Me>*But the sorcerers aren't commoners in the sense
>*of an ordinary commoner (i.e. one-of us), they are considered
>*foreigners (because they don't believe in God) with the attached
>*distrust that implies.
>But let me ask this then; working from the assumption that 99% of people
>start with the religion of their parents (and then either accept or reject
>it from that basis), can we presume that the civilized "West" - barring the
>occasional oddball immigrant family, exclusionist community (notably
>Arolanit), barbarians, non-humans, etc - starts as essentially 100% Malkioni
>of one water or another?
Well, Sorcerers are Malkioni of a particular kind. But in the sense that you intended (believers), yes, the people of Loskalm and Seshnela are virtually Malkioni
>Would this make practitioners of sorcery generally apostates?
No worse than Rokari, Hrestoli and Stygians generally are. Or the Vadeli for that matter. Sorcerers get off lightly because they are "people of the book"/"doubting thomases" rather than raving heretics.
>If these (broad) assumptions are true, than I would think most
>Westerners would view sorcerers with more than an average level of
>distrust and suspicion.
Just like foreigners are viewed.
>I guess I'm suggesting that *personally* I
>doubt that most communities in the West would even have that much tolerance,
>forcing most Sorcerors (until they're powerful enough to NOT be treated like
>crap) to keep their beliefs strictly private or even to 'go along' with the
>community...
I've always believed that Sorcerers would be obliged to keep their mouths shut in public, pay extra for their deviant beliefs, and if they holler "God is Dead" in the streets, they are dead.
Except for one case: in medieval times, there were disputations arranged between Christians and Jews, or Muslims etc. over which faith is correct, and conflicting opinions on who won. IMO every now and then, the church arranges Truth Contests with the local sorcerers to determine who is more correct. Officially the church always wins (and one of the sorcerers might experience a dramatic conversion), but I think the sorcerers participate because it delivers their beliefs to potential converts in the crowd (and usually bump into the sorcerer later saying "By the way, I couldn't help hearing what you said in the square...")
End of The Glorantha Digest V7 #323
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