What surprises me is that the extremities of Rokari Malkionism have previously been justified here (though admittedly not recently) by reference to the fall of the God-learners and the great flood which left large areas of Slontos, Jrustela and Seshnela under the sea.
In addition to the arguments advanced below (as if from inside Rokarism), the success of Rokarism has also been explained (from the outside) as 'a price worth paying' if it prevents a further cataclysm. My question is this: if Rokarism is a 'fundamentalist' response to the fall of the God-learners, why did it take the best part of four centuries to get its act together? Doesn't the passage of time make the disaster that strict Rokarism is averting seem less likely? Or is there a prophetic, apocalyptic edge to Rokarism, which tries to keep everyone on the straight and narrow lest there be another flood?
I know analogies between Malkionism and Christianity are out of favour, but maybe one answer is that, as with Christianity in the West, it took the conversion of a powerful temporal leader (Bailifes the Hammer(?) playing the role of the Emperor Constantine), for these ideas to really take off-- even though they were centuries old by now.
Indeed earlier versions of Rokarism (like, if I remember correctly, the unofficial Tales of the Reaching Moon #12) suggested that Rokarism began as a 'grass roots' movement, telling workers that the road to Solace (and maybe even Joy, though if this ever formed part of canonical Rokarism it doesn't now), lay in accepting one's caste and performing one's caste duties to the best of one's abilities. Indeed this earlier version said that Rokar's teachings fell foul of the powers that be and he was martyred.
How different from the centralised, top-down movement that Rokarism has become by the early 17th Century ST! At the risk of drawing an analogy with the Western Church again, I suppose one could say the same of the Western Church before the papacy was invented. Then again, many cultures have legends justifying social class/caste-- even the Vikings have the story of Rig the Walker!
Richard Hayes
Subject: Re: Roots of rokari power
Cc: WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, 30 April, 2011, 9:15
That gives you an idea how old Rokarism's dominance is - only a little more than
two centuries. In that time, Rokarism and has grown to be one of the three
branches of Malkionism that are all-embracing of religious expression in their
society.
/// It goes to show we have Makan, the One Mind, on tour side (dronari version)
or that we have understood best the Universe's Logical underpinnings (zzaburi
version).
Other version : Our zzaburi understand the path to God best, our talari
understand the way to men's hearts best, our horali are the best fighters, our
dronari work hardest. We are on the proper way to rebuild Danmalastan.
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