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@noah-cochran

Hey! I’m glad to be here! Thanks for that very helpful summary! I have something to work with now! I write medieval high fantasy, and my current WIP is basically about a multi-dimensional world invaded by darkness which my three main characters have to battle. (If you want to know more, I put a detailed summary on my profile!) I’ve been writing my whole life!

Okay, and now I’m going to dive into this epic debate!

*takes deep breath*

Regarding your first point: Correct me if I’m wrong, but from reading your definition of magic I’m basically hearing this basic syllogism:

All supernatural things are magic.
All magic is bad.
Therefore, all supernatural things are bad.

Again, if I’m misinterpreting your definition, then please tell me! However, if I’m not, then I would mention that the supernatural isn’t inherently bad: God does supernatural things that we would call miracles. Miracles from God aren’t bad, but they are supernatural. Therefore, this either means that we need to narrow the definition of magic to just the supernatural regarding demons, Satan, and general evil, or we need to acknowledge that magic isn’t totally bad. I would personally vote for the first. The definition I use for magic usually goes something like: harnessing the power of the supernatural, specifically through witchcraft or a similar practice, to make something occur that brings glory to the actor or achieves something for the actor’s benefit. This practice is selfish (not to mention perverted), and it brings glory to oneself, not God. Which I would argue is a rather tame definition of magic, but it gets the point across!
Further, I would argue that sometimes we should write about these things, as long as we make it very clear that the practice of magic is evil and not to be condoned. Many people are ensnared by witchcraft and “magic,” making this a real issue. I believe that fantasy is a tool to be used to parallel real-world truths and counter real-world lies.
Also, just a question, as you mentioned it in passing in your first point, but do you actually think it is inappropriate to write about angels? (just curious!)

Regarding your second point: I completely agree! Fantasy is not a genre invented to write about perverse sins. It is simply a genre in which something occurs in an alternate world that is invented in the mind of the author. Further, I agree that powerful abilities such as harnessing energy are not magic. They are laws of nature in the world in question. For example, gravity is a natural law of this world. Do we ever call it magic? No. At least I hope not… 🙂

I agree with Archer, as well as you. As I mentioned above, I think that we can, and even should, write about magic as sin. And since I already said a bunch about that, I’ll just leave this here.

Regarding Taylor’s point: I partially agree. Definitions of words do change. If you’ve read Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis points out how the definition of the word “gentleman” changed drastically throughout about a century of time, and how we should not allow the same thing to happen to the word “Christian.” However, I would disagree with his point that you shouldn’t dictate definitions to people. I’m a team policy debater. No one can have a debate without definitions, as no one will know what anyone else means. I think that definitions are to be shared and debated.

Okay, sorry. I just had to geek out there for a second! Back to the debate:

I got a little confused with your point that we shouldn’t use magic as it will be confused with the supernatural. Isn’t this a little contradictory to your definition? Perhaps I’m just confused and blowing a load of unnecessary smoke…

I would mention here that the supernatural isn’t something to be afraid of or shy away from writing about. Whether we like it or not, we are living in a spiritual battle. I don’t think that because many of the things that occur in the supernatural are bad, we should just not write about it. It’s important to use what we see in this world when we write fantasy. (Tell me if that didn’t make sense – I think I may have just had a brain spasm!) 🙂

So, here’s the thing: I don’t think that creating other religions is bad, as that has happened in this world. When we create other religions, show how hopeless they are, and then contrast that with the Truth, it makes the darkness seem all the darker and light seem all the brighter. As I have not read any of Riordan’s or Sanderson’s books, I won’t make any comments regarding them. However, (and I’m trying to figure out how to write this), I reiterate once again that I don’t think writing about the supernatural is inherently bad. Not writing about it doesn’t make it any less real, and it by doing so we are basically ignoring the problem, Satan, and the solution, God.

Disclaimer: I get very passionate about these things! If anything I just wrote came across as rude or offensive, I apologize. I’m not trying to force my opinion on anyone! 🙂

Okay that got realllly long…