However, Oliver also goes on to say:
>
>To raise a contentious issue again I think this issue IMO serves to
>differentiate Glorantha from our world. In our world people believe things
>will happen if they perform the right ceremonies. In Glorantha whether you
>believe it or not things WILL happen.
The Freemen of Montana don't believe in the U.S. government, but they're still in a U.S. jail. If enough of us stopped believing in the government, it would cease to exist. Although the U.S. government is avowedly secular, many people who support it do so on a religious or quasi-religious basis. The only difference from Glorantha is the lack of comic-book flash-bang nonsense spells, which aren't part of the *real* Glorantha anyway, just the game reality. Just think if your notion of western 20th century civilization were based on James Bond movies.
>If I murder someone in Glorantha
>their ghost will come after me (whether I believe in ghosts or not) if I
>fail to appease the ghost or perform some sort of ceremony that binds the
>ghost in place. If the baker fails to say the proper words the bread won't
>rise. IMO I think magical and divine things happen in Glorantha without
>people having to believe in them. It's just a different mechanism.
And people in the real world use and interact with the divine and divine-derived concepts all the time, sometimes without realizing it. Moreover, people have recognizably religious experiences without asking for it. Let the scales fall from your eyes and you'll see there's little difference on this score between the worlds. (For those of you with Bible Lore of less than 10%, that's an allusion to the Apostle Paul's conversion experience--something he did not ask for or want.)
I'm beginning to hate anti-religion as much as religion.
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