> Please do tell. I'm afire with the desire to discover the real
world
> religion that offers something more than hope, faith, and
> fellowship. Being
> raised Lutheran (in a fervent mission church, no less), I'm
> especially
> curious about how they fit into this. ..
I'm no expert on Lutheranism, but as a protestant I would guess that you weren't raised to believe that during Communion the Host actualy transforms into the flesh of christ once you have consumed it. Many Catholics realy do believe this, and it is established church doctrine.
> ...I'm going to be
very
> disappointed if
> someone insists that a mass or other Christian church service
> (communion
> services are not masses) involves crossing over to the
> Otherside to reenact
> myths. Though I'm willing to accept mass as a practice
> heroquest, that's
> not the same thing as crossing over to the God World on
> Orlanth's high holy
> day(s).
In your experience, perhaps not.
When the priest invokes the presence of god to witnes the ceremony, this is a 'magical' act. The sacred space of the ceremony becomes 'holy' in a way that many poeple claim they can actualy feel with their senses. They're not practicing for anything, so far as they are concerned they're realy doing it!
The same goes for wedding ceremonies. Christians believe that a wedding ceremony literaly changes the relationship between the souls of the participants, binding them together in a way that only god can undo. It's not just symbolic, it's actualy making a change in the world. You may not believe that, but many do and are prepared to attest to the fact that they do feel different afterwards.
Going back to Glorantha, we know that Orlanthi magic works, but we also know that Lunar magic work. Does this prove to the Orlanthi that the Lunar religion is correct and the right way to live? No, it doesn't. For Gloranthans the real, physical effectiveness of magic doesn't prove the rightness or wrongness of a religion at a moral or ethical level. Some Orlanthi mmay realise that the same goes for their own religion, and as a result may be tempted into heretical beliefs and the worship of foreign gods. Glorantha is hardly a prefect world of pure faith and unassailable idealism merely because the local priests can cast thunderbolts.
Simon Hibbs
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