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Imadethisupwithnoforethought's avatar

Atheists, do you prefer realistic fiction or fiction with more of a supernatural/speculative bent? What about theists, what do you tend to prefer?

Asked by Imadethisupwithnoforethought (14682points) March 24th, 2012
16 responses
“Great Question” (5points)

In my personal experience, many of the religious folks I know avoid sci-fi or fantasy and love crime dramas and mysteries.

I am just looking to see if there is some consistency in this. So, if you are an atheist, do you tend to like speculative fiction? If you are a theist, do you tend to prefer more reality based storytelling?

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Answers

chyna's avatar

Theist here. I prefer crime drama shows, but not for the reasons of religious beliefs. It is just a personal preference. When I was younger, I loved sci-fi books and movies.

KatawaGrey's avatar

I’m a theist, but I’m not religious. I read almost exclusively fantasy and science fiction. I’m planning on being a both a fantasy and sci-fi writer as well.

Rarebear's avatar

Atheist here. I like any story that is a good story.

Aethelflaed's avatar

Atheist. Both, though I am quite picky that it be believable.

Jeruba's avatar

As an atheist and a heavy reader, I like both. I want fiction to be well crafted and plausible, and I like it to present ideas as well as an engaging story. Subject matter is secondary, although I don’t have much of an appetite for fiction that sounds just like last week at my house. I want it to show me experiences that aren’t exactly like my own.

Berserker's avatar

Atheist. I like fantasy and horror. In any form, really. I like crime and drama, but my attention span for these genres limits me to television shows and movies.

filmfann's avatar

Theist. I love Stephen King (especially “The Stand”), the Twilight Zone, Phillip K. Dick, and the Harry Potter series, so I guess I can say I love SciFi.
I am not big on fantasy/swords and sorcerers.
I do love mysteries and crime dramas as well.

Haleth's avatar

Athiest, and I like both. If I have to suspend my disbelief for a story, they’d better be consistent, though. Like, don’t say your vampires are purple on one page, and on the next page they’re suddenly green. Even a fictional universe needs to have some kind of rules.

dappled_leaves's avatar

Atheist. I prefer non-fiction, mainly because so much fiction is so bloody awful. I do enjoy science fiction and fantasy if it’s good, but I also enjoy an English parlour mystery occasionally, or contemporary character-driven novels. Quality is much more important to me than genre.

downtide's avatar

Atheist, and I love crime and conspiracy stories but I also love fantasy and science-fiction. Not so much a horror fan.

Bent's avatar

I’m an atheist and I also like both, if it’s well-written.

augustlan's avatar

I’ve been both a theist and an atheist, and I like just about every genre. My favorite is probably horror, though.

Keep_on_running's avatar

I’m an atheist and I’m not really into fiction at all. Though I wish I was, my imagination sucks.

DominicX's avatar

I like both (as an atheist), but I love scary stories that deal with demons, ghosts, and other supernatural things that I do not even believe in. I find that interesting.

fundevogel's avatar

<——-atheist

For me it breaks down by medium.

I am a sucker for movies and tv with magical or supernatural elements which gives me a nice spread of sci-fi, fantasy and horror. I’m rarely interested in mysteries or cop shows as they usually seem formulaic and when I have seen them there’s often a “I know what’s right, here let me set you straight” vibe that irritates me. But I do love Terriers, Psych and BBC’s Sherlock.

I’ll read an occasional sci-fi/fantasy/horror, but I mostly read non fiction these days. I’m really picky about written fiction. Comes from hanging out with writers. If I read crime it’s the historical sort. I love history.

mattbrowne's avatar

I prefer hard science fiction over fantasy. And I prefer metaphorical interpretations over literal ones.

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