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Religon in the Traveller universe.Many paths.
- Thread starter BenTOGS
- Start date
Liam Devlin
Mongoose
DFW said:It would be interesting to extrapolate the various changes to Earth religions in an interstellar setting. Might be something I'll incorporate.
I elect to consider that a compliment, Mssr DFW. Thank you, sir.
Liam Devlin
Mongoose
FreeTrav said:I actually had a conversation with a rabbi about some of these issues - he was a SF reader - and his take on the issues were as follows:
Kashruth (keeping kosher): The rules regarding clean and unclean animals are both specific enough and loose enough that they should be generally applicable to nonterrestrial life forms. Where kashruth doesn't speak (e.g., specific fowl/xenoavians), work it out based on analogy and minhagim; if you're coming at it without benefit of rabbinical counsel, you're making up your own minhag from your understanding of Torah and Talmud (and this is perfectly permissible).
Jerusalem: Two possible solutions to this: (1) Take a stone from Jerusalem-on-Terra (the Old City); maintain chain-of-evidence/chain-of-rabbinical-custody until landing on the new world; plant stone at landing site; stone is now Symbolic Jerusalem for this world. (2, more complicated) Use actual stellar direction for Jerusalem-on-Terra; this could require varying prayer times and/or directions so that you are reasonably accurately facing Jerusalem-on-Terra, and at the same time not needing to face straight up or straight down relative to local gravity. He preferred (1). So do I.
Islam faces roughly the same issues with respect to halal and Mecca; in his Legio del Cid/Terra Nova series, Tom Kratman had his Moslems take a stone from the Kaaba (from the structure, not the Black Stone itself), plant it on the new world, and that became their Symbolic Mecca. Halal is essentially kashruth, though the Moslem interpretation of the requirements is in fact looser than the Jewish interpretation (e.g., a cheeseburger does not inherently break halal, though it does break kashruth if the cheese is real milk cheese and the meat is real meat); most a'immah will say that if a Moslem is somewhere where he is able to get kosher foods but not halal, get kosher; rabbim do not indicate a preference for halal over other non-kosher in the event of kosher unavailability.
It should be noted that both Judaism and Islam have prohibitions against putting the law over the preservation of life; one way I've heard a rabbi sum it up was "If it's a choice between breaking kashruth or dying, eat the damn pork!".
(N.B. For those who are concerned about terminology, e.g., 'Judaism/Jewish' vs 'Mosaic faith', [a] I'm Jewish, and if you use proper English grammatical markers on the word to match the English usage, you won't offend. For example, you can speak about 'the Jewish faith' or 'Judaism' or 'Jewish money', but not 'Jew money' or 'the Jew faith'. Obviously, non-offense doesn't apply to phrases deliberately cast to be offensive, regardless of grammatical propriety. In this thread so far, I have seen no examples of usages where properly-marked variants of 'Judaism' or 'Jewish' would have resulted in an offensive statement.)
(N.B. A more important distinction needs to be made with respect to that faith which holds Mohammed (pbuh) as the 'seal of prophecy'. The correct name of the faith in English is "Islam" (e.g., "The official religion of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is Islam.", "She professes her religion to be Islam.", etc.); the personal noun and adjective is "Moslem" (e.g., "He is Moslem/He is a Moslem/He follows the Moslem faith", "Moslem practices include hajj and fasting during Ramadan.", etc.). "Islamic/Islamist" refers to a political movement that masquerades as a religious one; "Muslim" (as in "Black Muslim") refers to the putatively religious component of a nationalist movement among African-Americans that practices a distorted subset of ritual forms originally derived from Islam. Both the term and the movement are essentially moribund; many African-Americans now practice a more orthodox, if somewhat liberal, form of Islam.)
Extremely informative, Mssr Zeitlin & helpful. Many thanks!
I will resume my piece later on tonight, but your insights match my own (I have not read Mr Kratman's novel). My insights to the faiths of Judaism & Islam mirror his hypothesis on the movement of stones from the Holy site Cities of Mecca & Jerusalem. In regards to the dietary laws, yes, again when life is threatened over law, "one eats the flesh of the so-called unclean beast." The same rule is followed when one is a guest, under the Host-guest laws of Hospitality, though these are more cultural than religious in some aspects.
Practice of faiths--Orthodox, Moderate, & Liberal are descriptives for how the worshipper adheres/ follows the laws of the religion. I do use these terms as they apply to the root faith as we know it, when looking into how things may evolve in the Traveller 'Verse History timeline.
Being bound regionally or to a single world limited certain religions--a classic example is that of the Iliesh Sector Virasin faith; the faiths of Terran origin (which also has its O-M-L adherents & practices), reveals some of the influences wrought by the Long Night in that the closer to the parent world, the more Orthodox the faith is practiced.
Another Traveller example of this lies in Antares Sector, said to be by Vilani Historical records to be the birthplace of the Church of Stellar Divinity. Here, the faith looks toward the Star deity of the star Antares itself. Yet when one travels spinwards, corewards, or trailing from this region, one finds more liberal & moderate variants of the faith in abundance.
Again, for the purposes of extrapolation, the heavily ethnically settled regions around the Solomani Rim Sector by the Terrans reflect much the same for their faiths--when we cast our eye farther out, the changes appear, and diversity of dogma increases to the point where separate faiths emerged, and are held fast to single worlds (Govt Types D, E on UWP data string).
In the orthodoxy leaning, these one-world Theocracies tend to lean heavily towards the 'purity' of their faith (note the prevalence of High to extreme Law on these worlds LL 9+), and seldom outside their system have any external apparatus for missionary work, being content to hold and control their faith where it arose on its 'homeworld'.
More to follow...
Liam Devlin
Mongoose
1st Imperium
--was more influenced by trade monopolies and technological supremacy, as well as a penchant for technology improvement to TL8 of its expanding territories than worrying about religious faiths in Cultural regions they swept over (Lancian/Gushemege; Darmine/Zarushagar; Virasin/Iliesh; Geonee/Massilia; Luriani/ Ley) but they did adopt the Cargo-Cult faith of the Antares region, which became known as the Church of the Stellar Divinity of Antares (CoSD-A).
Dogmatically/ ritually simple and ethical, it was a convergence of science and faith in harmony that personified the life bearing Star of Antares as the physical manifestation of 'God', and that all life under its radiance came from, and would one day return to it. Yet as the Vilani traders carried it back, they moved further & further from the light of Antares.
Therein were the seeds for the first heresy--were not stars that saw life sentient or otherwise under their gaze no less gods than Antares was? Vilani Historical records are unclear, yet the CoSD-A annals from the time period reveal when "it came to light, in the High Prelacy of Nashuun III, that the Bretheren of the Star inumerable had in fact followed their initial teachings to other worlds, and raised up other Stars when they could no longer see Holy Antares, there was troublesome debate. As the faith bore no ill-will, nor sought the thrones of men, it was decreed these other Stars were scions of Antares, and Antares remained chief among his brother & sister gods."
This new decree, made in peaceful accession to the obvious created the form of the faith in the Panstellar sense--a pantheon of Life-bearing Star deities, yet subservient to Antares, and is known as the CoSD-Ps. As Vland was to the 1st Imperium, so became Antares/Antares became to the CoSD-A & numerous Panstellar sects.
2nd Imperium
--in the defeat of the Vilani after the Nth interstellar war, the Solomani conquerors brought with them a new concept to the conquered, that of the freedom of religion, and that no sole faith was greater than another. To the minor branches of Humaniti who had been subservient and kept down at TL8 by their Vilani 'masters', the Solomani were liberators in that sense, allowed to pursue technology freely at their own pace; religiously, the Cultural regions saw their own faiths' as equal to those of the Vilani and the ones the conquering Solomani brought with them.
The new capital became Hub(Ershur) in Ershur(A)/Massilia Sector, and there too went the major faiths seeking representation and a voice to thew Empire of Man. One of the influences the Solomani achieved was in this equality era of faiths and such, the Panstellar sects peacefully separated over the length of the four and a half centuries from the CoSD-A, and once again the Orthodox CoSD-A had to yield peacefully. yet not all of the sects of CoSD-Ps desired this, but in allowance of the freedom to worship, remained in subservient status to their Star deity-lineage to Antares.
These new sects, under the 2nd Imperium, cast their Star-gods as equal to that of the deity Antares, and thus not beholden to tithes and church missions supporting the Faith in the birth-Sector of their church. Unlike Terran faiths, the CoSD did not seek political favors and powers; nor did it advance its agenda with warrior-Priests.
The came the Long Night after the collapse of the 2nd Imperium...
--was more influenced by trade monopolies and technological supremacy, as well as a penchant for technology improvement to TL8 of its expanding territories than worrying about religious faiths in Cultural regions they swept over (Lancian/Gushemege; Darmine/Zarushagar; Virasin/Iliesh; Geonee/Massilia; Luriani/ Ley) but they did adopt the Cargo-Cult faith of the Antares region, which became known as the Church of the Stellar Divinity of Antares (CoSD-A).
Dogmatically/ ritually simple and ethical, it was a convergence of science and faith in harmony that personified the life bearing Star of Antares as the physical manifestation of 'God', and that all life under its radiance came from, and would one day return to it. Yet as the Vilani traders carried it back, they moved further & further from the light of Antares.
Therein were the seeds for the first heresy--were not stars that saw life sentient or otherwise under their gaze no less gods than Antares was? Vilani Historical records are unclear, yet the CoSD-A annals from the time period reveal when "it came to light, in the High Prelacy of Nashuun III, that the Bretheren of the Star inumerable had in fact followed their initial teachings to other worlds, and raised up other Stars when they could no longer see Holy Antares, there was troublesome debate. As the faith bore no ill-will, nor sought the thrones of men, it was decreed these other Stars were scions of Antares, and Antares remained chief among his brother & sister gods."
This new decree, made in peaceful accession to the obvious created the form of the faith in the Panstellar sense--a pantheon of Life-bearing Star deities, yet subservient to Antares, and is known as the CoSD-Ps. As Vland was to the 1st Imperium, so became Antares/Antares became to the CoSD-A & numerous Panstellar sects.
2nd Imperium
--in the defeat of the Vilani after the Nth interstellar war, the Solomani conquerors brought with them a new concept to the conquered, that of the freedom of religion, and that no sole faith was greater than another. To the minor branches of Humaniti who had been subservient and kept down at TL8 by their Vilani 'masters', the Solomani were liberators in that sense, allowed to pursue technology freely at their own pace; religiously, the Cultural regions saw their own faiths' as equal to those of the Vilani and the ones the conquering Solomani brought with them.
The new capital became Hub(Ershur) in Ershur(A)/Massilia Sector, and there too went the major faiths seeking representation and a voice to thew Empire of Man. One of the influences the Solomani achieved was in this equality era of faiths and such, the Panstellar sects peacefully separated over the length of the four and a half centuries from the CoSD-A, and once again the Orthodox CoSD-A had to yield peacefully. yet not all of the sects of CoSD-Ps desired this, but in allowance of the freedom to worship, remained in subservient status to their Star deity-lineage to Antares.
These new sects, under the 2nd Imperium, cast their Star-gods as equal to that of the deity Antares, and thus not beholden to tithes and church missions supporting the Faith in the birth-Sector of their church. Unlike Terran faiths, the CoSD did not seek political favors and powers; nor did it advance its agenda with warrior-Priests.
The came the Long Night after the collapse of the 2nd Imperium...
Liam Devlin
Mongoose
The Long Night
With the collapse of the Rule of Man (2nd Imperium) came the Great Sundering, the Great Darkeness, the Raider kingdoms, and so go the names for this era of barbarity and despair. Yet not all the lights went out at once, nor did some of them ever even flicker among the thousands of worlds the Solomani had spread their ships over. Thousands of worlds winked out as trade and starships ceased coming, and trillions did perish; economies and technology tumbled to levels more sustainable, some for centuries, some for the entire period between -1556 and Year 0.
Separated from Terra, the Solomani faiths survived and adpated to the New Dark. Unable to take up Holy Pilgrimmages back to the worlds of their forefathers forefathers, the site of the stones from Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem became the new point to visit annually on each of these worlds. On others, the loving face of their deity had turned against them, and their gods became ones of wrath and displeasure, more austere and harsh, as life had become when the star lanes went silent and the ships came no more.
In regions where the lights held fast, in small pocket empires, the more learned of the Faiths of terra preserved their knowledge--some like the 2GRC had indeed entire Orders of monastics devoted to the task already, kept the faith and learning for the new dawn they knew would come...one day. On worlds where the,major faiths resided together, the Unity of the Book arose from Cult status, to that of a church in several small pocket empires.
Amidst the CoSD-Ps, and CoSD-A worlds, this new age of darkeness brought with it the worst of heresies--that of violence and war as the raider-kingdom Age began. Star gods were no longer allies, or brothers and sisters, but enemies as each world struggled to survive by raiding and stealing ships and technology from their weaker kinsmen. A faith that ridden the stars in peace and harmony fell to the baser natures of men as the worlds fought for survival, killed or enslaved their fellows.
There were those who foresaw the coming dark, and fled off past the collapsing borders taking their faith with them that one day a better 'verse would arise.
Then in Year 0, after uniting and fighting in the Core Sector had produced a stable expanding former federation into a mighty power, there arose the new dawn, and like a Phoenix, the Third Imperium...
more to follow...
PS: Edited for spelling
With the collapse of the Rule of Man (2nd Imperium) came the Great Sundering, the Great Darkeness, the Raider kingdoms, and so go the names for this era of barbarity and despair. Yet not all the lights went out at once, nor did some of them ever even flicker among the thousands of worlds the Solomani had spread their ships over. Thousands of worlds winked out as trade and starships ceased coming, and trillions did perish; economies and technology tumbled to levels more sustainable, some for centuries, some for the entire period between -1556 and Year 0.
Separated from Terra, the Solomani faiths survived and adpated to the New Dark. Unable to take up Holy Pilgrimmages back to the worlds of their forefathers forefathers, the site of the stones from Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem became the new point to visit annually on each of these worlds. On others, the loving face of their deity had turned against them, and their gods became ones of wrath and displeasure, more austere and harsh, as life had become when the star lanes went silent and the ships came no more.
In regions where the lights held fast, in small pocket empires, the more learned of the Faiths of terra preserved their knowledge--some like the 2GRC had indeed entire Orders of monastics devoted to the task already, kept the faith and learning for the new dawn they knew would come...one day. On worlds where the,major faiths resided together, the Unity of the Book arose from Cult status, to that of a church in several small pocket empires.
Amidst the CoSD-Ps, and CoSD-A worlds, this new age of darkeness brought with it the worst of heresies--that of violence and war as the raider-kingdom Age began. Star gods were no longer allies, or brothers and sisters, but enemies as each world struggled to survive by raiding and stealing ships and technology from their weaker kinsmen. A faith that ridden the stars in peace and harmony fell to the baser natures of men as the worlds fought for survival, killed or enslaved their fellows.
There were those who foresaw the coming dark, and fled off past the collapsing borders taking their faith with them that one day a better 'verse would arise.
Then in Year 0, after uniting and fighting in the Core Sector had produced a stable expanding former federation into a mighty power, there arose the new dawn, and like a Phoenix, the Third Imperium...
more to follow...
PS: Edited for spelling
Liam Devlin
Mongoose
The 3rd Imperium
--The rise of Cleon Zhunastu (Cleon I), and the Federation of Sylea becoming the new Imperium was no accident of greatness. With the defeat of the Kingdom of Chanestin & the Interstellar Confederacy, and securing the Vland & the Vilani's security & cultural concerns to spinward, Cleon I set about annexing the adjoining states and worlds. While he was innovative and creative, he was also decisive, and declared Sylean year 651 to be Year 0 of the new age. He recreated the Grand Senate, thereby falling in line with the formation of such a body as the preceeding Imperium's had.
But where the former two powers had stumbled and erred, Cleon changed things--namely in year 17 defining by edict "that any sentient being dwelling within the Imperium's borders was a citizen (with all the rights thereof) no matter their origin." This new movement known as Pan-Sophontism while overlooked often in the economic and Imperial might of the military the 3rd Imperium's early rise, was actually a cornerstone of hope and change from the previous empires for the alien sentient races within its boundaries.
The remnant Terran and Vilani faiths that had survived in Vland, Antares, and Amdukan sectors, as well as those in the Core sector around Sylea (Capital) followed along, many of them wrestling with the Humaniti-within issue of Sentient alien Imperial citizens, even as they followed behind the advancing Imperial fleets and trade ships, dealing with the Long Night heresies as they found them.
The peaceful religion of the CoSD-A & Ps sects were horrified by the barbarism their faith had succumbed to warring upon their bretheren, and declared these worlds off limits and heretics. The 2GRC faith, in the wake of Cleon I's announcement began the Third reform--that of proselytizing aliens, such as the Vargr, which the CoSD-A had already done to some extent during the Long Night; the CoSD-Ps followed their parent faith in good order. His heir Artemsus I would initiate & complete the 'Pacification Campaigns' (years 76-120) that gained the 3rd Imperium much of its initial growth; Many of the Anti-Stellar brotherhood CoSD heretical churches were 'liberated' from their warring sins, as the CoSD-A & Ps stood by and let the Imperial Navy and Marines smash their ships and armies, and then restored the true faith back after they were subdued militarily.
The major Terran faiths dealt with their heresies differently of course--where entire planets--(often high median to High population: pop 8-A) had changed doctrine they were isolated, and the smaller world's faithful were absorbed back into the fold. Uncovered in the Imperial wave of expansion, the separate faith of the Unity of God church that had successfully amalgamated the major three monotheisms in several pocket empires that lay between the former Confederation of Terra and the 3rd Imperium. This faith, without prompting, had already brought in sentient alien worshippers.
The Solomani Confederation too encountered the changes the Long Night had wrought in their faiths across the stars as they knit themselves back together, and dealt with them accordingly--sometimes peacefully, other times more stringent methods were applied. The collisions of the Pan-Sophontist movement of the 3rd Imperium however had ramifications with their relationship with the Solomani region however, troubles that transcended faith, and dwelt in the politics as well.
The 2GRC, and other major faiths of the region for the most part, balked at allowing in non-human sentient worshippers, much less allow them into the priesthoods. Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism however were less affected by this conflict. The Protestant faiths that had changed over the Long Night however, did as their ancestors had done rather than convert or be subsumed into the fold of their parent-faiths, joined those heading out to settle the new frontier region of Deneb, Trojan Reaches, the Reft, and the Spinward Marches.
But with them also went the major faiths as well, though in the colonial era between the 400's to the 700's in the Marches the latter's ability to sway and absorb the splinter sects and cults, or denominations who felt uncomfortable in the -re-expansion of the new Imperium was lessened. Politically most faiths stood outside of planetary politics, save for notable examples such as Deneb, Lintl, Pysadi, Pavabid, Goertel, Simak, Tlazteotl, and a handful of other worlds. One of the major reasons for these worlds high-law levels exist is of course most of them have no wish for the influences of the other major faiths to sway their flock/populations.
The political divisions caused between the 3GRC and 2GRC came to a head behind the scenes in the Solomani Rim war (990-1002). Those 2GRC churches within what had been called 'the Solomani sphere' region of course aided and abetted the Solomani Confederation's efforts to seize back these worlds and break off from the 3rd Imperium, capitalizing on the post 3rd Frontier War chaos, humiliating peace, and the abdication of Emperor Styryx I. Of note within the major faiths, the 2GRC church of Deneb Sector remained loyal to the 3rd Imperium. Scholars speculate even today whether this was due to the nearby threats of the Vargr and/or the Zhodani, or part of the Domain's nationalism for the Imperium in and of itself.
The Solomani were defeated, and those 2GRC churches were replaced as they too fled a possibly vindictive 3rd Imperial Navy that marched to Terra, and retook it by 3GRC clergymen. the wiser of the major faiths in the reconquered region remained outside the fray, and survived unscathed.
The Imperium of 1105 is far from perfect, pan-sophontism is indelibly etched into most Imperial member world societies, and yes, even their faiths to some extent--the exceptions being the one-system theocracies.
finis
--this is my historical analysis of religions through the 1st-3rd Imperiums. It is macro-scaled, and many finer details are of course intentionally missing, for GM's & players alike to make what they will of it. Your comments gentleman of the boards?
--The rise of Cleon Zhunastu (Cleon I), and the Federation of Sylea becoming the new Imperium was no accident of greatness. With the defeat of the Kingdom of Chanestin & the Interstellar Confederacy, and securing the Vland & the Vilani's security & cultural concerns to spinward, Cleon I set about annexing the adjoining states and worlds. While he was innovative and creative, he was also decisive, and declared Sylean year 651 to be Year 0 of the new age. He recreated the Grand Senate, thereby falling in line with the formation of such a body as the preceeding Imperium's had.
But where the former two powers had stumbled and erred, Cleon changed things--namely in year 17 defining by edict "that any sentient being dwelling within the Imperium's borders was a citizen (with all the rights thereof) no matter their origin." This new movement known as Pan-Sophontism while overlooked often in the economic and Imperial might of the military the 3rd Imperium's early rise, was actually a cornerstone of hope and change from the previous empires for the alien sentient races within its boundaries.
The remnant Terran and Vilani faiths that had survived in Vland, Antares, and Amdukan sectors, as well as those in the Core sector around Sylea (Capital) followed along, many of them wrestling with the Humaniti-within issue of Sentient alien Imperial citizens, even as they followed behind the advancing Imperial fleets and trade ships, dealing with the Long Night heresies as they found them.
The peaceful religion of the CoSD-A & Ps sects were horrified by the barbarism their faith had succumbed to warring upon their bretheren, and declared these worlds off limits and heretics. The 2GRC faith, in the wake of Cleon I's announcement began the Third reform--that of proselytizing aliens, such as the Vargr, which the CoSD-A had already done to some extent during the Long Night; the CoSD-Ps followed their parent faith in good order. His heir Artemsus I would initiate & complete the 'Pacification Campaigns' (years 76-120) that gained the 3rd Imperium much of its initial growth; Many of the Anti-Stellar brotherhood CoSD heretical churches were 'liberated' from their warring sins, as the CoSD-A & Ps stood by and let the Imperial Navy and Marines smash their ships and armies, and then restored the true faith back after they were subdued militarily.
The major Terran faiths dealt with their heresies differently of course--where entire planets--(often high median to High population: pop 8-A) had changed doctrine they were isolated, and the smaller world's faithful were absorbed back into the fold. Uncovered in the Imperial wave of expansion, the separate faith of the Unity of God church that had successfully amalgamated the major three monotheisms in several pocket empires that lay between the former Confederation of Terra and the 3rd Imperium. This faith, without prompting, had already brought in sentient alien worshippers.
The Solomani Confederation too encountered the changes the Long Night had wrought in their faiths across the stars as they knit themselves back together, and dealt with them accordingly--sometimes peacefully, other times more stringent methods were applied. The collisions of the Pan-Sophontist movement of the 3rd Imperium however had ramifications with their relationship with the Solomani region however, troubles that transcended faith, and dwelt in the politics as well.
The 2GRC, and other major faiths of the region for the most part, balked at allowing in non-human sentient worshippers, much less allow them into the priesthoods. Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism however were less affected by this conflict. The Protestant faiths that had changed over the Long Night however, did as their ancestors had done rather than convert or be subsumed into the fold of their parent-faiths, joined those heading out to settle the new frontier region of Deneb, Trojan Reaches, the Reft, and the Spinward Marches.
But with them also went the major faiths as well, though in the colonial era between the 400's to the 700's in the Marches the latter's ability to sway and absorb the splinter sects and cults, or denominations who felt uncomfortable in the -re-expansion of the new Imperium was lessened. Politically most faiths stood outside of planetary politics, save for notable examples such as Deneb, Lintl, Pysadi, Pavabid, Goertel, Simak, Tlazteotl, and a handful of other worlds. One of the major reasons for these worlds high-law levels exist is of course most of them have no wish for the influences of the other major faiths to sway their flock/populations.
The political divisions caused between the 3GRC and 2GRC came to a head behind the scenes in the Solomani Rim war (990-1002). Those 2GRC churches within what had been called 'the Solomani sphere' region of course aided and abetted the Solomani Confederation's efforts to seize back these worlds and break off from the 3rd Imperium, capitalizing on the post 3rd Frontier War chaos, humiliating peace, and the abdication of Emperor Styryx I. Of note within the major faiths, the 2GRC church of Deneb Sector remained loyal to the 3rd Imperium. Scholars speculate even today whether this was due to the nearby threats of the Vargr and/or the Zhodani, or part of the Domain's nationalism for the Imperium in and of itself.
The Solomani were defeated, and those 2GRC churches were replaced as they too fled a possibly vindictive 3rd Imperial Navy that marched to Terra, and retook it by 3GRC clergymen. the wiser of the major faiths in the reconquered region remained outside the fray, and survived unscathed.
The Imperium of 1105 is far from perfect, pan-sophontism is indelibly etched into most Imperial member world societies, and yes, even their faiths to some extent--the exceptions being the one-system theocracies.
finis
--this is my historical analysis of religions through the 1st-3rd Imperiums. It is macro-scaled, and many finer details are of course intentionally missing, for GM's & players alike to make what they will of it. Your comments gentleman of the boards?
the only things I can add to FreeTrav's excellent summary:
In (of all things) the Chronicles of Riddick, there is a New Mecca which is pretty much as described, original stone placed under pillar becomes new (local) centre of worship.
In terms of space travel, the precedent for some traditions were set by a Saudi (Prince Sultan bin Salman) in 1985 (he went into space as a payload specialist on the Discovery). The following things were decided:
1) The whole journey counts as 'time spent travelling' and as such delaying fasting until finished was permitted (in the end he did fast but that was a journey of a day and a bit, not a week or more)
2) Prayer times were based on the time of day at the point of launch until return.
In (of all things) the Chronicles of Riddick, there is a New Mecca which is pretty much as described, original stone placed under pillar becomes new (local) centre of worship.
In terms of space travel, the precedent for some traditions were set by a Saudi (Prince Sultan bin Salman) in 1985 (he went into space as a payload specialist on the Discovery). The following things were decided:
1) The whole journey counts as 'time spent travelling' and as such delaying fasting until finished was permitted (in the end he did fast but that was a journey of a day and a bit, not a week or more)
2) Prayer times were based on the time of day at the point of launch until return.
FreeTrav said:the personal noun and adjective is "Moslem" (e.g., "He is Moslem/He is a Moslem/He follows the Moslem faith", "Moslem practices include hajj and fasting during Ramadan.", etc.). "Islamic/Islamist" refers to a political movement that masquerades as a religious one; "Muslim" (as in "Black Muslim") refers to the putatively religious component of a nationalist movement among African-Americans that practices a distorted subset of ritual forms originally derived from Islam. Both the term and the movement are essentially moribund; many African-Americans now practice a more orthodox, if somewhat liberal, form of Islam.)
Your Moslem / Muslim is a regional difference. In England (and English) Muslim is the usually accepted term - it is closer in pronunciation to the Arabic. The OED also has references going back to 1615 for Muslim and it was in regular, although not dominant, usage before the Black Muslims came to prominence in the US.
Liam Devlin
Mongoose
locarno24 wrote:
:idea: :shock: :idea: Now THAT's useful to know! I can see that applying for sublight travel; In Jump Space launch time/Ship's time can set the prayer hours though.
In terms of space travel, the precedent for some traditions were set by a Saudi (Prince Sultan bin Salman) in 1985 (he went into space as a payload specialist on the Discovery). The following things were decided:
1) The whole journey counts as 'time spent travelling' and as such delaying fasting until finished was permitted (in the end he did fast but that was a journey of a day and a bit, not a week or more)
2) Prayer times were based on the time of day at the point of launch until return.
:idea: :shock: :idea: Now THAT's useful to know! I can see that applying for sublight travel; In Jump Space launch time/Ship's time can set the prayer hours though.
