valarltd | They can't tell truth from fantasy, do they even know it when they lie?

One thing that puzzles thinking people is why religious fundamentalists apparently fail to grasp the difference between fiction and reality. Why they think viewing the wrong movie or reading the wrong book can lead to demon possession and practicing witchcraft.

I had an epiphany, which fits my own world-view: we are the stories we tell ourselves and others.

Fundamentalists have had their lives changed by a story.
It has promised them a way to live beyond death. It has given them a sense of purpose for this life. It gives them unity with like-minded believers, creating an instant community.

Since they have been changed by one story, it stands to reason all stories are just as transformative.

Thus, a school story of young wizards is no longer harmless entertainment. It is a gateway into the study of the occult, an encouragement to learn witchcraft and to leave God behind for magic.

Thus a horror movie about a priest who is short of faith being called on to vanquish a demon is not an allegory for the modern church, but an actual chance that such a demon could infest their own lives. After all, Regan was an innocent when she was taken.

This is why there is no such thing as fiction to a true believer. There can't be. All stories are advancing a world-view, whether the story is true or not. (whether believers should even read fiction because it's all a pack of lies about people who don't exist is another argument entirely)

If you pick up the wrong story and are exposed to the wrong world-view, you can be transformed by it.

As a corollary of this, I write GLBT romance to promulgate a certain world-view. My readers, some of whom may or may not be gay-friendly, accept this world-view for the duration of the story. Some of that can linger even after the story is over. (I refer to some of my support for corporation-style plural marriage as "I have Heinlein damage.")

I'm not saying writing slash is a blow for gay rights. But it is stealth attack. Julian May's casual use of same-sex marriage in her Pliocene books planted the ideas in my head that later fruited after 15 years of closeted suppression.

So, in conclusion,
Oh, be careful little eyes, what you see.
Oh, be careful little eyes, what you see.
There's a Father up above, looking down in tender love,
So be careful little eyes, what you see.

Be careful little ears what you hear
Be careful little mouth what you say...
Be careful little hands, what you touch...
Be careful little feet, where you go...

Because the wrong/right thing will transform you.

(title from "Gamers" by Leslie Fish. Downloadable here: http://www.prometheus-music.com/eli/virtual.html)