> Theism in Glorantha seems to
> have a kind of nasty, cynical edge with gods obfuscating to their
followers
> and those followers exploiting the gods for magical power. I don't like
the
> image very much. If divination is fuzzy, vague, and limited to priests
> (maybe like the Bible was, pre-John Wycliffe), it lets most of the rank
and
> file off the hook but makes the priests fairly corrupt.
Gods are cynical in Glorantha - they can't act directly, they have to act through their worshippers. They also aren't omnipotent. All they can do is provide power to those they hope can perform the acts they wish done. Naturally this means some people exploit the gods. Most of them are called PCs... However, I don't think this means that the majority of people are so cynical - certainly no more so than in real world religions of the past.
Divination being vague is, to me, a seperate issue. Not being able to ask for exact information all the time is not necessarily going to lead to corruption, any more than your dad not doing your maths homework will necessarily lead to poor marks. Sometimes you have to just use the tools you have and do your best. The Gods have already provided myths and stories - they exist for a reason.
And anyway, whats wrong with corrupt priests? Mighty good fun.
Cheers,
Graham
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