Oliver D. Bernuetz quoth Goebbels:
>Hah. Don't forget Goebbels(?) "No lie succeeds like a Big Lie." (Badly
>misquoted)
and goes on:
>1) Egypt-thousands of years of history-Pharoah is the living God.
>2) The Roman Empire 500 years or so of the Emperor as God.
>3) Over 1900 years of the Catholic Church-the Pope is God's right hand man.
>4) Any religion-there are gods.
>This list could go on and on.
>(Sorry if this offends any theists but I'm an agnostic).
In the case of 1 and 2, Pharoahs and Roman Emperors were oft venerated as 'gods' (with a small 'g'), not 'God'. Significant difference.
In the case of 3 and 4 (and heck, 1 and 2 for that), you might argue it is incumbent upon the believers to prove to you that they are true, but *can you convince them they are lies*. These are beliefs based on faith. Are you implying that the pope secretly knows that he ain't God's Main Man in the mortal realm? That (like you seem to suggest is the case with the Yelm cult) there's some secret codex somewhere in the Vatican that tells the pope it's all a sham, but, hey, go along with it because the hours are good, you get to wear a frock and there's a possible of overseas travel?
But what are the Big Secrets of Glorantha? I mean ones which can be answered, ones with a basis in the material world, one's that can be proven one way or another. Here's something to ponder...
One of these is true, one of these is a Big Secret, one of these is false (but contains a substantial true element) and one of these is patently wrong. Different people in the Lunar Empire cherish one of more these dearly. All are correct in their own way, at varying depths of understanding of the Lunar Way*:
*The Red Emperor is the ever-reincarnating son of the Red Goddess.
*The Red Emperor *was* one-in-the-same person - the immortal son of the Red Goddess - until he was killed by Sheng Seleris. After that, he was different.
*The Red Emperor is a title, a mask, assumed by a succession of mortals. One of his titles is "Son of the Red Goddess", but this is metaphorical.
*The Red Emperor is Elvis.
*that's a Lunar 'all' of course...
Cheers
MOB
End of Glorantha Digest V3 #286
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
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