It is not often remembered that in the first Planet Of The Apes movie, a major part of the plot involves a parody of the Scopes Trial, in which the humans try to convince the apes of their common origin.
I don't THINK the apes are portrayed as having a religion, but their horrified attitude at the theory of evolution clearly mimics those of certain biblical-literalists in the contemporary era.
Just watching old clips from the franchise on YouTube, and the second movie, Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, features a cult of humans who worship the nuclear bomb. Very Cold War motif.
The video is called "BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES clip: warhead worship". There is debate in the comments section about how much the liturgy and music used by the cult resembles that of real-life denominations. By my lights, it seems broadly patterned after the standard RC/Anglican service.
Sorry if I confused people with the whole no allegories of a real world religion the author intends to promote. The only work I can think of that this covers are the Narnia books, and I haven’t read any of Lewis’ other fiction so I can’t comment on it.
I don’t think the supernatural beings in Lord of the Rings were intended by Tolkien as an allegory to promote Christianity, but I don’t really see the LOTR books as having a religion in the sense I wanted to discuss because, as far as I know, there is no need in them for anyone to have faith in the Ainur, Valar, etc, because everyone knows they exist - they may just disagree about whether Sauron or anyone else is a threat and how much power humans and other beings can and should claim relative to those powerful beings.
Are there any fictional religions set in this world or a future version of this world that people like?
I should point out that Narnia is not an allegory. Symbolic in various ways, and Aslan is "what if Jesus became incarnate in another world"" but not an allegory like Pilgrim's Progress (or Lewis' excellent Pilgrim's Regress).
You liked Regress? Ugh, I found it just as heavy-handed and intelligence-insulting as the original. One of the few Lewis tomes I never reread.
But it's supposed to be didactic isn't it? I liked the original too although I found them both terrifying at certain points...
Didactic covers a range. The Pilgrims are on the wrong end of that range.
Sorry if I confused people with the whole no allegories of a real world religion the author intends to promote. The only work I can think of that this covers are the Narnia books, and I haven’t read any of Lewis’ other fiction so I can’t comment on it.
I don’t think the supernatural beings in Lord of the Rings were intended by Tolkien as an allegory to promote Christianity, but I don’t really see the LOTR books as having a religion in the sense I wanted to discuss because, as far as I know, there is no need in them for anyone to have faith in the Ainur, Valar, etc, because everyone knows they exist - they may just disagree about whether Sauron or anyone else is a threat and how much power humans and other beings can and should claim relative to those powerful beings.
Are there any fictional religions set in this world or a future version of this world that people like?
I should point out that Narnia is not an allegory. Symbolic in various ways, and Aslan is "what if Jesus became incarnate in another world"" but not an allegory like Pilgrim's Progress (or Lewis' excellent Pilgrim's Regress).
You liked Regress? Ugh, I found it just as heavy-handed and intelligence-insulting as the original. One of the few Lewis tomes I never reread.
But it's supposed to be didactic isn't it? I liked the original too although I found them both terrifying at certain points...
I actually need to get around to reading pilgrim’s progress someday, but I definitely love Lewis’ pilgrim’s regress. I don’t think I find it terrifying in any way, but profound, definitely.
Comments
Just watching old clips from the franchise on YouTube, and the second movie, Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, features a cult of humans who worship the nuclear bomb. Very Cold War motif.
The video is called "BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES clip: warhead worship". There is debate in the comments section about how much the liturgy and music used by the cult resembles that of real-life denominations. By my lights, it seems broadly patterned after the standard RC/Anglican service.
Didactic covers a range. The Pilgrims are on the wrong end of that range.
I actually need to get around to reading pilgrim’s progress someday, but I definitely love Lewis’ pilgrim’s regress. I don’t think I find it terrifying in any way, but profound, definitely.