In article <1170887036.453858.59440@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
psychohist <psychohist@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>Mary Kuhner posts, in part:
> So you could have the theistic faiths, which have become
> mainly propritiation and power-wor****p, and something like
> Buddhism or Taoism growing up around them, quietly,
> outside their notice, to satisfy the human needs
> which religions tend to meet.
>I'm curious - what needs do you see them as meeting?
>Note that I'm not denying that there are such needs, I'm just
>wondering if you are thinking of the same needs as I am - or perhaps
>more accurately, which ones I'm failing to consider.
Some random thoughts:
Sense of purpose or meaning in life.
Explanations of issues which are emotionally im****tant but
can't be settled by direct experience, like "What will happen to
me when I die?"
Emotional community with other believers; member****p in a cohesive
group. This can also extend to material obligations to other
group members: you may be able to count on your co-religionists
to raise a barn with you or look after your orphans. (Cf player
world institutions like pilgrim-houses and godparents.)
An outside referent for moral intuitions, to help resolve situations
where indviduals' moral intuitions differ, or where someone doesn't
seem to have any.
A framework in which to understand numinous experiences. (This
is probably the main use of my own player-world religion.)
Structuring life: rites of passage, seasonal holidays, myth
re-enactment, etc.
A context for spiritual education and training.
A context for celebration and ecstasy.
A means to sup****t specialists in various "service" professions whom
the society otherwise wouldn't have: counsellors, therapists, etc.
Also a context in which to divide "licit" from "illict" practitioners.
External absolution from guilt: Catholic confession, Hawai'ian
City of Refuge, etc.
Taboos and strictures which help society manage problems where
self-interest is not enough (kapu in Hawai'i, dietary or
grave-working restrictions in several cultures, etc.) I'd expect
this to be even more im****tant in a society overrun with
supernatural phenomena. For example, a priesthood which
claimed sole ability to identify lycanthropes might be a greatly
preferable alternative to lynching of anyone suspected of being
a lycanthrope.
A way to sup****t scholar****p relatively disinterested scholar****p
and to sup****t dedicated scholars economically.
In my experience most D&D clerics are just not providing the bulk of
these services at all. Gloranthan priests do more of this, or at least
can be played that way readily (there is rules sup****t). Numinous
experiences for non-priests are a particularly striking missing element.
It's only vaguely apparent that most D&D deities in most settings I've
seen have lay wor****ppers at all, much less providing, say, the
equivalent of the Elusinian Mysteries for them.
Mary Kuhner mkkuhner@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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