History Main / FantasticReligiousWeirdness

* At the end of Dani and Eytan Kollin's ''Incorporated World'' series, a rabbi has to deal with the problem of an avatar (an Artificial Intelligence) wanting to convert. It only gets more complicated when humans and avatars start wanting to get married.

* In F. Paul Wilson's story (later blown up into a novel) "Midnight Mass", it turns out crosses -- ''and only crosses'' -- have power over vampires. The Jewish communities (and presumably other non-Christians, though we only know of this through a Jewish character) are completely overrun.

** In Rafał Dębski's ''Zoroaster'', humanity had spread to the stars and as a result, the Inquisition had to be recreated, because far from Earth and Vatican, there were literally thousands of people declaring themselves the Christ come again and ''someone'' had to go around and either debunk or confirm them. No confirmation ever happened and by the time of the story, the trend is long past.

* ''Fool's War'' by Sarah Zettel is a SpaceOpera where most of the main characters are Muslim. This leads to them asking each other questions like "Which way is Mecca today?" whenever they're on their spaceship and need to pray.

* ''Eifelheim'' by Creator/MichaelFlynn explores how late medieval Catholics deal with {{insectoid aliens}} who crash-land near their small German village. He cites theologians such as Augustine saying mythic creatures like dog-headed men, if they existed, would have souls and be capable of receiving baptism to argue it wouldn't be something they couldn't handle. After determining that the aliens are rational, the priest engages in debate with them about religion and other things. Some of the aliens end up converting.

* In Creator/JamesBlish's classic ''A Case of Conscience'', the Jesuit protagonist concludes that a race of reptilians leading apparently Edenic lives are [[spoiler: of Satanic origin, since they have no concept of God and thus "prove" by their existence that He is unnecessary.]]

* In Kameron Hurley's ''Bel Dame Apocrypha'' a Space Diaspora that took place so long ago that the existence of Earth has apparently been forgotten has wrought huge changes on Islam, the dominant religion of the planet it takes place on. There is of course no Mecca or apparently even any memory of it. The least changed faction has added a sixth prayer time but the really changed culture is that of the nation of Nasheen which is an Islamic ''matriarchy''.

* In the French comedy ''Dracula and Son'' (''Dracula père et fils''), a crossed hammer and sickle deter vampires just as well as a crucifix. But the former are easier to find in socialist Romania.

* The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has condemned reproductive cloning, but [[https://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/GeneticsSS.pdf?_ga=2.166164350.1914837545.1604376624-1581898697.1604376624 they have also stated]] that, should a human clone seek to be baptised, "this church will respect their God-given dignity and will welcome them to the baptismal font, like any other child of God."

In the simplest form of this trope, the setting makes religiously forbidden things harder to avoid, or mandatory things harder to do. Maybe it's impossible for Jewish vampires to keep kosher without starving.[[note]]This is probably true unless [[VegetarianVampire they can live on fish blood, which is permitted according to the Talmud]]. However, ''Pikuach nefesh'' refers to a concept in Jewish religious law where certain prohibited behaviors are permissible if they preserve a life. Ergo, a vampire would be allowed to consume non-kosher blood because it was required for their survival, so long as no one was murdered to get the blood... Although at least one rabbi, asked the question, replied that he didn't think pikuach nefesh would apply to the undead, [[ExactWords as it specifically refers to the preservation of life]].[[/note]] A group of Muslims on a GenerationShip is likely to have trouble making a pilgrimage to UsefulNotes/{{Mecca}}.[[note]]While Muslims are only required to make a pilgrimage to Mecca ''if they are capable of doing so'', don't expect this distinction to be brought up in fiction because that takes away the drama.[[/note]] (It's also possible in principle for a setting to make religion ''easier'',[[note]]For instance, a planet with an orbital period of 354.37 Earth days, were it to exist, would synchronize with the Islamic lunar calendar, potentially making fasting during Ramadan much easier — particularly if it falls in local winter in the planet's habitable regions. Another example is that many rabbis say that in vitro meat — even if it is derived from pig cells — is kosher.[[/note]] but that's less likely to happen as it fails to follow the RuleOfDrama, although it might be used for world-building or a one-off gag[[note]]Like having a Hindu Brahmin chowing down on a lab-grown hamburger or [[JewsLoveToArgue a Jewish family arguing]] whether it's OK to have a lab-grown ham for Shabbat dinner[[/note]].)

In the simplest form of this trope, the setting makes religiously forbidden things harder to avoid, or mandatory things harder to do. Maybe it's impossible for Jewish vampires to keep kosher without starving.[[note]]This is probably true unless [[VegetarianVampire they can live on fish blood, which is permitted according to the Talmud.]] However, ''Pikuach nefesh'' refers to a concept in Jewish religious law where certain prohibited behaviors are permissible if they preserve a life. Ergo, a vampire would be allowed to consume non-kosher blood because it was required for their survival, so long as no one was murdered to get the blood... Although at least one rabbi, asked the question, replied that he didn't think pikuach nefesh would apply to the undead, [[ExactWords as it specifically refers to the preservation of life]].[[/note]] A group of Muslims on a GenerationShip is likely to have trouble making a pilgrimage to UsefulNotes/{{Mecca}}.[[note]]While Muslims are only required to make a pilgrimage to Mecca ''if they are capable of doing so'', don't expect this distinction to be brought up in fiction because that takes away the drama.[[/note]] (It's also possible in principle for a setting to make religion ''easier'',[[note]]For instance, a planet with an orbital period of 354.37 Earth days, were it to exist, would synchronize with the Islamic lunar calendar, potentially making fasting during Ramadan much easier — particularly if it falls in local winter in the planet's habitable regions. Another example is that many rabbis say that in vitro meat — even if it is derived from pig cells — is kosher.[[/note]] but that's less likely to happen as it fails to follow the RuleOfDrama, although it might be used for world-building or a one-off gag [[note]]Like having a Hindu Brahmin chowing down on a lab-grown hamburger or [[JewsLoveToArgue a Jewish family arguing]] whether it's OK to have a lab-grown ham for Shabbat dinner[[/note]].)

The tenets of a real-world religion can interact... oddly with fantasy or futuristic settings.

* Related to the above, one STO Roleplayer plays a devout Muslim Captain. Being a former science officer, he created a holodeck program that calculates the location of Mecca with relation to the ship's present location. He also mentions that there are special service markers that discourage his deployment to missions where diplomacy with Klingon diplomacy is reasonably likely to occur as Targ, Ghak, and Bloodwine are all not halal. The character model also wears the standard Captain Uniform with the only deviation is that the pips are silver and not gold (gold is seen as being a feminine color in Arabic cultures, though his uniform is still red despite a similar problem, implying that the said Captain was more making a personal choice and wasn't going to press for an accommodation).

** Cerberus News had a [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Cerberus_Daily_News_-_March_2010#03.2F30.2F2010_-_Human_Holiday_of_Passover_Celebrated news report]] that Jews in the future are celebrating Passover, and there is some religious argument about whether aliens can be present at the meal. Most agree that yes, they can, and there's even a small business in supplying unleavened bread specifically made for [[MirrorChemistry turians and quarians]].

* The world of ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'' is full of odd creatures and {{transhuman}}s who practice religions, and religious scholars have apparently put in a lot of thought into how the religious rules apply to their unusual circumstances. The most prominent example is Nick, whose [[BrainInAJar brain was extracted from his body]] and [[SentientVehicle integrated into a helicopter]]. He still considers himself Jewish and has installed a mezuzah on his cabin doorway.

** Some versions of Saint Christopher's legend describe him as a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Christopher_icon.jpg dog-headed giant]]. However, there's a disagreement whether he comes from a tribe of cynocephals, or was transformed as an adult.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-3004 SCP-3004 ("Imago")]]. It's a completely insane cicada god worshipped by a now-extinct Irish druidic cult that has come to believe it is the Judeo-Christian God. It warps Christian ceremonies into a ReligionOfEvil involving BodyHorror, self-mutilation, and {{Animalistic Abomination}}s. It doesn't understand what its followers really want or believe or the harm it causes and worse, it is breaking through into our reality; the Foundation's contingency is to use amnesia agents and Thaumiel-level [=SCPs=] to erase Christianity from the historical record in an attempt to starve it. It's the HijackedByJesus trope {{Inverted|Trope}} and played for all the cosmic and religious horror it can be.

** Cerberus News had a [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Cerberus_Daily_News_-_March_2010#03.2F30.2F2010_-_Human_Holiday_of_Passover_Celebrated news report]] that Jews in the future are celebrating Passover, and there is some religious argument about whether aliens can be present at the meal. Most agree that yes, they can, and there's even a small business in supplying unleavened bread [[AlienLunch specifically made]] for [[MirrorChemistry turians and quarians]].

-->''"...after the blessing we talked for a while about how to work with some of the laws that are hard to keep if you're not human. Like I can't totally shut off my power on Shabbas y'know? He says my case ain't too bad, he knows this oyster kibbutz up the coast and them bastards got problems."''
->-- The CharacterBlog of '''[[http://zerhakker.livejournal.com Nick Zerhakker]]''', sapient Jewish helicopter from ''Webcomic/SkinHorse''

* ''Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo'': Pope Urban VIII has to decide whether [[TemporalParadox papal infallibility still applies when the pope in question will now never be born]].

* In ''Literature/Metro2033'', the question of "what does Jehovah say on the issue of [[NuclearNasty headless mutants]]" is used as an ArmorPiercingQuestion against an obnoxious Jehovah's Witness.

-> ''"...after the blessing we talked for a while about how to work with some of the laws that are hard to keep if you're not human. Like I can't totally shut off my power on Shabbas y'know? He says my case ain't too bad, he knows this oyster kibbutz up the coast and them bastards got problems."''
-->-- The CharacterBlog of '''[[http://zerhakker.livejournal.com Nick Zerhakker]]''', sapient Jewish helicopter from ''Webcomic/SkinHorse''

In the simplest form of this trope, the setting makes religiously forbidden things harder to avoid, or mandatory things harder to do. Maybe it's impossible for Jewish vampires to keep kosher without starving.[[note]]This is probably true unless [[VegetarianVampire they can live on fish blood, which is permitted according to the Talmud.]] However, ''Pikuach nefesh'' refers to a concept in Jewish religious law where certain prohibited behaviors are permissible if they preserve a life. Ergo, a vampire would be allowed to consume non-kosher blood because it was required for their survival, so long as no one was murdered to get the blood... Although at least one rabbi, asked the question, replied that he didn't think pikuach nefesh would apply to the undead, [[ExactWords as it specifically refers to the preservation of life]].[[/note]] A group of Muslims on a GenerationShip is likely to have trouble making a pilgrimage to UsefulNotes/{{Mecca}}.[[note]]While Muslims are only required to make a pilgrimage to Mecca ''if they are capable of doing so'', don't expect this distinction to be brought up in fiction because that takes away the drama.[[/note]] (It's also possible in principle for a setting to make religion ''easier'',[[note]]For instance, a planet with an orbital period of 354.37 Earth days, were it to exist, would synchronize with the Islamic lunar calendar, potentially making fasting during Ramadan much easier — particularly if it falls in local winter in the planet's habitable regions. Another example is that many rabbis say that in vitro meat — even if it is derived from pig cells — is kosher.[[/note]] but that's less likely to happen as it fails to follow the RuleOfDrama, although it might be used for world-building or a one off-gag[[note]]Like having a Hindu Brahmin chowing down on a lab-grown hamburger or [[JewsLoveToArgue a Jewish family arguing]] whether it's OK to have a lab-grown ham for Shabbat dinner[[/note]].)

* In the ''Fanfic/EmpathTheLuckiestSmurf'' series, Tapper is a Christian Smurf who believes that Jesus' death on the cross was not just for God redeeming humans from the power of sin, but also for God redeeming ''all of His creation'', including Smurfs. In "Flowerbell's Love Triangle", he is seen praying for Papa Smurf's soul in regards to the corrupting influence of magic, as Papa Smurf is the village's resident sorcerer. Although in "Smurphony Of The Night", Empath's use of a Smurf head symbol for a religious symbol helps him fend off a Smurf vampire who wants to make Smurfette his vampiress bride.

* In the French comedy ''Dracula and Son'' (''Dracula père et fils''), a crossed hammer and sickle deters vampires just as well as a crucifix. But the former are easier to find in socialist Romania.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Various supernatural characters refer to the Abrahamic God as "the White God", and the series derives some amusing moments from the backgrounds of the Knights of the Cross, a trio of {{Paladin}}s in all but name who wield swords forged with nails from the Crucifixion laid into the hilt. Michael Carpenter is Catholic, but Sanya is agnostic and [[spoiler:Waldo Butters]] is ''Jewish''. (This is largely explained by the Knights being more a matter of good intent than of a specific faith.) See also comments from a local Catholic priest about Harry, whose faith is in magic itself rather than any deity, needing holy water by the gallon for some incidents.

* Almost the entire ''Literature/KittyNorville'' series is about the mundane consequences of vampirism and lycanthropy, so this naturally comes up at least a bit. One particularly memorable scene in ''Kitty and the Midnight Hour'' has a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] calling into a talk show for religious advice; apparently devout Catholicism and bursting into flame upon entering holy ground make a bad combination. Kitty's advice to him is to read ''Literature/ParadiseLost'': she argues that Satan's real sin in that book wasn't the rebellion itself, but afterward, when he came to believe that his rebellion put him beyond forgiveness forever. Likewise, supposedly, being a vampire might make existence especially inconvenient for a Catholic, but it doesn't have to mean damnation unless he gives up. Heartwarming.

* In Creator/JohnRingo's ''Literature/LegacyOfTheAldenata'', the wiping out of 5/6 of humanity leads the Roman Catholic Church not only to allow priests and nuns to marry but to allow polygamy. One of the later books, ''The Tuloriad'', expands upon this when the Pope decides to send a diplomatic mission to a (supposedly) friendly Posleen separatist group led by former BigBad Tulo'stenaloor, and on the way the various religious leaders debate how best to offer their faiths to a HordeOfAlienLocusts that Earth is justifiably peeved at (the Jews refuse to send a delegation at all, fearing that if word gets out of a Jewish Posleen [[TheScapegoat Jews would get blamed for the whole invasion]] by antisemitic groups).

** G'Quan's Narn followers are meant to perform a certain ritual at the time the sun dawns over a sacred mountain on their homeworld. When G'Kar is unable to hold the ritual then due to lack of supplies, he is able to save face by holding the ritual at the time the light from that dawn nearly 10 years ago reaches Babylon 5 at the speed of light.

* The world of ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'' is full of odd creatures and {{transhuman}}s who practice religions, and religious scholars have apparently put in a lot of thought in how the religious rules apply to their unusual circumstances. The most prominent example is Nick, whose [[BrainInAJar brain was extracted from his body]] and [[SentientVehicle integrated into a helicopter]]. He still considers himself Jewish and has installed a mezuzah on his cabin doorway.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Dr. Zoidberg, who himself carries many stereotypical Jewish mannerisms, is in one episode refused entrance to a "Bot-Mitzvah", run by Jewish ''[[ReligiousRobot robots]]'', due to being shellfish and thus not kosher. WordOfGod says that his entire race converted to something akin to 20th century East Coast America middle-class moderate/reform Judaism because it suited them... [[RuleOfFunny and because it's funny.]]

* Literature/TheTalmud makes mention of people who would create an ''animal'' {{Golem}} and eat it, presumably without the need for ritual slaughter. One hopes that unlike the more famous one, this one wasn't made of clay.

* In the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]] are vulnerable to the symbols of all faiths -- so long as the bearer of the symbol's faith is strong. {{Dracula}} himself was once burned by a faithful Jew's ''Magen David'' medallion.[[note]]It was [[ComicBook/KittyPryde Kitty Pryde]]'s. Kitty first tried to subdue him with a cross, but it didn't work for her. Wolverine, (apparently an atheist at the time, or at the very least not a believing Christian) also tried to make a cross with his claws as was similarly laughed off by Dracula. It only worked for Nightcrawler, since he is a practicing Christian.[[/note]] Another time, a vampire {{mook|s}} was instakilled by ComicBook/TheMightyThor's hammer. (He's a ''god'', remember?)
* In one issue of ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'', Thor saves the life of a Christian priest and assures him that although he (Thor) is real, so is a god superior to Thor whom the Thunder God explicitly identifies as the Christian God. (It's never made clear which sect the priest is, nor is the question of Jesus addressed.)

--> Captain America: Met [[{{ComicBook/Thor}} two]] [[{{ComicBook/Loki}} gods]], still a Christian\\

** Several religions are [[AllHailTheGreatGodMickey based on misremembered bits of pre-Deluge pop culture]] — Disney is viewed as its own pantheon; Gallifreyenism is primarily based on ''Series/DoctorWho'' with other characters [[TheNthDoctor portrayed by numerous actors]] (including Franchise/JamesBond and Franchise/SpiderMan) being in the pantheon; Etherianism is based on ''Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse'' (primarily ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'') with some Disney thrown in; Dreemuritism is based on ''VideoGame/UnderTale'', etc. Oh, and cosplaying is considered a sacred practice of personifying the gods by most of these.

* ''Juda'' is an Israeli TV series about a Jewish gangster who gets turned into a vampire. Since the consumption of blood is forbidden under kosher dietary laws, this puts him in a bind of how to feed; eventually, a rabbi declares he's permitted to drink blood [[VegetarianVampire so long as he sticks to that of kosher animals]]. The fact that he's Jewish also means he can't enter any room with a mezuzah on the doorpost.

* A mild version occurs early in ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}.'' Piper isn't very religious, but she wonders if the revelation that she's [[WitchSpecies a witch]] means that she's evil in some way. She spends a whole episode psyching herself up to walk into a church and is relieved when she doesn't suddenly burst into flames or something.

* In ''Fanfic/{{Daemorphing}}'', Loren wonders if Jesus died for the sins of all sapient beings, not just humans. There are also several religious rituals related to daemons; Christians believe that they're closer to God, while Jews self-mutilate theirs at funerals.

** Creator/StanislawLem, who predates the above writers by a generation, has also dabbled in the genre. A non-comedic example would be a story of {{religious robot}}s who have decided that the only way to avoid putting their faith to scrutiny, which it will by rational reasoning inevitably fail, is to keep it as a personal belief that is not spread to others. They form a small monastic community.

* In ''Fanfic/{{Daemorphing}}'', Loren wonders if Jesus died for the sins of all sapient beings, not just humans. There are also several religious rituals related to daemons; Christians believe that daemons are closer to God, while Jews self-mutilate theirs at funerals.