> >> Do people become devotees of a God for purely personal reasons
> rather than
> >> because they want to become more like the God?
> >>
> For example, the benefits of Christianity revolve around
> whether or
> not one has a personal belief in Christ as the Savior.
<snip>
> What does this mean for Glorantha? It means that for Orlanthi and other
> polytheistic cultures, belief is largely irrelevant.
I think that this is one case where Earth religion is not a good model for understanding Gloranthan religion. I don't see that the sort of Faith (capital intended) that is central to all Earth religions is ever something that a Gronthan theistic culture needs. I don't need faith to believe in Orlanth because I can go and see him every so often. Similarly, as Douglas pointed out, it'd be might scary to visit the GodPlane with your fingers crossed behind your back.
Using the God's power without giving them sincere worship is exactly the sort of this which got the God Learners into trouble - for this reason alone, I would imagine most people would avoid it.
Of course, the Malkioni are differnet, it's a cinch to take part in the rituals involved in worshipping the Invisible god just to gain social standing.
Cheers
rog
Powered by hypermail