God Before Dogma: Difference between revisions

== [[Literature]] ==

* In ''[[The City of Ember]]'' series, Nickie rejects the absurd restrictions set by Mrs. Beeson on behalf of the Prophet of Yonwood, but she still believes God is good and would honor people's differences instead of marginalizing them.

* Dorry Stevens in ''Leaving Fishers'' by Margaret Peterson Haddix, who rejects her old creepy Christian cult but still believes in God and values religion, as opposed to fellow escapee Zachary, who literally says that religion is evil.

* Another Margaret Peterson Haddix example: Jed Reston, the son of Lord Reston, priest to the king, says state religion is all "smoke and mirrors" and has nothing to do with true faith.

* In Chris Crutcher's novel ''Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes'', the liberal Rev. Ellerby is contrasted with the uptight and hypocritical Christian Mark Brittain.

* Friar Tuck in the [[Robin Hood]] mythos is a 'good' religious foil for the villainous Bishop Hereford.

* This is a recurring theme in Katherine Kurtz's [[Deryni]] novels, because members of the Christian hierarchy claim that Deryni are evil by nature (hence justifying persecuting them), but a schism eventually occurs within the Church when some clerics, led by Cardiel and Arilan, dispute this assertion. Things get complicated when some few Deryni discover they have Healing abilities and as everyone knows Christ healed. A rebel leader who has been attacking mages' estates and tenants (particularly those of a certain Deryni duke) is forced to confront this when he gets a demonstration of Healing; Cardiel [a human bishop] is there to emphasize the contrast between the religion and some of its self-styled followers. Later, a guilt-stricken and self-hating Deryni [King Kelson's mother, Queen Jehana] has her anti-Deryni religious indoctrination overcome by Deryni clerics Arilan and Father Nivard. It's important to note that the Deryni are true believers, at least in part because of the evidence of experience. They sometimes perform rituals for powerful workings that summon beings taken to be angels (and specifically named: Raphael, Gabriel, Michael and Uriel). They mostly see coloured light and fleeting impressions of wings, and of course they could be mistaken or rationalizing their experiences, but they do believe. It also helps that their powers are triggered by an altered state of consciousness akin to meditation or prayer. Human Queen Richeldis suggests that Deryni may be above ordinary humans and just below angels on the [[wikipedia:Great chain of being:Great|Chain of Being]].

 

== [[Film]] ==

* The plot of ''[[Saved]]''

* ''[[Dogma]]'' runs on the trope. The whole point is that following the dogma gets you into trouble, but faith is what gets you out of it. Rufus's comment that Jesus is kinda ticked off about being used to justify "Wars, slavery, [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|televangelists]]", and Serendpity's comment that faith is more important than belief. Add to that the fact that even the fallen angels lampshade the fact that the rules change over time and that it's the rules set down by mankind, not God, that creates the potentially world-destroying loophole.

 

== [[Live Action Television]] ==

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

{{quote| '''Novalis, Archangel of Flowers''': Every human religion since the first boils down to just two principles: Behave and don't hurt each other.}}