Themes to Watch Out For: The Anti-Religious and Anti-Military

Something to really watch out for is taking on an anti-religious/anti-military theme. This isn't because of some need to avoid controversy or to avoid fanatics of either flavor. It's because you can't always pull this one off.

The inherent attraction with both themes are that they are large organizations with an inherent organization, and with a history of doing bad things. This is definitely antithetical to the artist, who must rebel against authority and seek to do good. As artists are intuitively enemies of organization, such large organizations pose an obvious target. It's easy to see the inherent evil in them, especially in terms of the blood shed in their defense and the money they control, as well as the corruption that lies within their halls.

However, it must be realized that they are organizations, not individuals. Both organizations have done a lot of good, especially for the arts. The various armed forces have defended the same freedoms that they stand accused of destroying. They have helped those in emergencies, given people a way to change their lives, and given confidence to those who didn't have it. Religion has acted as succor for those in need while providing inspiration for the best humanity has to offer.

Unfortunately, too many people see the violence and that the military needs to have a different set of rules just to function. They also see a lot of crimes happen due to the military or religious mindset, especially when fanatics from either are allowed to rein unfettered. They have inspired a lot of conspiracy theories, some based on actual facts. They both have hidden a lot of dark secrets in their darkness.

That is, both are large enough that they can represent any number of good and evil traits, creating an interesting tapestry to draw whatever threads are needed for whatever story needs to be told.

Artists have always likened the military to ants; following orders no matter what, even if it means their doom. How can humans follow orders that could mean their deaths? It's difficult to understand, but that loyalty, with the understanding that your life may be save hundreds of others, makes the action make sense. If you could save thousands of people, would you? Are you willing to draw a line in the sand and then back it up? If someone was going to do their level best to destroy your country, including destroying all that you hold dear, would you fight for it or run? Either choice is legitimate; running and setting up elsewhere is an acceptable decision.

The various organized religions may have committed crimes throughout the ages, but they have also done a lot of good. The same church that burned witches also found a way for girls made pregnant to escape their families. They also offered what succor they could during disease, famine, and war. In times of war, they were the ones to barter for peace; boxing was the creation of a priest wanting to find a way to stop nobles from fighting to the death. Religious men have led the fight for civil rights, or was it forgotten that Ghandi and MLK, Jr., were a priest and a reverend, respectively?

The problem is that those hard choices present an option for the person(s) to choose the less socially desirable choice. That is, they may choose that their personal desires take precedent over their moral training and so they fall, and fall hard. Instead of operating on the side of angels, they go straight onto the side of devils and commit atrocities, be it robbing the church coffers, war crimes, or even worse crimes against humanity. Worse, it's possible to make the worst decisions for the best reasons; just ask the Tuskegee airmen.

All of this must be considered when you are about to do yet another "it sucks to be in the military" and "the church should go away" story…Do the benefits of the organization outweigh the issues, or do the issues outweigh the benefits? Are you creating a story worthy of risking being called a "cliché" or "derivative"? If it's just another "they done wrong" story, you may be better off doing something else, but if you think it's better than that, go for it!