History Main / ReligiousStereotype

The most obvious and prominent example is the CorruptChurch, which involves portraying all clergymen, especially Christian ones, as sanctimonious fanatics and/or hypocrites. When ReligiousStereotype is in full effect in a work of fiction, expect all Protestants to be [[WesternTerrorists fundamentalists]]- don't bring that civil rights movement crap here! All Catholic priests will all have hidden sexual doings, which will make one wonder how the Church functions if all its priests are, safe to say, ''[[IfYouKnowWhatIMean busy]]''. Pedophilia, in particular, is a popular activity among Catholic priests in fiction.

* The characters of Ruth and her father in {{Paul}}.

And it doesn't get any better when you leave Christianity, oh no! Jews will probably be... well, many times Jews will be found [[InformedJudaism where you least expect it in your characters,]] but to be a real stereotype, expect them to lament their lots in life (and do well in Broadway musicals). If they are Muslims expect them to be, ''at best'', super conservative and arrogant towards women, while at worst all Muslims know Osama bin Laden's phone number and hang out with him on [[VillainsOutShopping Fridays]]. [[SocietyMarchesOn (Prior to May 2011, that is.)]]

And it doesn't get any better when you leave Christianity, oh no! Jews will probably be... well, many times Jews will be found [[InformedJudaism where you least expect it in your characters,]] but to be a real stereotype, expect them to lament their lots in life (and do well in Broadway musicals). If they are Muslims expect them to be, ''at best'', super conservative and arrogant towards women, while at worst all Muslims know Osama bin Laden's phone number and hang out with him on [[VillainsOutShopping Fridays]].

Still, note that all stereotypes [[TropesAreNotBad are not bad]]. Just as common a stereotype is that of the Buddhist monk who literally knows everything worth knowing and helps the Hero, while another common one is the Hindu guru who is "in tune" with the universe".

Still, note that all stereotypes are not bad. Just as common a stereotype is that of the Buddhist monk who literally knows everything worth knowing and helps the Hero, while another common one is the Hindu guru who is "in tune" with the universe".

* The president in EscapeFromLA.

* The characters of Ruth and her father in {{Paul}}. Becomes a BrokenAesop when [[spoiler:Paul convinces her of the worthlessness of Christianity in favor of science by using SPACE MAGIC to cure her blind eye]].

* {{Stephen King}} has indulged in this in just about every novel he's ever written; you can pretty much always expect at least one nasty (at best) or psychotic (at worst) fundamentalist Protestant character, who often doubles as the "overbearing parent," without any more positive examples to provide a contrast. To be fair, though, he averts this quite heavily in ''Desperation'' and his most popular work, ''The Stand''. ''Cell'' as well. It does have that crazy bible lady at one point, but Alice averts this. King himself has said he believes in God.

* The characters of Ruth and her father in {{Paul}}. Becomes a BrokenAesop when [[spolier: Paul convinces her of the worthlessness of Christianity in favor of science by using SPACE MAGIC to cure her blind eye]].

Well, your fictional character says to himself, [[FaithHeelTurn to hell with this]], I'll just be an atheist!... [[SubvertedTrope Nope]], buddy, you're still stuck. Atheists are evil in most portrayals of fiction, [[HollywoodAtheist always have a sad backstory for being an atheist]], and are usually a NietzscheWannabe. That's assuming they don't just become a CompleteMonster.

* The characters of Ruth and her father in {{Paul}}.

* The characters of Ruth and her father in "Paul".

The most obvious and prominent example is the CorruptChurch, which involves portraying all clergymen, especially Christian ones, as sanctimonious fanatics and/or hypocrites. When ReligiousStereotype is in full effect in a work of fiction, expect all Protestants to be [[WesternTerrorists fundamentalists]]- don't bring that civil rights movement crap here! All Catholic priests will all have hidden sexual doings, which will make one wonder how the Church functions if all its priests are, safe to say, ''[[IfYouKnowWhatIMean busy]]''. Pedophilia, in particular, is a popular activity among Catholic priests in fiction. (And in RealLife on more than a few occasions.)

* A particularly hated storyline in ''{{Comicbook/X-Men}}'' had an anti-mutant group planning to have Nightcrawler elected as Pope (!) and then cause a false Rapture to ruin both The Church and mutantkind. A horrible case of WallBanger and DidNotDoTheResearch.

** StephenKing is fond of this trope and it shows in his movies. If he writes a religious person into one of his stories, they will act exactly like Margret White. Mrs. Carmudy from TheMist is also a good example.

* On ''{{True Blood}}'' the Church of the Son seems to be a compilation of every possible negative stereotype the authors could find for southerners, religion, or southern churches.

The most obvious and prominent example is the CorruptChurch, which involves portraying all clergymen, especially Christian ones, as sanctimonious fanatics and/or hypocrites. When ReligiousStereotype is in full effect in a work of fiction, expect all Protestants to be [[WesternTerrorists fundamentalists]]- don't bring that civil rights movement crap here! All Catholic priests wlll all have hidden sexual doings, which will make one wonder how the Church functions if all its priests are, safe to say, ''[[IfYouKnowWhatIMean busy]]''. Pedophilia, in particular, is a popular activity among Catholic priests in fiction. (And in RealLife on more than a few occasions.)

The most obvious and prominent example is the CorruptChurch, which involves portraying all clergymen, especially Christian ones, as sanctimonious fanatics and/or hypocrites. When ReligiousStereotype is in full effect in a work of fiction, expect all Protestants to be [[WesternTerrorists fundamentalists]]- don't bring that civil rights movement crap here! All Catholic priests wlll all have hidden sexual doings, which will make one wonder how the Church functions if all its priests are, safe to say, ''[[IfYouKnowWhatIMean busy]]''. Pedophilia, in particular, is a popular activity among Catholic priests in fiction.

** Similarly, an earlier X-Men graphic novel ("God Loves, Man Kills") also had a fundamentalist persecute mutants. Ironic in that the villain of the story was later used in the first X-Men movie but as a military leader.

Ok, it's ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. A stereotype, but... well, [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready religious]].

* Averted in ''Everyday Heroes'' with Carrie Pelosi who, although quite devout, is the type of Christian who believes in example morethan preaching.

* {{Stephen King}} has indulged in this in just about every novel he's ever written; you can pretty much always expect at least one nasty (at best) or psychotic (at worst) fundamentalist Protestant character, who often doubles as the "overbearing parent," without any more positive examples to provide a contrast. To be fair, though, he averts this quite heavily in ''Desperation'' and his most popular work, ''The Stand''.
** Cell as well. It does have that crazy bible lady at one point, but Alice averts this.

* ''DeadSpace'' has one of the most [[UnfortunateImplications unfortunate stereotypes]] in recent gaming. The atheists are the only smart people... and all the religious folk were worshiping Cthulhu. Thanks, Isaac!
** Justified, considering [[ChurchOfHappyology how said religion is]]. In fact, according to a log you only get after beating the game, [[spoiler:said religion managed to get enough influence to get all dissenting books (including presumably other religious texts) banned, leaving them pretty much the only major religion remaining.]]

[[folder:TroperTales]]
* Subverted in This Troper's short story. It features the captain of humanity first FTL ship that runs into a race of HollywoodAtheists and race of ScaryDogmaticAliens who forced the captain into choosing a side. The entire time she's praying on a rosary and asking God to give her strength to not just kill them all right where they stand. She chooses to channel Mal and says "Get off my ship" and throws them out the airlock. (With their Eva suits on, near their ships so she didn't kill them.)
[[/folder]]

This trope almost always results in UnfortunateImplications of the religious variety (''especially'' if the author uses these stereotypes to boost up their own [[AuthorFilibuster favorite side]], to the point that its inclusion in a work of fiction should probably set you on high alert. Buyer Beware!