How Do I Write Characters with a Different Belief System? (Writing Atheistic Characters)

"Let the Vorin believe as they wish—the wise among them will find goodness and solace in their faith; the fools would be fools no matter what they believed." -Jasnah Kholin

And he kept signing the whole time. Multi-tasking guru!

Empathy. It’s all about empathy. It seems like many people see our species’ greatest strength as a weakness nowadays.

I love how he says that the best way to write another point of view comes from steel manning the stance of that alternate viewpoint.

I have to say, as an atheist I could tell that you were a theist (and likely a certain type) from one or two throwaway lines in Mistborn that characters said to Sazed. Jasnah, however, is one of the best atheistic characters I've read, regardless of whether the author was an atheist or not. There have been lines that Jasnah say that get to the nub of many misconceptions about atheists. So whatever you are doing, it's definitely working!

As a previous-christian-now-atheist myself, I actually really like most of Brandon's characters. Sazed's struggles in book 3 of mistborn were particularly relatable. Hell, sometimes I wondered if Brandon was an atheist himself while reading his books, given how unapologetic he is about some of the really obvious shortcomings of religion too. It's fascinating, really.

I love to know he does this purposefully. I remember being so struck on a personal level because I liked Sazed. I just REALLY related to him on some levels as I read. Then I came to this paragraph and I stopped because nothing so perfectly described how I felt about myself: "How had sazed become the one that people came to with their problems? Couldn't they sense that he was simply a hypocrite capabled of formulating answers that sounded good, yet incapabled of following his own advice? He felt lost. He felt a weight, squeezing him, telling him to simply give up."

“I can’t blame someone for coming to a different conclusion when I have had the same questions and struggled with the same things” Damn Brandon! I just finished mistborn era 1 as my first adult fantasy series/book that I’ve ever read & I just want to say wow. Loved learning that Brandon is a Mormon because I am Jewish & I will admit I have not had the best view of that faith but if Brandon can write from such a different perspective then his own, do can I.

“By offering our best arguments on all different aspects.” YES. YES.

What a warm, compassionate, and thoughtful response. The world would be a better place if more people (myself very much included) were better able to show respect for those with whom we disagree.

I am an atheist who was raised in the same church as Brandon, and I respect the hell out of this guy.

When I first read The Way of Kings I was really worried. Oh so now there's this religious author who writes this atheist character and there will be this subplot about people trying to convert her and it's gonna be a bunch of thinly veiled arguments for Christianity that will just be annoyingly bad, but the atheist will probably be depicted as just not accepting the "obvious" truth. I was glad to see how utterly wrong I was and I really appreciate how Sanderson did his best to put actual arguments for atheism in his book and left it up to the readers to decide on their significance for themselves.

This right here is one of the main reasons I enjoy Brandon's writing so much--every side is fleshed out and nothing is ever simple. And everything is well researched to sound realistic, whether he believes in them himself or not. And he's right, religious groups tend to caricature each other without really looking into each other, simply going off off rumor. As a Catholic myself, I've heard some nasty things about my religion that are simply not true from other denominations--so whenever I hear something fishy about another religion coming from the mouth of another Catholic or otherwise, I go and research it and often find it not to be true in the slightest but a skewing of something off the wall. And as a former atheist/agnostic, I find Jasnah's portrayal to be a mirror of how I thought. I didn't wish to convince or convert anyone, I just didn't have the facts to believe in any one way or another. It was truly realistic and true to form. And it proves that you can see the other side, even from your own, without sacrificing your own beliefs.

As a former christian turned atheist, reading the Stormlight Archive and seeing how Brandon wrote both atheistic and religious characters bought me a lot of respect for him knowing he personally leans one way in his own beliefs. It's a sign of intellectual honesty that many people find difficult to produce.

I appreciate your enduring open mindedness, Brandon, and its why I have read all your work. You are slowly becoming a Fantasy Joseph Campbell, keep it up.

Oh my goodness, I absolutely love this. As a Christain myself who has often times come to some of the questions he's referencing that unfortunately aren't really talked about in my religious community, have come to so many of the same realizations that he has, and it's just so reassuring that someone else has gone thought about these things

I will say, harmony on bands of morning was a very understandable position to be it despite my Christian beliefs. If a being was all Omni, where would they have to choose for the over benefit of the world. But what hit me hardest was in alloy of law. When Wax pleads to Harmony to send someone to fix the injustice. And Harmony tells him "I sent you". Fuck. That's a religious sucker punch for the ages.

Sir, you are an efficient powerhouse machine when it comes to being an author. You just sit there signing away and making your video and giving intelligent sentences and reasoning. I just got into your work, you’re amazing! You might be my second favorite author (after Stephen King). Thanks for giving me Mistborn. Also, I respect your beliefs, I met a couple Mormons, they were the nicest people I ever met!!

I never feel like I have time to watch your full signings, but I love these clips. Keep em coming!

This discussion about taking the time to understand other people perfectly encapsulates why I love Sanderson's books. The characters have depth because he takes the time to actually understand other viewpoints and lived experiences. It is my sincere wish that more people would take the time to empathize with viewpoints outside of their own.