#10: Building Better Religions: Addendum

[RPGnet Columns]

http://www.rpg.net/columns/clerical/clerical10.phtml

Summary:

Non-religious religions: states, groups, rebels, and codes.

Go to the column (http://www.rpg.net/columns/clerical/clerical10.phtml) for more information.

[torbenm]

http://www.rpg.net/columns/clerical/clerical10.phtml

Summary:

Non-religious religions: states, groups, rebels, and codes.


There is also ancestor worship and nature worship, where you do not necessarily assume there are spirits or other otherworldly connections to ancestors or nature.

You can, for example, see movements like "The Animal Liberation Front" as a religious movement (it has most of the trappings thereof except a deity). It might partly fall under your rebellion category, but other nature worship movements (such as naturalists) are not as rebellious.

Ancestor worship is quite common, but I can't offhand think of a case where this replaces traditional religion instead of existing alongside it or being part of it.

[M. J. Young]

This is an excellent piece, with some of the best insights in the series. The recognition of how things like Patriotism, Lodges, families, and codes of honor are like and unlike religion is very useful overall.

Putting on my editor's hat, you seem to have some trouble distinguishing then from than, which you might want to address for future writing.

Thanks for the series.

--M. J. Young

[lemurbouy]

Excellent work as always and I'm excited to see what more you'll put out there. -leeman

[the q]

Shintoism. The Japanese have both forms prevalent. In some cases a person can be shinto and christian. in some cases worship of a sacred god exists alongside the spirits of the dead. And some shintoists only worship the dead ghosts.

You missed these interesting groups:

Cargo cults-religions based on the appearance of certain items. In the Polynesian Islands, European shiprecks produced unusual goods that washed up onto the shores. But the tribes never saw the Europeans just the goods. An example of this is the Coke Bottle in the God's must be crazy, or the orange soda caps in Ducktales

Necrophilia, or Necroism, or Death worship: worship of death with no particular deification

Bear Cults: Worship of powerful animals without deification

Nymphomania, Hydromania, satyriasis, various other manias can eventually produce a religious fervor. Sex worship exists among many groups as a perceived spiritual experience not necessarily connected to any deity.

Writer's note: Although I identified religious practices taking place in primitive cultures, my word choice is problematic since the word primitive has negative connotations. Most of what i consider primitive is generally primary or first types of cultural practices. Bear cults are found in the oldest societies on Earth and are therefore considered primitive religious practices, meaning they came first. Primitive is sometimes used interchangeably for pre-technological. Although acceptable, many groups practice pre-technological customs even after introduction to technological advances, so they cannot be considered pre-technological. Often this practice is referred to in books as practicing primitive [to their culture] techniques, meaning "closely approximating an early ancestral type". Some people may take offense its difficult to navigate word choice, it's similar to the problem with calling all people who have darker skin African-American, because some may not be African, and some may not be american. So in the last three or four posts as answers to these columns I may inadvertently anger people it is not a pointed attack at anyone;s religion, and I am not using the term to impact the column writer's word choice

The Q




There is also ancestor worship and nature worship, where you do not necessarily assume there are spirits or other otherworldly connections to ancestors or nature.

You can, for example, see movements like "The Animal Liberation Front" as a religious movement (it has most of the trappings thereof except a deity). It might partly fall under your rebellion category, but other nature worship movements (such as naturalists) are not as rebellious.

Ancestor worship is quite common, but I can't offhand think of a case where this replaces traditional religion instead of existing alongside it or being part of it.