Religion in Freelancer?

[xSecret01]

One thing, for certain, is that religion has far less impact on people in Freelancer than it did before. When the population first met real aliens it was like a slap in the face because it was contrary to what the Bible said. At least, this could apply to christian religions.

[beander2]

See, that's what I've always had a bit of trouble with on the Mollys. The British (Bretonia) didn't just subjugate all the Irish and put them to work in the mines, did they? There's Brets in the Mollys too, it's more deposed miners than anything else, not a nationality.

That'd be like the Japanese on the Kusari immediately isolating all the Ainu and turning them into a servant class once they got off the ship.

Except there's more to it than that. Nationalism can arise from economic disparity, and once you have a group of people with shared culture claiming autonomy within a certain territory, you arguably have a nationalist movement.

The role of formal religion (since that is the topic of this thread...sorry for getting off) is less clear in this case, though.

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Sir Alisdair Buchanan, KBE ~ Gateway)Trafalgar

[hack]

Come check out he TAZ, and see what we are into....

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Formerly known as LPI Police Chief Hull O'Brien.
Creator of Sgt. V. Price, 207th Precinct out of Chula Vista Station

[beander2]

One thing, for certain, is that religion has far less impact on people in Freelancer than it did before. When the population first met real aliens it was like a slap in the face because it was contrary to what the Bible said. At least, this could apply to christian religions.

That's kind of a strange assumption. Not really sure where you get that.

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Sir Alisdair Buchanan, KBE ~ Gateway)Trafalgar

[bluntpencil2001]

One thing, for certain, is that religion has far less impact on people in Freelancer than it did before. When the population first met real aliens it was like a slap in the face because it was contrary to what the Bible said. At least, this could apply to christian religions.

So was proof that the world was round. Religion didn't slow its growth.

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[Othman]

Believe in me, and you will do well.

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On the uncharted lagoons of anguish, I sail with a canoe made of my sins.

[Unseelie]

I don't really believe Christianity survived. Not really. The festivals are probably still there, but the religion, well. I doubt it. Got replaced in colonial times with what is already budding today. The Mollys being Catholic? Well, Mollies were workers, brought in from all over Bretonia, rather than settling there themselves. They were attracted by BMM offers of pay. And they were payed. They revolted because conditions were horrid, not because of any sort of religious intolerance. The idea that they're catholic...well, thats a rather crass joke, made to connect them to the IRA. They're not the IRA. They're not even Irish.

I just don't see the majority of Bretonians paying lip service to a religion, and I certainly don't see them earnestly following one.

They're Atheist, or Agnostic, or Deist, and they replaced 'religion' with nationalism. Loyalty to the Queen, a desire to make Bretonia a better House, Etc.

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[Zukeenee]

Come check out he TAZ, and see what we are into....

Aye, I believe that we're the closest thing to any religion in Sirius.

Although I'd expect that even if religion isn't as widespread in FL as it is in the real world today, plenty of people still hold their own personal beliefs, which could be taken as "religion".

It's just one of many of the smaller day-to-day occurrences in Sirius that we don't know about. It's up to the players to create a culture for the people of the universe, so make your own! Us Discordians did...

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[Rudo]

It's up to the players to create a culture for the people of the universe, so make your own! Us Discordians did...

And on this note, and the topic of religion, I plug my Bounty Hunter story in progress.

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[beander2]

I don't really believe Christianity survived. Not really. The festivals are probably still there, but the religion, well. I doubt it. Got replaced in colonial times with what is already budding today...

Not sure I buy that, considering the past two millennia and the continued rates of growth in various traditions - including Christianity - concurrently with the development of science and technology. It's much more cyclical, and I seriously doubt it would have died out.

It might be manifested in very different ways, however.

I just don't see the majority of Bretonians paying lip service to a religion, and I certainly don't see them earnestly following one.

They're Atheist, or Agnostic, or Deist, and they replaced 'religion' with nationalism. Loyalty to the Queen, a desire to make Bretonia a better House, Etc.

But you're missing the fact that nationalism like this has coexisted with formal religion in syncretized form for centuries already. They often tend to reinforce each other. For instance, as you're well aware of, the British monarch is also nominally head of the Church of England. I see it much more likely that such an arrangement would continue - although with significant modification - than that it would die out altogether. It just doesn't work that way.

You are correct, however, in suggesting that nationalism is a form of religion, or is tantamount to a theological system.

Edit: This is not to say that the syncretized form would be recognized by all in that faith tradition as orthodox. Quite the opposite, in fact.

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Sir Alisdair Buchanan, KBE ~ Gateway)Trafalgar