Have any of you writers encountered this, too?

[Kylyssa]

Lately I've been getting PMs, emails, and comments on my poetry and fiction from people suggesting that I can't be an atheist and use words like "soul" or "God."  It's kind of annoying.  One of them was even in reference to an erotic story wherein a character moans, "oh God, oh God, YES."  Mostly I get that response from my poetry because it seems people don't understand that poetry can be fiction or that words can be used as literary devices to pull on the readers' feelings rather than as bald statements of fact.

Writing is art. Assuming anyone who uses a word associated with religion must believe it as as logical as assuming anyone who paints a dragon must believe in dragons. Art is created for many reasons. One of them is to tell stories and to evoke emotions. Some stories are fiction. I also wrote a story called Of Wolves, Dogs, and Men about how men and dogs derived magically from wolves on the American plains. I even had one message asking how I can believe dogs and men came from wolves but that God is just a myth.  I don't believe it, it's just a myth story, it's fiction.  Try telling that to the same folks who jump all over pro-atheist articles.  They'll grasp at any straw.

Another piece that has gotten me a lot of messages is a poem (song lyrics, actually) called War in the Name of God which I wrote about religiously motivated fighting the world over.

[myleviathan]

Lately I've been getting PMs, emails, and comments on my poetry and fiction from people suggesting that I can't be an atheist and use words like "soul" or "God."

Morons.

[Will]

Yes, look up "idiot" in a thesaurus.

[Whitney]

Lately I've been getting PMs, emails, and comments on my poetry and fiction from people suggesting that I can't be an atheist and use words like "soul" or "God."

Morons.

That's exactly what I was going to say.

[jrosebud]

And if someday you end up being famous, surely some Christian group will use it as evidence of conversion.  Poor Einstein.

[Will]

jrose speaks the truth! Even if you're quoted saying "I do not believe in god. I am an agnostic atheist. Anyone who says I believe in any god is absolutely, 100% wrong.", someone would talk about a deathbed conversion and such. It's why Richard Dawkins is going to film himself when he dies. Video proof of no such conversion.

[susangail]

Lately I've been getting PMs, emails, and comments on my poetry and fiction from people suggesting that I can't be an atheist and use words like "soul" or "God."  It's kind of annoying.  

They poke at anything. Their dying to prove us wrong and convert us; make us look bad. But in reality, they just make themselves look like ridiculous idiots. Beyond annoying, yes, but you have to admit, it's kind of funny too...

Writing is art. Assuming anyone who uses a word associated with religion must believe it as as logical as assuming anyone who paints a dragon must believe in dragons. Art is created for many reasons. One of them is to tell stories and to evoke emotions.

Can I get an amen?! Ha ha, couldn't resist. But I agree 100%.

[LARA]

Nope.  But then I hide the majority my stuff in the closet because I am too lazy to post it.      

I'm curious to know what some of the obnoxious comments were on your stories.  I think it's hard for people who take the Bible literally to understand that whole separation between the creative and the real and the idea that an author can even write an idea or create a character they don't necessarily agree with or believe in.  It goes back to the constant misapplication of metaphor as reality that occurs with children, the devout and the mentally ill.  

I've used dragons, angels and demons in my artwork and stories before as allegories, but this doesn't mean I literally believe they exist.    Granted, some of my experiences and personal psychology are going to effect the stories I create, because I have to draw from what I know, but it's still just a story.  I've wondered at times how people will judge me for the things I create and sometimes stupidly waste scads of time poring over symbolism, intentional and otherwise.  The thing is, one person's deeply poignant symbol is another person's dead flounder.  The impact of the story depends so much on the psychology of the reader, but my experience has been that when I try to account for the psychology of the reader, I just end up castrating the creative process.  

So maybe the Creationists aren't  going for the work you do.  Do they matter?