Re: GL vs. Illumination

From: Sandy Petersen <sandyp_at_idgecko.idsoftware.com>
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 96 11:53:54 -0600


The God Learners were not Illuminated.

        I daren't say too much about it, except that the God Learners did not jump from cult to cult, did not believe that all religions and world views were intrinsically worthwhile and thereby equal, and did _not_ engage in moral relativism.

        Illuminates are (or can be) moral relativists. God Learners deny the existence of moral law, except as a tool.

        Illuminates are solipsistic: the external universe has no relevance; what _you_ want and do is what really matters. God Learners are Hobbsian -- the external universe is _all_ that matters.

        The illuminate may go from cult to cult and system to system, but _he_ never really changes. God Learners changed chameleonlike from belief to belief.

        Illuminates derive their powers by "breaking" the rules of the cosmos. God Learners derive their abilities by exploiting the rules. Illumination was anathema to the God Learners, and actually _destroys_ their power.

        In a sense, God Learners are the opposites of Illuminates. (But only "in a sense" -- drawing such a polarity is not fully accurate either.)

Sandy P.


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