Me>>Unless you seriously think that the latest philosophical speculation
>>gets transferred down to the Barntari at the plough, I stand
>>by my statement that since the Orlanthi do not engage in
>>abstract thought about their religion, it is not required
>>to make their storm god more potent.
>[...]
>I doubt Orlanthi have parties to discuss philosophy, like ancient
>Athenians did, but I wouldn't discount their ability to reason about
>one of the most important things in their lives.
Reason is not the same thing as Abstract Thought or Philosophy. I can reason that the Black Oaks stole my cows or that what the dragonpriests say about Orlanth Dragonfriend is wrong, but such does not confer the ability to wonder about what it means for Orlanth to have a transcendent portion.
Peter Larsen:
>My point was that the Orlanthi do engage in fairly high-levvel
>philosophical speculation from time to time; it is
>not as alien to their character as you paint it.
Your _original_ point was that abstract thought was necessary to improving the potency of their religion (i.e. turning a God into a Great God IIRC), and you adduced the Dara Happans (based on a notion that the insights of their philosophers are transmitted to the Lodrili and Shargashi alike). I pointed out the Orlanthi to disprove this.
Now unless you can show that the standard Orlanthi religious practice as presented in Thunder Rebels incorporates the philosophical speculations from the EWF and the Bright Council, then your original point does not have much to support it.
>There could be loads of weird philosophical speculation that never
>gets out of the priest's heads (especially among the Alkoring).
If it "never gets out", then how can it be transmitted and improve the religion?
>I'm saying that religeous speculation is not as alien to their
>culture as you think.
Because I never thought it. What I did say was "abstract thought" and "philosophical speculation" were alien to their culture. There is a major difference between that and Harmast wondering about how Orlanth saved the cosmos.
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