[Freeciv-Dev] Re: Religions in freeciv?

[Dennis Jensen <djensen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>This is where I don't think you are correct. To my knowledge Budism is not
>a religion either, nor indeed are 'Shamanists'. You must understand the
>definition (as I understand it) of a religion is, the worship of a higher
>being to gain salvation etc etc. A religion offers people a belief in a
>higher order, a cult/law is something which offers a way of life. Buddism
>teaches people to create a better society (in theory...) as too does
>confucism. They can be classed similar to that of todays legal system,
>they are a way of life which people can accept to follow. Therefore, you
>CANNOT call these things religions as they are not. I am NOT saying you
>shouldn't put them in freeciv, I think the idea has alot of merit.. what I
>am saying is that if you do you should throughly consider the exact
>terminology. Using the word religion has a specific meaning.. you don't
>worship sharman as higher beings offer forgiveness.. because they aren't.

I do have to disagree here with this thought, but only in part.   First if we
separate Government from Religion (which in the earlier years would be very
difficult) then what is really needed is just a split that differeniates the
two.  Religion in its most barest essence (free of specific entities) is simply
a "system of belief" and this can cover many aspects including Pschoanalysis.
Now generally a country can not have more than one Government which means any
(system of belief) that could co-exist with a Government would be considered a
Religion.  We should also note that some Governments do not allow alternate
Systems of Belief and thus would not allow religions.  Most Governments adopted
a national Religion and depending on the Religion and the Government tolerated
or didn't tolerate other Religions.

I must take a break here and state that the overall ramifications of this are
quite large and to over simplify it would be an injustice.  Here are a few
things that pop to mind.

-- In Egypt a Pharoh instilled (during his reign) Monotheism long before it
actually became an accepted way of belief.  He was considered a heretic by the
people after his death.

-- In Egypt the transition of worship from Amon-Re (which favored the rulers) to
Osiris (which gave hope to all) was implemented by the people more than by the
Government.

-- In Rome the Christian religion grew even though it was severly repressed by
the Government, but then again Rome did allow the Jewish Religion to exist and
govern their own people provided it didn't conflict with Roman laws.

-- People left countries for other countries because of Religious repression.

And there are many more examples:  what I think I am basically trying to say is
that Religion comes from the populace and the Government can either embrace it
or rebuke it.  However, if the the belief is strong enough and the Government
chooses to rebuke it then eventually Religious revolution may come to be.  The
problem here is how do you implement Religion properly.

-- Religion is generally a "system of beliefs" of the people to help them cope
with their daily lives and make them happy.

-- While Government is the bureaucratic process of running a country

My thought is that the Religion of a country should be somewhat random
controlled by the masses not by the Player and the Player can instill a
Government and procedures to help obtain/maintain a Religion they would prefer
but ultimately the religion is that of people.

Meanwhile this still allows a foreign Government (provided its a type that can
do this) to use propaganda and religious zealots to try and instill a new
Religion.

Just more food for thought