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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 5728117" data-attributes="member: 2067">If worship provides the gods with power, the idea of NOT providing the gods with power is pretty heretical. If all the people of the world buy into "atheism", the gods die. Which means no divine power anymore (at least as far as clerics and the like are concerned), or at least that Pelor isn't around to save your hide anymore if you screw up. Even if the gods thrive independently of their cults, it is in the deity's best interests to achieve as much political power in the world as possible. A god without temples might have great power, but they couldn't really show it off to anyone, and they couldn't affect events in the mortal realm very easily. A church is an extended arm, and those not joining up risk working against the arm.If you use the 4e Nentir Vale history, you have good and evil gods working together for a common goal against the primordials -- who are still around, though quiescent. A cleric in such a setting may fear that without the gods, nothing would stop the rampaging elemental forces from re-emerging and overwhelming the world. If the setting has more distant gods, "atheism" can still disrupt the church structure, which historically for humans has been a key organizing force in society. Remember that the early Christians were called Atheists in the Roman Empire, because they didn't adhere to Roman civil religion. Simply not adhering to the basic practices that are ingrained in everyday life can be a dire threat to a community's power structure (which often will include religious figures). Who are you going to build monuments to if there is no divinity worthy of such devotion? So say you're a local priest of Pelor who oversees the harvest of turnips from your farm, since Pelor is the deity of agriculture and farming. You credit Pelor with bringing forth life from the ground, and so think that's pretty dang worthy of obedience and ritual practice. Then, this group comes to town acting like they know better than you, telling you Pelor's got nothing to do with growing crops, that a few towns over, this evil druid has great expansive gardens ripe with all sorts of fruits, simply because of their knowledge of plants. They challenge your position, your god, and your society. They claim that they have a "better way," but what's wrong with what has worked fine since your great-great grandfather's time? Why do we need a better way? Shouldn't they just pack it up, go home, or at least go away? Who asked them to help? So what if sometimes a harsh drought withers the crops? So what if that druid is well-fed? So what if orcs are on the march in the north and threatening to come down next autumn and lay seige to the town, requiring everyone to get as much food as possible? They are harbingers of change and disaster and fear. They tell you you are a slave. What is wrong with slavery, you think. It has worked well so far.</blockquote>

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