History Main / ReligionIsRight

* ''Film/{{Avatar}}'': The Na'vi worship some nebulous MotherNature-type goddess, and the humans scoff at this -- until the scientists figure out that Pandoran life (especially trees) is actually connected into a HiveMind, and the Na'vi goddess is quite real. They even explicitly say that they've basically found scientific proof that the goddess really exists. Of course, the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive the corrupt corporation]] couldn't care less, they just want the {{Unobtainium}}.

* ''Film/{{Avatar}}'': The Na'vi worship some nebulous MotherNature-type goddess, and the humans scoff at this -- until the scientists figure out that Pandoran life (especially trees) is actually connected into a HiveMind, and the Na'vi goddess is quite real. They even explicitly say that they've basically found scientific proof that the goddess really exists. Of course, the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive the corrupt corporation]] couldn't care less, they just want the {{Unobtainium}}

* ''Film/TheRapture'': At first it seems like Sharon's beliefs are not only wrong, but delusional and destructive. By the end of the film, the rapture really does happen.

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/ChickTracts'': Constantly used. "[[http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0055/0055_01.asp Big Daddy]]" is one of the most well-known, as well as among the most frequently [[RemixComic remixed]].

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/ChickTracts'': Constantly used. "[[http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0055/0055_01.asp Big Daddy]]" is one of the most well-known, as well as among the most frequently [[RemixComic remixed]].
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Parodied in "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E20Godfellas Godfellas]]". Bender meets God ([[CrystalDragonJesus or a satellite that crashed into God]]), who is indeed benevolent in mysterious ways, and who tells him that "if you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."

* Religion that deals with TheForce in ''Franchise/StarWars'' is most certainly this: it does involve faith because, for example, Han Solo didn't believe in the Force, but it is proven true. There are different philosophies, but the only ones that aren't compatible are the ones that emphasize Light or Dark.

%%%%%* Creator/RayBradbury's ''Human'' short story.
* Constantly used in ''ComicBook/ChickTracts''. "[[http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0055/0055_01.asp Big Daddy]]" is one of the most well-known, as well as among the most frequently [[RemixComic remixed]].

** The version in [[Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy the BBC series]] is that God refused to prove he existed "because proof denies faith and without faith I am nothing". The existence of the Babelfish, which instantly translates any kind of language for it's user and whose evolution was frankly impossible, proved he existed; therefore, by his own argument, he doesn't. Following which, "Man" proves that black is white, and is run over at the next zebra crossing. Furthermore, "Most theologians consider this argument a load of dingoes' kidneys."
* In Carl Sagan's novel ''Contact'', [[spoiler:an image of God's signature is said to be contained in the digits of pi]]. It's one of the rare examples of an adamant agnostic playing this trope straight.
* Creator/CSLewis's work, especially (in the scientific proof bit) the Space Trilogy. Rather, we can prove scientifically that ''angels'' (fallen and not) exist, and are suspiciously like the usual mythic pantheon personality-wise. We still only have their word on the matter that God exists.
* Philip K. Dick's ''A Maze of Death'' describes a world where God and a Jesus-like manifestation of him are obviously real, and prayers are a commonplace way of solving problems, though they have to be transmitted by radio onto "god planets". There's a FlatEarthAtheist who believes this "God" is just a SufficientlyAdvancedAlien.
** His ''Eye in the Sky'' contains, among others, a world where God is blatantly real (and quite ornery) and gives regular TV transmissions; meanwhile, bars are stocked with vending machines that materialize items from nothing for free, and medieval alchemy and superstitions work perfectly. (It's actually a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind of a fundamentalist old man).
* In Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/JobAComedyOfJustice'' there really is a Heaven, and God, and all that stuff. It's not the same as it is described in Literature/TheBible but it's there.
* This is the {{Aesop}} of the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' series. [[{{Anvilicious}} If you do not accept Christ as your Lord and Savior]], you will be left behind to suffer the Tribulation on Earth, followed by an eternity of damnation if you die during the Tribulation without accepting Christ then.
** In ''Kingdom Come'', it's accept Jesus Christ and you'll get to live past 100 years of age and straight to the end of the Millennium; deny Him [[DeathsHourglass when you reach 100, and you'll die and go to Hell]]. [[LaResistance The Other Light faction]] feels GodIsEvil because of this and has prepared for that contingency by passing its teachings on to the next generation of its converts so that the generation that gets to [[FinalBattle confront God and Jesus at the end of the Millennium]] will be "assured victory" when [[SealedEvilInACan Satan is released]]. [[CurbStompBattle Unfortunately for them,]] [[YouCantFightFate it didn't turn out as they hoped.]]
* As with the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' series, Evangelical Christianity is the only way to avoid an eternity in Hell in another Tim [=LaHaye=] series, ''Literature/BabylonRising''.
* Hilariously PlayedWith in the ''Literature/DresdenFiles'':
** First of all, magic has a large element of ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve, so this trope is ''tautologically true''. But it gets ''good'' with how various characters run with it:
** Harry Dresden himself knows of many deities, pagan gods and the Abrahamic Deity alike -- he's fought some, worked for some, even killed a couple of their peers. He's fought fallen angels, and [[spoiler:Uriel has become one of his patrons]]. Despite this, he isn't himself religious, in a NayTheist sort of way -- he's aware that God exists, but doesn't see the religious life as cut out for him, largely because he doesn't believe himself moral enough for it.
** Michael himself is a Knight of the Cross, and his schtick is the literal power of ''Faith'', so he plays this trope quite straight; his way of operating outright relies on counting on {{Contrived Coincidence}}s to get where he needs to be, which he acknowledges [[InMysteriousWays as being God sending him where he's needed]], and can count on angelic help if worst comes to worst.
** Sanya, an agnostic (he refers to himself as a fallen atheist) who is also a Knight of the Cross, refuses to acknowledge religion as being correct despite having an angel as a boss. (Part of his argument, in a discussion with Harry, is along the lines of 'It could be also explained by aliens, I could be hallucinating parts of this, and whatever I think I could be wrong anyway.' Harry ends up calling him the "Knight of Maybe.")
* In Literature/{{Discworld}}, [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve gods and anthropomorphic personifications exist explicitly because people believe in them]], and often interact openly and directly with humanity. As well, anybody who claims to be an atheist often ends up promptly struck down by lightning from a clear sky, providing a statistical proof if nothing else (though Dorfl, an atheist free-willed golem who is immune to lightning strikes, does not consider it much of an argument).
* R Scott Bakker's ''Literature/SecondApocalypse'': the central conflict is based on the fact that the villains (star-trotting sex-monsters) have discovered that the damnation of their souls is a literal and objective fact. Their goal is exercising a loophole to escape this fate; unfortunately, this involves an (almost) FinalSolution for humanity.
* Though an atheist himself who has shown atheism and religious skepticism positively, Creator/RobertJSawyer also portrays religion as being true in some of his books. In ''The Terminal Experiment'', scientific proof of the soul is found, uniting with God at death. ''Calculating God'' shows the universe was created, but not much about the creator(s).

* One Creator/RowanAtkinson sketch has him as a devil sorting out new arrivals to Hell, such as pillagers, looters and thieves ([[EvilLawyerJoke and lawyers]]), the French, the Germans, the atheists ("you must be feeling a right bunch of nitwits"), and Christians (the Jews got it right, [[ArtisticLicenseReligion even though hell is not a part of traditional Judaism]]).

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':
** The Tau of are a relatively young race and are near-impervious to Warp influence, meaning they consider the whole sacrificing-people-to-[[ReligionOfEvil Chaos]] as frankly insane and pointless. That is, until they see a Greater Daemon explode onto the battlefield.

* Present in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', and in order to explain why people still commit evil acts despite it being verifiable fact that evildoers spend their afterlives as pathetic larval spirits, the lore says every wannabe dark lord looks at Hell [[OriginalPositionFallacy and imagines they'll be running the place if ever they're defeated.]]

* The Seyfert religion in ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia'' is based around faith ''and'' science, but there's still no actual ''evidence'' for Seyfert's existence. Turns out that he is very real and [[GodIsGood a really cool guy]] to boot. Heck, he even congratulates you for saving the world in the ending.

** Drives the BigBad's plan: [[spoiler:The afterlife is truly better in every way than life, so killing off the world's population will work out better for everyone.]]
* Unitology in ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' offers, among other vague promises, to "transform the flesh" of its members after death as part of a higher purpose. This is in fact completely accurate, just horrifying in context. It helps that Unitology was founded after the discovery of a real alien artifact, so much of its tenets are based on accounts of the effects of the original.
* In the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' series, especially the more recent games, this is often how the extremely powerful Legendary Pokemon are treated. They are described as having powers equivalent to gods (or in the case of Arceus, flat-out ''being'' gods), and they are always shown as literally existing and possessing those powers.

* ''Webcomic/{{Jack|DavidHopkins}}'': Anna, after seeing a literal angel:
-->- Well, I guess that's it for my [[RougeAnglesOfSatin athiest]] status.
* Subverted in ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}''. While God, [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels]], and [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]] exist, no religion on Earth has it right. Since [[HaveYouSeenMyGod God's on vacation]], UsefulNotes/{{Deism}} is the closest real world religious view that's correct. Lampshaded by Ash in the FourthWallMailSlot:

* Hilariously parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Godfellas." Bender meets God ([[CrystalDragonJesus or a satellite that crashed into God]]), who is indeed benevolent in mysterious ways, and who tells him, "If you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' reveals that only the Mormons got it right, and thus only they go to Heaven, while everyone else goes to Hell regardless of their actions (hence Hitler and Gandhi both being there). Though the episode specifically about Mormonism heavily implies that Joseph Smith made the origin for his holy texts up, making him WrongForTheRightReasons.

* On ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine,'' the Bajoran religion is based on the godlike "Prophets" who reside in the "Celestial Temple." At the beginning of the series a wormhole is opened very close to the planet, and {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s living within it admit that they are, in fact, the Prophets and have a continued interest in Bajor's future. The Federation [[MagicByAnyOtherName prefers to call these beings "Wormhole Aliens]]," but as you can imagine, the Bajoran religious movement gets a nice boost after the Cardassian Occupation had caused many to doubt the Prophets' existence.

* Religion that deals with TheForce in ''Film/StarWars'' is most certainly this: it does involve faith because, for example, Han Solo didn't believe in the Force, but it is proven true. There are different philosophies, but the only ones that aren't compatible are the ones that emphasize Light or Dark.

* Unitology in ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' offers, among other vague promises, to "transform the flesh" of its members after death as part of a higher purpose. This is in fact completely accurate, just horrifying in context. It helps that Unitology was founded after the discovery of a real alien artifact, so much of its tenants are based on accounts of the effects of the original.

->''“Science, traditional enemy of mysticism and religion, has taken on a growing understanding that the model of the universe suggested by quantum physics differs very little from the universe that Taoists and other mystics have existed in for centuries.”''

** Sanya, an agnostic (he refers to himself as a fallen atheist) who is also a Knight of the Cross, refuses to acknowledge religion as being correct despite having an angel as a boss.

* In ''Manga/FrankenFran'', the WanderingJew is real, and he confirms everything we know from Literature/TheBible about Jesus. Two chapters later the UsefulNotes/FlyingSpaghettiMonster [[CrossoverCosmology becomes real]]. [[CaptainObvious Franken Fran is weird]].

* Played straight in ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia''. The Seyfert religion is based around faith ''and'' science, but there's still no actual ''evidence'' for Seyfert's existence. Turns out that he is very real and [[GodIsGood a really cool guy]] to boot. Heck, he even congratulates you for saving the world in the ending.

* One Creator/RowanAtkinson sketch has him as a devil sorting out new arrivals to Hell, such as pillagers, looters and thieves ([[EvilLawyerJoke and lawyers]]), the French, the Germans, the atheists ("you must be feeling a right bunch of nitwits"), and Christians (the Jews got it right, despite him citing the Bible as a source of info on Hell, though most Jews don't believe in this, and it's never mentioned in the Torah).

[[folder:Meta]]
* This trope works in almost every single CosmicHorrorStory: if there is an evil cult worshipping an entity, the entity exists.
[[/folder]]

* Subverted in ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}''. While God, [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels]], and [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]] exist, no religion on Earth has it right. Since [[HaveYouSeenMyGod God's on vacation]], UsefulNotes/{{Deism}} is the closest real world religious view that's correct.
** Lampshaded by Ash in the FourthWallMailSlot:
-->'''Letter''': What are your religious beliefs, if any?
-->'''Ash''': I used to be an atheist, but, well...

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' reveals that only the Mormons got it right, and thus only they go to Heaven, while everyone else goes to Hell regardless of their actions (hence Hitler and Gandhi both being there).
** Though the episode specifically about Mormonism heavily implies that Joseph Smith made the whole thing up, so it’s an in-universe example of AccidentallyCorrectWriting.

* Religion that deals with TheForce in ''Film/StarWars'' is most certainly this: it does involve faith because, for example, Han Solo didn't believe in Force, but it is proven true. There are different philosophies, but the only ones that aren't compatible are the ones that emphasize Light or Dark.

** There was also a famous philosopher in universe who managed to prove the existence of God. However, proving God existed logically proved him wrong, and he promptly ceased to exist. In ''Literature/SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish'' he did leave one final message behind for his creation though: [[spoiler: WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE]].
** The version in [[Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy the BBC series]] is that God refused to prove he existed "because proof denies faith and without faith I am nothing". The existence of the Babelfish, which instantly translates any kind of language for it's user and who's evolution was frankly impossible, proved he existed; therefore, by his own argument, he doesn't. Following which, "Man" proves that black is white, and is run over at the next zebra crossing. Furthermore, "Most theologians consider this argument a load of dingoes' kidneys."

** In ''Kingdom Come'', it's accept Jesus Christ and you'll get to live past 100 years of age and straight to the end of the Millennium; deny Him [[DeathsHourglass when you reach 100, and you'll die and go to Hell]]. [[LaResistance The Other Light faction]] sees GodIsEvil because of this and has prepared for that contingency by passing its teachings on to the next generation of its converts so that the generation that gets to [[FinalBattle confront God and Jesus at the end of the Millennium]] will be "assured victory" when [[SealedEvilInACan Satan is released]]. [[CurbStompBattle Unfortunately for them,]] [[YouCantFightFate it didn't turn out as they hoped.]]

-->-- '''Professor Milton Glass''', ''Dr. Manhattan: Super-powers and the Superpowers'', a [[ShowWithinAShow book-within-a-book]] in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''

-->-- '''Professor Milton Glass''', ''Dr. Manhattan: Super-powers and the Superpowers'', ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''

* Played straight in ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia''. The Seyfert religion is based around faith ''and'' science, but there's still no actual ''evidence'' for Seyfert's existence. Turns out that he is very real and [[GodIsGood a really cool guy]] to boot. Heck, he even [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming congratulates you for saving the world in the ending]].

* ''Film/{{Avatar}}'': The Na'vi worship some nebulous MotherNature-type goddess, and the humans scoff at this -- until the scientists figure out that Pandoran life (especially trees) is actually connected into a HiveMind, and the Na'vi goddess is quite real. They even explicitly say that they've basically found scientific proof that the goddess really exists.
** Of course, the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive the corrupt corporation]] couldn't care less, they just want the {{Unobtainium}}
* Religion that deals with TheForce in ''Film/StarWars'' is most certainly this: it does involve faith because, for example, Han Solo didn't believe in Force, but it is proven true.
** There are different philosophies, but the only ones that aren't compatible are the ones that emphasize Light or Dark.

* Creator/RayBradbury's ''Human'' short story.

** The version in [[Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy the BBC series]] is that God refused to prove he existed "because proof denies faith and without faith I am nothing". The existence of the Babelfish, which instantly translates any kind of language for it's user and who's evolution was frankly impossible, proved he existed; therefore, by his own argument, he doesn't.
*** Following which, "Man" proves that black is white, and is run over at the next zebra crossing.
*** "Most theologians consider this argument a load of dingoes' kidneys."
* In Carl Sagan's novel ''Contact'', [[spoiler:an image of God's signature is said to be contained in the digits of pi]].
** One of the rare examples of an adamant agnostic playing this trope straight.
* Creator/CSLewis's work, especially (in the scientific proof bit) the Space Trilogy.
** Or, rather, we can prove scientifically that ''angels'' (fallen and not) exist, and are suspiciously like the usual mythic pantheon personality-wise. We still only have their word on the matter that God exists, though.

* Arguably the {{Aesop}} of the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' series. [[{{Anvilicious}} If you do not accept Christ as your Lord and Savior]], you will be left behind to suffer the Tribulation on Earth, followed by an eternity of damnation if you die during the Tribulation without accepting Christ then.

** Michael himself is a Knight of the Cross, and his schtick is the literal power of ''Faith'', so he plays this trope quite straight; his way of operating outright relies on counting on {{Contrived Coincidence}}s to get where he needs to be, which he acknowledges as being God sending him where he's needed, and can count on angelic help if worst comes to worst.

* R Scott Bakker's ''Literature/SecondApocalypse'': the central conflict is based on the fact that the villains (star-trotting sex-monsters) have discovered that the damnation of their souls is a literal and objective fact. Their goal is exercising a loophole to escape this fate; unfortunately, this involves an (almost) FinalSolution for the humanity.

* R Scott Bakker's ''Literature/SecondApocalypse'': the central conflict is based on the fact that the villains (star-trotting sex-monsters), have discovered that the damnation of their souls is a literal and objective fact. They're goal is exercising a loophole to escape this fate. Unfortunately, this involves almost completely wiping out humanity.