Re: Constructed Religions

Tom Wier wrote:

> I'm a little curious about something:  how much do the religious belief=
s
> we see in our language's concultures reflect our own beliefs, or belief=
s
> we see in other people around us? I, for example, have heard a few
> people express their disapproval of Christianity, and of Judeo-Christia=
n
> beliefs in general, on very similar lines, that the God portrayed in th=
at
> religion only created people to satisfy his own personal vanity in that
> He could be praised and worshipped.  Did people expressing similar
> beliefs about real world religions affect anybody here's conreligion?
>=20
Neither of the 2 conreligions I have done the most work on have any
conscious relationship of any type to an established religion.  The
religion of the T=F4lte seemed a likely one for their region.  Someone
in a private email (sorry, don't remember who) once called it Anti-
Christianity, it was never intended as such.  However in my ethnographic
description of them, I don't exactly try to hide my loathing of=20
missionaries of all types.

As for the Nowans, I view religion as being a uniquely Homo sapiens
trait until MUCH better evidence to the contrary is presented.  Because
the Nowans are a related species they might have religion, but then
again they might not.  There are interesting implications for either
choice.  As several of you have demonstrated, having a conreligion
allows you to develop the conculture in very interesting ways not
to mention the beautiful architecture found around the world in a=20
myriad of ways.  That is very appealing to me for the Nowans. =20

WARNING!  No matter how it reads, what follows is NOT meant to
insult anyone or their religion, if you particularly sensitive about
this topic, stop here and hit the DELETE button.


On the other hand, a people without religion should (IMHO) advance in
science and knowledge much more rapidly.  Instead of describing
something as supernatural they might be more inclined to say "how does
that happen" and try to find out and hopefully, have an associated=20
openness to new concepts and ideas.  Further the lack of religious wars
ought to greatly add to progress as well although they might substitute
other kinds of wars just as we have.  Finally, those beautiful temples
and a large organized clergy tend to bleed off a lot of resources (of=20
course the amount varies from culture to culture) that might be used
for other purposes. =20

In the end, which one the Nowans become will depend upon which I decide
is the more interesting.

--=20
Brad Coon
hawksinger@fwi.com
http://www.fortunecity.com/rivendell/everquest/624
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