<<You can certainly say of modern day physics that it's 99.9% likely that
every theory is wrong. History has taught us that.>>
Actually, no. We can say its very likely that any given theory in modern physics is *incomplete* but that's not the same thing as saying its *wrong*. Newton wasn't wrong: his theories work perfectly well within normal conditions, but when you approach the speed of light or deal with very high gravity fields etc. his theories turn out to be incomplete.
<<I expect my theories about Glorantha are wrong too. That's not the point
(at least, it isn't for me).>>
Unfortunately, your theories are wrong, not just incomplete. Sorry, but that's the way it is. If you don't mind your Glorantha working differently, that's up to you, but as you've said you don't want this... well, I'm afraid you'll have to drop your theory. :-(
<< If they explain everything within the subject area I'm concerned with (which is post Compromise)>>
But they don't, as we've pointed out.
<< then the theory will make it a lot easier to understand Glorantha, and a lot easier for me to make predictions about what's happening in undocumented areas of Glorantha.>>
But the predictions they do make (e.g. no storms in regions without storm worshippers) are demonstrably incorrect.
<<Why oh why some people have to get _so_ steamed up about this I just don't
know. It seems to me the most harmless of pursuits.>>
I found Peter's comments to be a little impolite in their phrasing, but they were all essentially correct. Don't take my word for it; take that of Gloranthan 'experts' like Nick Brooke, and, yes, Peter Metcalfe too. He knows what he's on about.
On the Brithini:
<< Could it be that... the whole church system is maintained as a way to
control farmers / lower class / working class / what have you. The more
educated upper
eschelons of the church think it's ultimately a load of nonsense, however all
these working classes actually _do_ worship.>>
Nope. According to all the official material written so far, the Brithini peasants are just as atheist [1] as their superiors. They all have the same religion (or philosophical system, whatever you want to call it) that's why none of them age.
On Mostali:
<<Do the dwarves worship or don't they? The dwarves reckon not,>>
They ought to know...
<<The dwarven POV obviously works well for them (as a means of explaining the world), but I reckon a theist dropped into the middle of it would see what to all intents and purposes _was_ worship (by another name) and his POV would work too.>>
Actually, I don't think he would. When I say outsiders tend to believe there is a god called Mostal, I'm not referring to those with a detailed knowledge of Mostali society. Unless you stretch the definition of 'worship' so far that it encompasses just about any activity defined by a philosophy (in which case your theory becomes somewhat meaningless), the Mostali do not worship anyone. They believe in things, but that's not the same as worshipping them.
<<Vadeli - I need more info about.>>
The Vadeli clearly don't worship anything, and yet they still have sunlight, etc. even in those lands which are far from theistic regions.
<< Why would there be a storm so far from any Storm God worship?>>
Because Orlanth *is*, and his powers extend across the whole of Glorantha.
<<Why would there be a plague so far from any Disease Goddess worship?>>
Although Malia worship can be a cause for plagues and the like, its not the only way they get started. Disease spirits can cause disease anywhere they wander, and they can wander pretty far. Besides, even Malia worshippers don't create disease spirits, they just control them and send them against anybody that they feel ought to be made ill (most people other than themselves, really).
<<Do we know of cases where this happens?>>
There are storms in Malkioni lands, and in Kralori, elven and troll lands too, for that matter. None of these cultures have storm worshippers that I can think of.
Another good example is the moon. When the Red Moon first rose there were no Red Moon worshippers anywhere in the world outside of Peloria/Carmania, yet everybody saw it - even the Doraddi right on the other side of the world.
A third example of deities existing without worship is supplied by the Finger Goddesses. These deities were worshipped in Carmania long before it was even called Carmania, but the religion died out and people stopped worshipping them. Two thousand years or more later (its difficult to be precise) Valare Addi discovers the existence of these long-forgotten deities on a HeroQuest (source: Entekosiad) and actually manages to reinstate their worship, albeit on a fairly low level.
<<I think on Earth religious systems have stepped out of the way of scientific ones when they deal about physical world predictions. I think in Glorantha they stand on equal footing - that's what I meant by a sharing of idea-space / theorem-space.>>
I think its accurate to say that the monotheist, atheist, theist and mystical world-views stand on an equal footing in Glorantha, even if they do all contradict one another :-). However, this is largely because they don't make many predictions that contradict one another. The theist believes his god has influence over all of Glorantha, the atheist believes that natural laws have influence over all of Glorantha. Both groups seem to be able to do magic succesfully despite their magics apparently relying on their particular view being the correct one.
About the only clear predictions that I can think of where the views would contradict is on the Hero Plane. If you travel to the sun, say, is he really Yelm in a big firey chariot or is it just a big ball of magic fire?
Let's say a Malkioni and a Dara Happan HeroQuest together to visit the sun (bit unlikely, I know, but it'll do for a hypothetical). One expects to see Yelm, and the other expects to see a big firey blob. What happens?
As I understand it, the answer is they both get proved correct. The Dara Happan sees Yelm, the Malkioni doesn't. So is he real, or is the blob real? They both are. Or aren't. Take your pick.
[1] actually, if they believe in the Invisible God they aren't really atheists, even if they don't worship him. I believe the correct term for this position is 'philosophical theism' but that's a bit of a mouthful, and the other Malkioni are quite happy to call them atheists, regardless of literal definitions. They probably don't understand the Brithini viewpoint that well anyway. As I understand it, the Mostali and maybe the Vadeli really are atheists in the literal sense.
Forward the glorious Red Army!
Trotsky
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