RE: Re: atheists in Glorantha, from Greg

From: Nick Brooke <Nick_at_...>
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 22:18:35 +0100


Gareth asked:

> Hmm, I see. Could a (loose) analogy be drawn between the
> (Gloranthan) theists and a cargo cult? They have had a "superior
> power" fall into their laps, which they can use but not necessarily
> fully comprehend, and hence personify to make comprehensible?

Yes, I think that's a fine analogy.

> The Malkioni would be a similar cult with a "better" understanding of
> this power, which they abstract (correctly) further than theists, but
> still (incorrectly) tend to personify or at least attribute with
> emotion such as compassion.

Yep, that's how Brithini atheists could see their Malkioni cousins.

> The atheists then work directly with the prevailing an objectively
> extant "theoscape" without being distracted by projecting their own
> expectations onto the true forces (runes?).
> Does that sound about right?

Yup, you've got it!

> Sorry, no, I meant the god planes - even with the whopping alien
> worlds modifier, could they not cross to the god planes and interact
> with the "dead" who have been so elevated? Or perhaps they would see
> this as something like a postmortem echo rather than an actual
> continuation after death?

Yeah. "If I go to the cinema and see a film starring Humphrey Bogart, he must still be alive. No?"

Also, have a look at what Thunder Rebels says about Orlanthi Ancestors -- can these impersonal muppets *really* represent a proper afterlife? Aren't they just a postmortem echo?

Cheers, Nick

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