I sometimes get asked how I reconcile my atheism with my creative work. More specifically, I get asked why I write stories featuring gods when I don't believe that gods exist.
The simple answer of course is that I write fantasy, which by definition is fictional. If I can write stories featuring aliens, magical creatures, and giant robots, then why not gods? To my mind, there is no difference.
The slightly more complex answer is as follows.
A History of the Story
Like many other frameworks that make our tribal existence possible, religions and their accompanying mythologies also emerged from human imagination. They are the products of the same mechanisms that gave rise to democracy, capitalism, communism, and various other economic systems and political ideologies. We have always made things up to help make living with each other easier.
But while a lot of these frameworks and ideologies are relatively new and we recognise their artificial origins, religious mythologies tend to be old. Often, they are so old that we have forgotten that they too were systems and narratives created by human beings.
I think this is why it is important to remind ourselves that stories featuring gods are just that - stories featuring gods. They are as powerful or as weak as any other story. They are as good or as bad as the humans who wrote them, told them, and retold them.
That is why I, as an atheist, tell stories about gods. Because if these stories can be told one way, they can also be retold another way. If the gods can be used to spread hate and discord, they can perhaps also be used to spread sanity, clarity, and kindness.
The only power the gods have ever held over us is the power we have given them. And the source of that power is our imagination. We literally wrote them into existence. When I tell a story about gods, I am doing what anyone who has ever told stories about gods has done. I am just trying to be a little more honest about it.
The Social Story
There is also the matter of power imbalances. In some ways, rewriting or retelling myths is akin to writing fan fiction. Fans have always re-imagined their favourite stories because despite being a huge part of their lives, these stories didn't quite scratch that one itch. So they make up relationships, alternate plot lines, whole new arcs for secondary characters to relive their stories in different settings.
Many mythological stories have problematic aspects. Sometimes the hero's misogyny is held up as an ideal to emulate. Sometimes a side character is wronged and the reader wants to see justice done. Sometimes, for no obvious reason, the reader wants to explore what would happen if the villain had reasons for being the way he was or if the hero loved someone other than the love interest the original story had assigned to them. Many readers bend genders and sexual orientations in their fan fiction because they don't get to see themselves in the stories they otherwise love.
Often, the primary driving force behind retellings and re-imaginings is the needs, dreams, and frustrations of those who are largely invisible to the so-called mainstream. Perhaps this is why a huge part of the reader (and even writer) base for fan fiction is composed of women, LGBTQ+ folks, and other communities sidelined on account of race, gender, or sex.
As an atheist who frequently critiques religion in the subcontinent, I can't claim to be part of the mainstream either. So when I retell stories featuring gods, my creative quest involves imagining them as something different. I try to wonder if the gods can mean something else and if the myths featuring them can be seen in a different, more enlightened light.
An attempt by me
More than a decade ago, I wrote a flash fiction series set in the Ramayana universe. I was a very different person then but I think by and large the tales still work. They are about change, belief, and social behaviours. One of them is even about fake news. I have started republishing them here on this site (click below or go to the Stories tab).
When I wrote these stories, I was probably not an atheist. But even now, when I do identify as one, Flash Myths strikes me as something of value. It was the first time I became known on the blogosphere back in the early 2010s. It was the first time I felt I could write for a living. It was the first time I received appreciation and support from strangers online. My writing career (at least the public side of it) started with these stories. I am therefore happy to present them before you in this form.
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