People who have read just the descriptions of my books sometimes reach the
mistaken conclusion that I have something against religion. Although my
books do often feature extremists, some of the religious variety, as the
primary antagonists, I would assert that it's not religion that I present in
a bad light, but rather, extremism. After all, extremists can be quite
annoying! Unfortunately, extremists are quite common in the world today and
a large number of them can be reasonably described as religious extremists.
While there is nothing inherent about religion that necessarily promotes
extremism, such a correlation is quite common at this time in our society.
While the world is full of Islamic extremists, it is more likely that our
daily lives here in the United States will be influenced by the activities of
Christian extremists and that's why Christian extremists appear in some of my books.
However, animal rights extremists and child safety extremists also appear as
characters in the novels I write too.
The particular book that I have written that some may see as especially
anti-religious is
Bible
Camp. I maintain that the book is not an attack on religion. Rather it is
an indictment of religious extremism. So, although the protagonists in the
book engage in some behavior that is disrespectful of religious symbols, it
is important to keep in mind that they reach the point that they desecrate
these symbols as a result of being subjugated to the tyranny of unreasonable
religious authorities. This same dynamic can be observed in society at
large. All people are naturally predisposed to tolerate and to respect the
religious beliefs of others and it is only when they perceive those
religious beliefs as in some way threatening to their well-being that they
lash out in a negative manner. Certainly forcing others to abide by laws
inspired by religious doctrine is a type of tyranny that will result in such
a backlash.
When people freely choose to follow the doctrine of their religion and allow
others the right to reject that doctrine without any form of retribution, I
have absolutely nothing against them or their religion. However, the instant
they cross the line and seek to subjugate others to their religious
precepts, that's when I no longer see these people as worthy of respect.
Ordinances, laws, and regulations should not exist that force non-believers
to abide by behavioral guidelines based on religious teachings. Government
should protect the freedom and liberty of all people and at no time should
the power of government be used to allow one group to people to inflict its
will on others. Laws should exist that protect the liberty of all and that
allow individual citizens the maximal moral choice. The protagonists in my
books place a high value on liberty and they tend to react negatively toward
tyrants, be they religious or otherwise!
