Have I Solved the Riddle of ‘The Hunger Games’?

Remember how puzzled I was by the total absence of religious references in The Hunger Games? How I combed through Suzanne Collins interviews, and never found a single mention of this strange omission? There has never been in all of history a human society completely devoid of religion; but Collins has never volunteered a word of explanation as to why she depicted such a society in her book.

But today, voila–brainstorm! Although I must still ask myself, “Could it really be for such a simple reason as this?”

The Hunger Games and its sequels have been taken under the wing of Scholastic Press and promoted in thousands of public schools–an environment from which teacher unions have striven to erase all evidence of religious belief (except for Islam, which they use as a bludgeon against Christianity).

If Scholastic is pushing you in the schools, your book is going to make a fortune. Why jeopardize that by making any incautious remarks about God? You’ll be so much better off if there’s no trace of God at all inside your book. No atheist will complain, and Scholastic will be very happy with you. Ka-ching! Hear those cash registers ring!

Because of Collins’ silence on the issue, I have no way to prove my conjecture. It’s just a little idea of mine.

But I’ll betcha I’m right.