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Hey y’all,
I got another ethical question for you. In my book, I’ve got this character who’s frankly a sorcerer. Now, the only thing he does around that is to predict a certain future event. There’s also no sort of occultic content in the book at all.
However, there’s the theory that any sort of even distant connection with the demonic should be completely avoided. Bring me your thoughts.
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@Daeus Is this the cryptic vision guy from your book back?
If he’s not portrayed as good (or maybe even portrayed as not good?) I don’t see why it’d be a problem…I’m personally a little uncomfortable reading or watching anything having to do with the occult even if it is portrayed as bad, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong to write someone who does it. I honestly haven’t given this subject much thought though. I tried to think of some classic we all love and agree with with some occultic connection in it and couldn’t, so I don’t really have a reference point. 😛
@emma-flournoy No, that guy’s very different.
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Hey @Daeus! I know I am new, but I love dealing with ethics in fiction, especially fantasy, so I am going to jump in.
Like Emma said, it partially depends on whether or not this character and his action of predicting the future is portrayed as good. It also depends on where you have him getting his power from. Since you said sorcerer, I assume it is some fantasy equivalent of demons? If so, then I think so long as you address the role of demons in the real world that is fine, but as Christians in America, this may be difficult since you have no real experience with overt demonic activity. On the other hand, God does have prophets. Something that I learned this year, is that predicting the future is not the primary role of biblical/real prophets. Biblical prophets are focused on the present and showing sin as sin and grace as grace. God uses them to bring repentance and warn of the judgement to comes (which is where warning of the future comes in.) But if he is doing that, then he really isn’t a sorcerer.
But I am a little confused by what you mean that he is a sorcerer but not related to the occult. What do you mean by that? Are you saying he is like Gandalf or something else?
Finally, a key aspect to consider is the “magical” nature of fantasy. I have had it explained to me this way: in Faerie stories, the material world directly represents the spiritual world. This is why trees talk and flower faeries mischievously prank humans using what we would call magic. Nature has an otherworldly, undefined, immaterial aspect about it that, if the material reflected that, we may see faeries turning wooden cups into a burst of sunshine or suddenly growing up vines over chairs and people. I do not think there is anything ethically wrong with this.
Did that help at all?
If all this guy does is predict something that is going to happen, I am pretty sure that is just prophecy (I could be wrong).
A question to ask yourself is where is his power coming from? A good place or a bad place? The reason most people don’t like sorcery or magic is that the power does not come from God, therefore it must come from somewhere else.
The Scattered Writer
@gabriellemassman Oops, sorry I didn’t clarify this is actually a historical fiction story. I called him a sorcerer because that was the best word that came to mind. He’s actually an apothecary though. Anyway, you made a good answer. This guy is occult, but what I meant is that there’s no scene with him doing any sort of occult practices. It’s just inferable that he does. I wouldn’t write a occultic scene, it’s just a question of having a character who does that off the page.
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@Daeus Got it. Sorry. You probably mentioned that your project is historical fiction in a post I have not read yet. Okay, well since you would obviously not condone it, I think it is fine. I actually don’t think there would even be anything wrong with you writing an occultic scene (so long as you are either writing adult or upper YA literature). The occult does exist, and the problem is more our attitude towards it. So just like we might write a scene with a murder, I personally don’t think that having a scene with the occult is a problem, but if you are writing for a solely Christian audience, it might offend some of your readers.
@gabriellemassman Yeah, I’d basically agree with you. I wouldn’t personally write it because I’m pretty sensitive to it, but I think it’s doable.
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@Daeus ooohhhh, this guy. Quite honestly he really didn’t bother me. He didn’t seem out of place in the historical fiction, which I think he would have if it had been a sorcerer in the common definition of the word. I just saw him as this really creepy guy who knows (or half guesses) things that are gonna happen (and really, did it take a genius to see where Edwin was headed at that point?) not because he is even necessarily powerful, but because he kept his eyes open and lived deeply in his twisted mind and had developed a ‘sixth sense,’ if you will, simply from introspection and mental/psychological tricks and such. If that doesn’t sound totally weird. I mean, he was obviously a really twisted character, but I read it as him just being weird with a lot of gypsy tricks up his sleeve and clear sight for all his ugly heart.
@kate-flournoy Yeah, I guess he could have just guessed. He did say there was a curse though. I don’t really know myself. Anyway, I was thinking the same as you, I just wanted to get some second opinions on it.
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@Daeus As long as he is a bad guy, I don’t think it is wrong. The occult is real.
@kate-flournoy What? You’re not always right. 😛
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@daeus I agree with pretty much what everyone else said. If you show that character and his actions as evil, then it’s ok. You are not going unnecessarily deep into occult practices and what not either. Demonic powers exist in the real world, and to pretend the world is without them would be a lie. Sure, demons and angels and such spiritual powers don’t need as large a presence in your story as they have in say This Present Darkness, but they still exit.
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