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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43775
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I'm a white Baptist who is married to a black Baptist, so if you have specific questions about the sort of things we say and do, maybe I can help. :-)

What you describe is an example of a problem writers face all the time: How do I write a character whose background is very different from my own?

Some advice I can think of that would apply here and to other "different cultures":

Step 1: Recognize that not everyone in the world thinks the same way you do. I think you've grasped this or you wouldn't be asking the question.

Different groups often have their own vocabulary. Sometimes this is technical language. When a physicist talks about "energy" he means something rather different than when a fitness trainer talks about "energy". Or in this context, Baptists (and other Christians) have many technical theological terms. Some have fancy names, like "Dispensationalism". Others are common English words to which Christians give more specific meanings than the general usage, like "grace" and "save". There are a few common words that Christians give totally different meanings, like "rapture".

I often get a chuckle out of the fact that when a group of Baptists get together to just eat or generally have a good time, what most people would call a "party", we call a "fellowship".

So you want your characters to talk like real members of the group. Like if two Baptists were discussing someone who recently converted to their religion, they almost certainly would NOT say, "We successfully proselytized him yesterday". They would probably say, "He was saved yesterday."

But don't overdo it. I'm a software developer. I know lots of technical computer terms. But in casual conversations with friends and family, I almost never use technical computer terms. Even in conversations with fellow software developers, most of the conversation does not involve technical terminology. Every now I or a co-worker actually do say a sentence that is almost entirely technical terms, and I get a chuckle to myself about how incomprehensible that sentence would be to an outsider. Same thing with other groups. Yes, when I'm talking to fellow Baptists we use "Baptist-speak". But 90% of the conversation would be perfectly comprehensible to people who do not know our vocabulary. Especially avoid over-use of specialized language in generic contexts. Like I've seen many depictions of evangelical Christians in TV and movies where every other word is some religious reference, like they can't say "bye, see you tomorrow", but say something "religious" like, "Godspeed, and may the Lord be with you until we meet again". No, we just don't talk like that.

Find out what people really believe, and not what their opponents say they believe. To take a relevant example: I often see depictions of evangelical Christians where they are extremely judgemental, denouncing everyone around them as a sinner and preening about how much better they are than these other people. Maybe you could find some Christians who talk like that, but I've never met one. Not to get into a theological discussion, but one of the most basic teachings of evangelical Christianity is that all humans are sinners, and that the Christian's advantage is most definitely not that he is better than anyone else, but that he is forgiven. When a Baptist meets a prostitute or a drug dealer or whatever, he does not say, "Get a way from me, I don't want to be contaminated by you low-lifes". He is far more likely to say, "Let me tell you how God forgave me for my sins and he can do the same for you."

Or on a much lighter note, I just read somewhere, I forget where, a Christian noted that when someone visits a priest or minister on a TV show, they always seem to meet in the sanctuary of the church, and the minister addresses them as "my son" or "my daughter". In real life, ministers have offices that look pretty much like the office of any professional, and they call people by their names just like everyone else.

But aside from these sort of generalities and examples, how do you deal with all the practical details?

Others have suggested reading books written by Christians. Definitely so. Especially novels, that might give you more of the day to day than a non-fiction book.

Ideally, talk to real Christians. You mentioned that you had some Christian friends or associates who read your drafts. Ask them for specific flaws. Not just, "This character doesn't talk like a real Baptist", but what's wrong with her speech, exactly? Can you point to a few sentences that are examples of things a Baptist would be unlikely to say, and tell me what they would say in those circumstances?

Original score: 6