Tell me it ain't so Orson Scott Card!

As I mentioned a posting or so ago I am revisiting an old favorite "comfort read".( Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein) I just got to the part where the main character just figured out what it is to be human.(He groks it) How he comes to this epiphany is something that is better experienced for yourself. I just couldn't do it justice; plus being out of context it would loose it's impact. Some bits and pieces of the book are a bit dated, but it still remains a classic and one of my favorites. 

While enjoying my trip down memory lane I have been reviewing some of my other old favorites. A few years back I read book called Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. If memory serves, it came out in the mid eighties. I enjoyed it immensely,a darn good read. That was the only book I have ever read by Card. There are at least 3 sequels, but I never felt motivated to pick them up. I'm sure, based on the first book's quality of writing, that they are fine pieces of speculative literature. The guy is good writer, no doubt. But after reviewing his bio on Wikipedia I was shocked to learn that award winning author Orson Scott Card is a Mormon! A Mormon! I am trying my best to wrap my brain around this fact. 

I would have assumed that the vast majority of science fiction were some sort of rationalist. Atheists or agnostic, perhaps something eastern, but a Mormon! Now personally I've got nothing against Mormons(except when they run for president or knock on my door).My oldest daughter has a friend that I believe is a Mormon (she seems like a nice girl)I've met a few over the years and they all seem pretty much okay. It's just not the religion I would expect to generate science fiction authors. So now I am curious, is Card the exception. Are there any other sci-fi authors that are Mormons,B.A.C.(born again christians), J.W.s or anything other than rationalist? Please don't bring up L.Ron, he doesn't count because he started a cult , he didn't join one. All of the old guard Sci-fi writers I am fairly confident were all rationalists (Asimov,Heinlein, Bradbury etc.).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging. I'm just suffering from shock.It makes me wonder about the thing inside a writer that makes him write, his motivation and that sense of wonder. I just find It hard to believe that a belief system like Mormonism or fundamental Christianity could inspire a sci-fi writer. For me religion was like having a mill stone tied around my imagination. But somehow Card got past all that and wrote a really good piece of sci-fi. Is it time for a personal re- assessment? 

Sign me:

Confused in Sci-fi Fandomland (E.moose)