Questions tagged [religion]
For questions regarding the impact of religion in a given scenario or the creation of a religion for use in a fictional world.
3
votes
3answers
185 views
Why would competing gods ignore an obvious power source? [closed]
Human souls are energy sources that gods feed upon in the aether realm. This pushes them to interfere with the mortal realm and gain followers through worship. Messiahs, prophets, and all manner of ...
1
vote
2answers
96 views
What happens to holidays as time passes? [closed]
As the answers in How can I create original holidays for my world? discuss, humans in the "early days" of humankind had no science, so for questions like "why is winter coming?", religious beliefs ...
3
votes
3answers
112 views
How can combining two ethereal substances that naturally repel amplify each others effects?
Angels and demons come from the ethereal realm, a plane of pure energy. The former is made up of pure ether while the latter is made up of a corrupted version. These forces naturally repel each other, ...
23
votes
11answers
4k views
How can I define good in a religion that claims no moral authority?
Faith is defined as a belief in God based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof. Religion and science can be seen to oppose one another due to conflicts between people of those practices. In my ...
5
votes
4answers
266 views
What are the steps to making pantheons?
In a world where people worship different gods and have different principles, how does a government assimilate those gods (make them coexist without one god being superior)?
Clarification: I'm asking ...
4
votes
6answers
270 views
Karma Calculation - How is it done for today's huge populations?
Various religions rely on a calculation of how good or bad you have been when deciding your fate after death.
Depending on the religion it could be that the calculation determines whether you go to ...
-2
votes
5answers
263 views
Is it possible to demonstrate being God without using any power? [closed]
God is on Earth and is trying to convince someone without using any power.
How?
A power is anything that no human can do.
5
votes
1answer
117 views
How can I ensure that Roman state religion dominates christianity? [duplicate]
I am Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, emperor of Rome and the last of my line in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. History remembers me as one of the greatest leaders of the ancient world, far ...
20
votes
15answers
5k views
If angels and devils are the same species, why would their mortal offspring appear physically different?
Angels were all originally part of the same race before the war in heaven, when the ones that rebelled were cast out and sent to hell. The humans on earth were similar to angels, but without the ...
2
votes
4answers
175 views
How could gods/deities have been on earth controlling natural phenomenon, and have remained nameless? [closed]
To extrapolate, these gods/deities can be seen and are in some kind of physical form or another (perhaps they possess living creatures or just create bodies of their own). They are essentially ...
6
votes
4answers
291 views
How can a god justify it's own worship if it claims no moral authority? [closed]
Pantheism is worship that admits or tolerates all interpretations of deities. The human race exists throughout the multiverse, which was created and designed by God. Some are worlds that are ...
1
vote
5answers
283 views
how can I replace the center of power in Christendom from Rome to Constantinople?
I, Emperor Lucifer the 1st, am the undisputed ruler of the Byzantine Empire, better known as the True Roman Empire. To secure my dominance, I plan to cement myself as the ruler of all Christendom in ...
4
votes
11answers
402 views
In a world without science, what would cause society to widely lose belief in the fundamentals of its religion?
Here's the intended situation:
There's a religion based on the premise that the priests are protecting the general public from evil magic. Use of magic is taboo. What they call magic is actually ...
0
votes
3answers
181 views
How long would it take for a new religion to evolve?
How long from now would it take for a new religion—completely new, not based on any current religion—to evolve and become widespread? The religion would be as complex as any real religion, with its ...
3
votes
9answers
270 views
Can a religious order keep the peace between nations with sacrificial games? [duplicate]
This world takes place in a continent with advanced 20th century technology. The one key difference from our reality is that war does not exist in the way we would think of it. Disputes between states ...
29
votes
17answers
8k views
How can I frame human sacrifice as an honor without marketing it to the disadvantaged?
All living things possess a form of spiritual energy called reishi. This energy is used by humans to fuel their magical spells, but is also necessary for life to continue. There is a ritual that ...
14
votes
7answers
1k views
How can I prevent the Christian schism of 1054 in order to create a more unified church?
Schism of 1054, also called East-West Schism, event that precipitated the final
separation between the Eastern Christian churches, led by the patriarch of Constantinople, and the Western church. ...
0
votes
1answer
133 views
Why would greek gods allow other religions to take over? [closed]
I am planning to write a story where greek gods exist. But I can't figure out a reason why they would allow other religions to take over and people to stop worshiping them. And I need this for my ...
2
votes
3answers
85 views
How can an pantheist council serve as an umbrella for various religious institutions?
Pantheism is the belief that all-things in reality compose an all-encompassing, immanent god. It characterizes a broad range of doctrines differing in forms of relationships between reality and ...
7
votes
3answers
248 views
How can the church secure its authority over the papal states up to the 20th century?
The Papal States were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the Pope, from the 8th century until 1870. At their zenith, the Papal States covered most of ...
6
votes
7answers
283 views
How can the church stop Mass media from spreading throughout medieval Europe?
The Protestant Reformation in the 15th century was devastating for the catholic church because it broke its exclusive hold over Christendom and ended up leading to the diverse branches of today. Due ...
1
vote
2answers
135 views
How would a matriarchy rationalize infanticide? [closed]
The Beic people worship a pantheistic religion that revolves around a feminine manifestation of divinity. The creator is a mother goddess that is imbued in all of creation, but resides in the ...
1
vote
2answers
257 views
How to establish a fantasy religion for races other than humans? [closed]
The world of Holo was given life by Sky, god of light and life. When the world was new he breathed life into the Elder races in the continent of Itheria. Elves were born from the Great forest, Dwarfs ...
1
vote
1answer
127 views
How might the absence of faith-based miracles in a magical world affect people's respect for religion? [closed]
The magic of the world I'm thinking of has a wide range of effects, has existed since before humanity, and can be learned by basically anyone. This means that 'miracles', which are commonly used by ...
0
votes
3answers
96 views
Why would a religious person extract the hemoglobin of those who failed to survive his spiritual healing ritual? [closed]
This is for a crime/mystery novel with a religious antagonist. He’s trying to cure people of their psychological issues, by creating a “nightmare world” inside their mind and hoping that their ego is ...
0
votes
3answers
204 views
A Theocratic Megacorporation? [closed]
Imagine if a televangelist somehow managed to amass a devoted global following and used the funds from the offerings he gained from them to turn his cult into an N.G.O. superpower. How exactly would ...
3
votes
2answers
319 views
How can the priesthood gain control of the military? [closed]
I need to design a country in which the military is owned by the priesthood of the land. Soldiers are ultimately more loyal to the faith and those who administer it than the state. Governship is ...
36
votes
19answers
8k views
Can there be a theocracy that also practices religious tolerance?
My main character is one of 5 deities that make up the "Terram faith" The country she resides in is a theocracy of that faith; with a king and queen appointed by high priests and priestesses.
The ...
1
vote
4answers
94 views
Would it be weird or impractical for a princess who has a High Priestess title to have a family? [closed]
My character is the King's only daughter in a patriarchal succession system. She's raised to become a High Priestess (the most important woman in the whole land), because only women of a male ruler's ...
5
votes
4answers
2k views
how can a society maintain its population if it considers maternal death rates a sign of weakness?
This human society is similar to the Drow in that their world is broken down into matriarchal houses. Each house has branch clans that support their own lineages, but pay homage to the main house. ...
3
votes
5answers
161 views
Why would genocide not hasten the apocalypse? [closed]
This is a follow up question to this link:
Why would a deity not be made weaker as more souls are being born?
When human beings die, their spirits go to the soul forge. This forge is at the center ...
1
vote
7answers
330 views
Why would a deity not be made weaker as more souls are being born?
This setting follows a religion in which god, originally a perfect entity and the seat of human consciousness, split himself into two separate beings and reincarnated into two mortal forms. These two ...
0
votes
4answers
282 views
The Greeks were right [closed]
So somehow, the world's scientists find solid evidence that the Hellenic Gods are the true gods. It's them and them alone. Think Zeus, Hera, Hestia, etc. This evidence is unquestionable.
How would ...
4
votes
5answers
222 views
why would a priesthood only accept young children into its ranks?
This is a follow up to this question:
Why would a priesthood of a world religion worship a different god from their followers?
This organization is the only official religious order in this setting. ...
0
votes
3answers
137 views
Why would any diety need to reincarnate into mortal forms to gather data on its own creation? [closed]
This setting follows a religion in which a god, originally a unisex entity and the seat of human consciousness, split himself into two separate beings and reincarnate into mortal forms. These two ...
5
votes
2answers
379 views
How can I make this religion believing in “creating time traveling gods through science” believable?
I want to popularize the following or a similar belief.
In many thousand years people will travel back in time to give us an afterlife, if we make it possible, by going the steps, that will lead to ...
0
votes
1answer
89 views
Capture a city of wild spirits by humans without an arms battle? They can be attracted to a vessel they will attach/feel drawn to and stop resisting [closed]
I need to attack a city under the control of evil spirits to take back control. Since the enemy are spirits, physical or arms warfare will not help. Since spirits are shown to exist, magic is ...
19
votes
12answers
4k views
How to make religious sacrifices to their dark god sympathetic?
So, on the planet Dalia, there exists a civilization of intelligent creatures called the Dalians. The Dalians are extremely primitive (compared to most others) and have an extremely tribal, clan-...
22
votes
21answers
6k views
Why would god conduct multiple raptures if he depends on human beings for worship?
A being known as Dea is the creator of all things in the mortal world. He created human beings as living batteries in order to fuel him and give him power. Dea feeds off of human worship, which it ...
22
votes
9answers
7k views
How can I legally reduce religion in my world?
Religious rights are protected, and freedom to religion is secured, how can we reduce religion in a country without breaking religious rights laws.
Here are some examples:
Ban religious schools (...
36
votes
18answers
5k views
How can I use my dominance of the software industry to get my customers to worship an eldritch abomination that they don't believe in?
The world is going to hell. Global warming, overpopulation, economic crises and other such issues plague humanity. The only logical solution is to summon Hastur, The King in Yellow, an elder god from ...
0
votes
2answers
169 views
Gods are dogs, but why? [closed]
It’s obvious, really: “God” and “dog” are just two sides of the same coin. Literally any pantheon, deity, or divine force that’s ever existed - yep, they’re all dogs somewhere.
But why? What reason ...
6
votes
3answers
221 views
All hail the sun disk! How to maximize ancient Egypt's acceptance of Ahkenaten's religion?
Premise
Ahkenaten was a bit of a heretical pharaoh in ancient Egypt. While it was customary at the time for the pharaoh to choose a god to be associated with, Ahkenaten went further and proclaimed ...
35
votes
14answers
11k views
How can prostitution be made acceptable in a religiously conservative society?
The dominant faith in this world is religiously conservative and believes that the only legitimate form of sexual intimacy is between husband and wife, and that homosexuality and extra marital affairs ...
11
votes
8answers
2k views
Preventing the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire
In this alternative reality Constantine the Great never embraces the Christianity and the Roman Empire remains polytheistic.
So I would like to know what realistic change(s) could have prevented the ...
13
votes
9answers
2k views
How to make a death-worshipping race seem less evil? [closed]
How does one make a race that worships a personification of Death less evil? This race believes that dead souls go back to the River of Life to be reincarnated into a new form, so their beliefs aren't ...
5
votes
4answers
973 views
Who administers soul exchanges? [closed]
Mythology is replete with examples of people selling their soul to the devil. Except... how does that actually work, mechanically?
Let's say you sign a contract agreeing that the devil may take your ...
0
votes
4answers
144 views
Why Would People Follow an Anti-Christ or a Similar Figure? [duplicate]
Why would people follow the Anti-Christ, or a similar figure? I can imagine some would follow him out of fear, some out of a desire to hurt others, and others out of greed, but what other reasons ...
-7
votes
1answer
220 views
Why might people mistake a nuclear warhead explosion for Lucifer rising? [closed]
So, the cult of Uranius in Kansas City have just detonated a 50 megaton nuclear warhead, and the entirety of KC is now a deep, deep radioactive crater. A few people saw the bomb explode from about 40 ...
11
votes
16answers
3k views
The plausibility of peaceful coexistence between religions where they view the other religions as heretical
So this is for the same story as my "Boats for tall people" question earlier, but not about boats. In this world there is one religion that almost every race has a different interpretation of.
For ...
