paleontologist. That would be a great perspective =)