THE BRYNLEE BOOK- tags, tips, and tirades

Writing Tip: religion

/disclaimers/
1. Most people in books you write fan fiction about are Christian and that's okay (im looking at you, JK Rowling). You shouldn't change people's religion.
2. I know that the main religion in the world is Christianity. I've looked this up several times. But that doesn't mean other religions don't exist.
3. Christianity is a valid religion. Im completely okay with people of that faith (as long as they don't use it to try and control others lives, but that's true in any religion) and I'm not trying to be rude or anything about Christianity. Please don't take this the wrong way.

I've live and breathe books. Literally. My father is a librarian. I've grown up this way.
And I can't help but notice a whole heck of a lot of Christianity.
Yes, it is the religion with the most population believing in it but that's only about 31.2% or the general population of the world (according to Pew Research Center or pewresearch.org) which is not a whole lot when you put it into perspective. Here is my point.

Please keep in mind that this is mainly about OC's.
Write characters with other religions. There are so many out there!
Now, I know what you Christians might be thinking.
How am I supposed to write a religion that isn't mine?
1 word. Research. You can research so many different things about different religions. Its so easy. Just search google for something like 'what holidays do Buddhists celebrate?' Or something super simple like that. Easy peasy.
Also, you might be thinking,
Nobody else writes a character with a faith that they don't personally follow!
I do. I write religions I don't believe in all the time.
I classify myself as a mainly fan fiction writer. I write about Harry Potter and Sanders Sides.
Harry Potter has one jew in all of Hogwarts. That kid was stated to exist in like one sentence and was never mentioned to be Jewish in the books. And who even knows if there were any Muslim, Atheist, Hindu, etc. kids in that entire school. Its was 99.9% Christian.
Sanders Sides is one man, with characterizations of HIS OWN personality. Therefore, it's all one person. And this one person is Christian.
So, I write a lot of Christian characters.
But here's the thing, im Jewish.
I was raised fully Jewish and still strongly believe in Reformed Judaism, which is also kind of why I censor the word 'g-d'
I literally had to use autocorrect to know how to spell 'Christianity' right.
Now, I didn't have to do much research to write Christian characters because they are so represented (some might argue that they are overly represented) in media that people pretty much know all about Christianity.
What I didn't know, I learned through asking questions to my Christian friends. Also, I don't include much religion into my books anyway. There are more important things in my stories.
So, yes, people write religions that aren't their own all the time. Who can back me up?
So, mix it up.
Easier religions to write (I guess) are
-atheism
-undefined religion (the 3rd most populated religion)
Or just not giving them specified religion at all.

But always research.
For jews: different branches of Judaism (reform, orthodox, etc.) or how is Judaism genetic or ethnic?
For Muslims: different kinds of hijabs, names and purposes, or laws of Islam.
For Buddhists: where did Buddhism originate or what holidays do they celebrate?
For Hinduism: what g-d do Hindus pray to or where is Hinduism most popular around the globe?
Quick searches like that can make a difference.

Why does writing different religions matter?
It's all representation.
I am a white, cis gender female, which has representation.
But being Jewish is a minority. Only 0.01% of the worlds population are Jewish.
Reading a book like Simon Vs The Homosapiens Agenda or The Upside Of Unrequited (both by queen Becky Allbertalli) that has Jewish main characters makes me and probably others feel validated. Like we do exist in media, in our favorite books, and not just attached on after the book for some extra representation points (looking at you again JK Rowling).
Feeling represented is an amazing feeling, and sadly when it comes to my religion, it barely ever happens. Feeling like an odd one out sucks. Especially when you feel like that when there is no one like you in the media. Representation. Matters. Even with religion. Representation. Matters. Yes, I know I probably shouldn't speak a lot about not being represented because others have it worse but that's just some insight in to how it feels to be represented, and to not.

So please, take some time to Google a less common religion, it will make others happy and add to the character, making them more 3D.