> From the Zzaburi's perspective, the Heortling's
> lightning bolt is
> perfectly real, but it proves nothing about the
> nature of Orlanth, still
> less his moral standing. It no more constitutes
> proof in his eyes than
> weeping statues, liquefying blood and miraculous
> cures at Lourdes
> constitute proof of Christianity in the eyes of a RW
> unbeliever. So, to
> my mind at least, the difference between Earth and
> Glorantha isn't so
> great in this respect as it might at first appear.
I see what you mean, but that implies quite a large difference betwen Glorantha and the RW. Only the other way round from the one I'd originally thought.
In the RW we have a class of phenomena for which our normal modes of thought give us no rational explanation. The aforesaid weeping statues etc: and directed lightning bolts, if such existed. If such evidence is seen, on a regular basis, and obvious fakery is ruled out, then you have evidence that *something* is going on. Possibly, that the deity who is claimed to be responsible for the action really does exist.
But in Glorantha, *anything* can be explained away as "oh, it's just magic". Magic that you personally don't know how to cast, maybe. Magic from another alien system, quite possibly (burn them!). But never anything that's actually impossible according to your current beliefs. Which moves proof from being difficult to being impossible.
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