My favourite headcanon that I have for The Hunger Games is that while well known and established religions (i.e., Christianity) possibly no longer exists in Panem, new age and joke religions somehow managed to persist and flourish into legitimate faiths.
I’m sure religion still exists in Panem, but it’s probably not that mainstream, Christianity probably even less so since there’s not much that ever alludes to it in text. The closest indicator we get that Christianity might still be a thing is when Katniss and Peeta and co. are in (I believe) District 11 and there’s a mural or something in the justice building of what Katniss describes as (and I’m paraphrasing here) “fat babies with wings.” To most readers it’s probably obvious that these fat, winged babies are cherubs. But Katniss doesn’t seem to know that. This suggests that either A.) Religions, especially Christianity which currently dominates North America, no longer exist and this building is old as fuck, or B.) Religions do still exist but Christianity no longer dominates, but may still be popular in D11, but also since districts are cut off from each other it may be much more underground or even nonexistent in other districts such as D12.
My headcanon aligns with option B.
Now, since I’ve established my thinking, just imagine it.
Two tributes are allies in the arena, one ally is killed but the other survives. The survivor looks down at their fallen ally and gives a slight bow. “May the Force be with you,”* they say before sadly walking away.
Once a year in District 4, near early fall, everyone dons a special hat, a sacred spaghetti strainer,** and greets their neighbours with a cheerful “ahoy, matey!”***
Or even a young Tigris, bogged down and exhausted from working so hard to keep food on the table and having to keep the Snows’ poverty a secret, turns to a lesser known and relatively unpopular religion within the Capitol in seek of some sort of comfort. “The dude abides,”**** she says quietly to herself as Fabrica gives her another undignified task to complete.
Like sure, God is dead but the Flying Spaghetti Monster lives on.
* Enough people in different commonwealth countries once listed their religion as Jedi on their country’s official census, thus making “Jediism” a legal religion.
** Pasta strainers are “religious headwear” for Pastafarians. Pastafarianism is a mock religion that “worships” the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
*** Additionally, Pastafarians see pirates as “divine beings” and celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day which occurs annually on September 19. I thought this was fitting for D4 since they’re the fishing district and on the ocean.
**** This is a quote from the film The Big Lebowski, which inspired the mock religion Dudeism. Dudeism’s philosophy is basically “go with the flow, take a chill pill.”
***** All information can be found on each religion’s respective Wikipedia site.
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