Small Gods focuses on religion: why people need it, how they abuse it, what makes it work. By setting the tale in his imaginary Discworld, Pratchett avoids some of the minefields that tend to bedevil the path of those who explore such issues. "Omnianism" is a broad parody of Christianity, but Pratchett is less interested in ridiculing religion than in examining how it affects people. Although many of his allusions are to practices and conflicts of the distant past, his concerns are contemporary, stirred by the persistence of fanaticism and intolerance.