There’s an old story that goes something like this (via StackExchange):
It is widely believed that L. Ron Hubbard and Robert A. Heinlein made a bet in a bar one night either than L. Ron could not create a religion, or to see who could create a religion first. (In the second case, Stranger in a Strange Land is often cited as Heinlein’s effort.)
The story has been widely debunked, but it is a fact that sci fi author L. Ron Hubbard came up with Scientology.
I often struggle with the role of religion in my sci fi stories – does Cristianity still exist 100, 200, 500 years into the future? Would we recognize it? Has something else taken its place?
And in alien cultures or Fantasy worlds, is there religion, and if so, what does it look like?
So here’s my challenge today… First, come up with three tenants for an LGBT or LGBT friendly religion for a sci fi or fantasy story. And second, discuss the role of religion in sci fi and fantasy, and what your experience with it has been as a writer and/or as a reader.