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Author Topic: Monotheistic Religion  (Read 7407 times)

Dirst

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Re: Monotheistic Religion
« Reply #30 on: April 19, 2016, 11:56:36 pm »

Would love to see more variety in religion, would also be interesting to have the occasional atheist or antitheist

I'm not sure atheism would make sense in a world where there are Gods that are literally running around and doing things since atheism is an empirical world view, but I could definitely see there being individuals or groups of individuals that actively hate the Gods.

This is an interesting topic which brings up the question, what would religion look like in a world where there are Gods actually tangibly present and interacting with the populace? It is a world where there is no need for faith since there is tangible concrete evidence of the Gods when they do things like turning your buddy Bob into a vampire for taking a drunken piss on their shrine. Religion would likely be far less transient and fragmentary. Ideas and culture flow and change with time since they are as ephemeral as the minds that sculpt and house them, but in a world where the Gods have a literal constant and permanent presence the ideas about them could not drift and splinter into a thousand different venues and sects. Unlike our world, religions would likely be much more static rather than constantly changing and diverging over generational time.
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Putnam

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Re: Monotheistic Religion
« Reply #31 on: April 20, 2016, 12:01:39 am »

Discworld

NW_Kohaku

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Re: Monotheistic Religion
« Reply #32 on: April 20, 2016, 12:05:21 am »

Quote from: Terry Pratchett, The Color of Magic
It was all very well going on about pure logic and how the universe was ruled by logic and the harmony of numbers, but the plain fact of the matter was that the Disc was manifestly traversing space on the back of a giant turtle and the gods had a habit of going round to atheists' houses and smashing their windows.

See also: Flat-Earth Atheist entry in TV Tropes
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Melting Sky

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Re: Monotheistic Religion
« Reply #33 on: April 20, 2016, 03:16:21 pm »

Would love to see more variety in religion, would also be interesting to have the occasional atheist or antitheist

I'm not sure atheism would make sense in a world where there are Gods that are literally running around and doing things since atheism is an empirical world view, but I could definitely see there being individuals or groups of individuals that actively hate the Gods.

This is an interesting topic which brings up the question, what would religion look like in a world where there are Gods actually tangibly present and interacting with the populace? It is a world where there is no need for faith since there is tangible concrete evidence of the Gods when they do things like turning your buddy Bob into a vampire for taking a drunken piss on their shrine. Religion would likely be far less transient and fragmentary. Ideas and culture flow and change with time since they are as ephemeral as the minds that sculpt and house them, but in a world where the Gods have a literal constant and permanent presence the ideas about them could not drift and splinter into a thousand different venues and sects. Unlike our world, religions would likely be much more static rather than constantly changing and diverging over generational time.
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Dirst

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Re: Monotheistic Religion
« Reply #34 on: April 20, 2016, 04:05:21 pm »

Gods of Egypt, though to be fair I'm going off others' descriptions. I wouldn't pay to see that.
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Adam Mantine

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Re: Monotheistic Religion
« Reply #35 on: May 10, 2016, 03:36:52 pm »

Quote from: Terry Pratchett, The Color of Magic
It was all very well going on about pure logic and how the universe was ruled by logic and the harmony of numbers, but the plain fact of the matter was that the Disc was manifestly traversing space on the back of a giant turtle and the gods had a habit of going round to atheists' houses and smashing their windows.

See also: Flat-Earth Atheist entry in TV Tropes

Also the entire first half of Ghostbusters II
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granak1031

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Re: Monotheistic Religion
« Reply #36 on: May 13, 2016, 08:59:29 pm »

An atheist in this case could also be someone who's definition of what a god is is different. Perhaps he believes that the god/s are simply more powerful creatures with magical powers who are preying on the populace, and have no actual "divinity"?

Such as a Necromancer who has managed to trick the local populace into thinking he is a god of death? Or a minotaur who has convinced a town into believing he is a war god?

Would certainly be interesting as a goal....[BE_WORSHIPED], or perhaps [BECOME_DIVINE] if you made it actually possible for a character to become a deity by gaining worshipers?

I've actually seen a demon do this once in a game. I stumbled on him in adventure mode, then looked him up in legends. He actually convinced people that he was a deity.
« Last Edit: May 13, 2016, 09:04:29 pm by granak1031 »
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Dirst

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Re: Monotheistic Religion
« Reply #37 on: May 13, 2016, 10:09:04 pm »

I've actually seen a demon do this once in a game. I stumbled on him in adventure mode, then looked him up in legends. He actually convinced people that he was a deity.
This has been part of the game for a while... demons will sometimes impersonate real deities and take over a civ.  The ruse doesn't really work on PCs because the player knows that 100% of the worshipped beings physically present in the world are faking.

Megabeasts can also get worshippers.  This does not change their behavior one iota, and in particular the beast will not spare its worshipers during a rampage.  (Reminds me of Kroll from Doctor Who.)
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Adam Mantine

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Re: Monotheistic Religion
« Reply #38 on: May 18, 2016, 09:59:11 pm »

Would love to see more variety in religion, would also be interesting to have the occasional atheist or antitheist

Also animism, deism, pantheism, cargo cults, imperial cults, religion-like philosophies and movements, non-theistic religions, and whatever the fantasy equivalent of a UFO cult is.
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IndigoFenix

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Re: Monotheistic Religion
« Reply #39 on: May 18, 2016, 11:40:41 pm »

In real life, religious varieties are not so discrete; terms like polytheism, monotheism, animism, pantheism and the like are terms used by scholars who study them, but the lines can blur easily.

Polytheists can become monotheists by elevating one god above the others and eventually forgetting or forbidding the worship of others.  Living or dead heroes and kings can be elevated to divine status.  In monotheistic religions saints are often worshipped in their own right.  Animist spirits can be elevated to gods as well, should their worship become prominent enough.

Instead of creating multiple defined "types" of religion, it would be best to have many different elements that can be recombined in different ways.

The main things we need now are the ability for mortals to attain divine status, the ability for a powerful god to demand exclusive worship, and negative worship values (where an individual or a religion may hold a particular dislike for certain gods.)  Also, spirits can arise from regions, nations, or even cities or structures and be able to become true gods if their worship grows enough.
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