Christianity is often viewed as strict and perhaps even judgmental to some. This quality and culture in the said religion have often been a subject of criticism. Some Christian parents even go as far as to censor what their children watch and have access to. Hence, that’s probably why some Christians in Japan are doing away with that sort of control-freakishness with a light novel writing contest that allows everything.
By everything, we do mean no holds barred, meaning the writers can criticize Christianity and even make Satan a protagonist in their novels. Light novels are popular entertainment for young adults in Japan and feature fast-paced anime-style tales, with last year’s winner having the title, “I’m a 17-Year-Old Minister, but So What?” yep, go figure what it’s about. The said contest was initiated by Kirisuto Shimbun, Japan’s most popular Christian newspaper.
During the FAQ for the light novel contest, the contestants asked a lot of daring questions like ‘would the contestants have to be Christian, can they use Buddha as the character, do they have to worry about heretical things like making Satan a protagonist.’ The newspaper’s answer has been overall positive and welcomes EVERYTHING, except intentionally offensive things, of course.
So there are apparently, no strict rules or censorship in the said light novel contest. The winner will get to have his ideas serialized in a magazine. This apparently shocked a lot of people since a Christian contest being open to ideas like those asked in the FAQ is quite a rare phenomenon. Still, one should not expect a novel where Satan wins to actually win the contest, after all, there is still a judgment day–er, part for entries.
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