> Waitaminute -- GIttHW says Lunars are theists who, in the West,
> present themselves as monotheists/sorcerers. How do we know that
> it isn't the opposite?
Or, indeed, both (or all four) at the same time? There's nothing to say that the Moon Power must be *exclusively* theist (or animist, or mystic, or sorcerous), any more than the Fire Element or the Man Form are. (Briefly lapsing into Runespeak for clarity).
> I assume the Lunar elite are God-learner type synthesists,
There is, presumably, a Gloranthan variant of Godwin's Law...
> When those unwashed masses find out that the faith is presented
> differently elsewhere in the empire, they'll begin to wonder
> (like my uzko) whether the elite really believe anything at all.
That's an interesting spin on things. The Lunar elite, however, publicly encourages everyone to seek illumination, and thereby *understand* what it is they do or don't believe; they proudly espouse a religion which embraces mirrors, masks, mind-blasting novelty and apparent contradictions; I don't think they'd have a problem "spinning" this to the Great Unwashed. (Or, at least, no more problem than they have doing so anyway).
> When the people tired of being told that "Zeus" and "Jove"
> and "Amun" and "Wotan" were all equally valid perspectives
> on the Divine Principle, they ended up joining cults that
> actually believed something and knew what it was
Followers of Lunar cults are a minority in the Lunar Empire. (They do run the whole shebang, admittedly, but they are a minority). If you want to join a cult that "actually believes something" (and if you aren't keen on participating in the Red Goddess's ongoing transformation of the entire Gloranthan Cosmos, or maybe can't understand what it's all about), heck, you can keep on worshipping some useless Heron Goddess from the bogs you were born in. Us elite Lunar types don't mind, so long as you pay your taxes and know your place.
Cheers, Nick
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