Re: Initiates and Devotees

From: Ian <ilikemonkeys.geo_at_-shOkA5bREKky5JzBiLA3IyeIhprwCXCInc6xom3kXLalhDsg6320tUlwfO>
Date: Sat, 14 Jul 2007 20:33:38 -0000

Sure. In my opinion, the Initiates are the doctors and the lawyers and the priests, while the Devotees are the doctor who works triple shifts at the hospital and volunteers for Clinic hours and reads all the medical journals, they're the lawyers take too many pro bono cases and throw themselves into major crusades against corporations that made a town sick, and they're the priest who literally turns the other cheek every time he's mugged and cheerfully donates most of his "off" time to do charity work. Initiates are the respected members of society, and Devotees are those respected members of society they make movies about.

>
> In fact, looking again at Ian's example, I'd say that the guy
> working
> in the soup kitchen and the guy firing off letters to the BBC about
> the sex scenes in Torchwood are *both* devotees - but of different
> sub-cults. People are reacting, not to their devotion, but to how they
> prioritise a set of virtues that they probably both broadly agree on.
>

Sure, I can see that. The guy in the Soup Kitchen Cult is gonna look at the Devotee of the No Smut Cult, and no matter what level of devotion Soup Kitchen guy is, he's gonna ask No Smut Devotee, "don't you think you might be taking this a bit too far?", while No Smut Initiate is going to ask himself if he could ever have that level of dedication to the cause. Both Devotees are respected, but I don't know that the average person is going to feel COMFORTABLE around them.            

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