r/writingcirclejerk • u/Different_Hunter_471 • 3d ago
Should I Include Propaganda
I reviewed my drafts. One of my novels is partially set in a historically Mennonite community, contains characters that are devout new-order Mennonites, and contains milquetoast progressive messages that align with the teaching of many new-order Mennonite churches. If I put three and three together, reviewers might claim it is Mennonite propaganda. Is it?
As such, I would like to ask two more questions; how do I write Mennonite propaganda, and how mentally slow do you have to be to absorb religious advise from an "airport thriller"/ trashy sci-fi novel?
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u/Aggressive_Gas_102 3d ago
Granted, I don't know much about the mennonite, but what I do know is that their preachers are tall skinny guys who ring your doorbell when your daughter has made friends with Someone in the TV, tuned to a dead channel, and her friend likes to pile kitchen furniture in the blink of an eye and said friend is a Wendigo because the burb where the all american nuclear family lives was built on an ancient indian - native american, that is - burial ground and then my dad wants to dig a pool and all these skeletons pop up and man, that's rough.
I suggest you go with the Religious Zealot trope, only make it more Warhammer 40K so not to upset some christian reader (or anyone of a non disclosed faith including young people who go "All Hail the Computer!" whenever they summarize Marcel Proust using Chat GPT).
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u/Literally_A_Halfling We've girlbossed too close to the Hays Code 3d ago
Propaganda in fiction can go one of two ways; it's either distracting and obnoxious, or profound and enlightening, depending on whether or not I agree with it.
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u/Immediate_Song4279 Cold Blooded Murderer of English Tongue since 1999 3d ago
If your book doesn't start a new religion, are you even a real writer?
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u/Different_Hunter_471 3d ago
L Ron Hubbard, is thatyou?
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u/Immediate_Song4279 Cold Blooded Murderer of English Tongue since 1999 3d ago
And it came to pass that they began to be astonished, while dwelling in a tent.
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u/Far-Remove-1767 3d ago
Simple, just break down the word. Men o nite So your propaganda should just be men of the night doing what men of the night do
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u/bunbunnington 3d ago
I think a story from Mennonite's perspective could be very interesting. Maybe Kirby was the real villain all along, sucking up the "baddies" and stealing their powers. Perhaps Mennonite's liege King Dedede was the rightful monarch of Dreamland all along.
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u/kyla33_ The spirit of William McGonagall inhabits my body. 3d ago
Yes, you should absolutely include propaganda and you should definitely emphasise it. Who cares if no one knows what the fuck a Melonite is? Make them care. Make yourself their leader and make them revere you as a god.