Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
if you can show me where a healed person and other witnesses have given testimony of their healing by Justin Beber and had a major (albeit biased) institution investigate the claim then sure
In a fantasy world filled with magic and miraculous beings, will the religious concepts of the locals be completely different from the human of Earth?
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TaranTheWanderer
Legend
I was commenting on the fact that he has a code and kills bad guys. Which is very paladin-like. I’ve seen many paladins in games have less excuses than a code to slaughter enemies
So tell me, where does this topic criticizing and being condescending people's religious beliefs?
If you are neurotic, just leave. there is no discussion of religion of Earth here.
They certainly exist, just like those who were cured of illness by Padre Pio of Pietrelcin.
TaranTheWanderer
Legend
I quoted the post where you called people’s real life religious beliefs just “imagination” and compare them to Lady Gaga. But go ahead, I will happily leave.
That's your opinion, you'd better learn to respect others' opinions or leave.
MGibster
Legend
Dexter's code was created by his father to protect Dexter from incarceration and to protect normal people from Dexter. Dexter is generally compelled to kill others simply to satiate his bloodlust rather than a desire to protect others. We see a few examples where he targets a person to protect someone he cares about, such as the "photographer" stalking his step-daughter, but for the most part he just has a need to kill.
You'd think so, but the truth is the majority of known serial killers aren't particularly bright or interesting.
aramis erak
Legend
False assumption.
An note on god vs God; many people I know reject capitalization for any but their own god; standard English is God as proper noun, god as common. I'm using the lowercase on purpose.
See, the thing is, with D&D classes...
Only the casters can be certain. A cleric, druid, or paladin is actually in contact with their god. No one else can be certain said cleric is channeling divine magic; most clerical spells before 3E had access to others. Bards have healing magic in 5E... and multiclassing is a thing.
At the end of the day, the afterlife will remain hearsay to at least 99% of people. Sure, everyone knows someone in it, but almost no one can reach them. Those few will want money to make communication... And, depending upon the ruleset in use, there may not be anyone capable outside the biggest cities. 5E isn't as clear on that score, but 3.X has this nifty system of determining highest level of a given class... and resurrection winds up at being available only in really big cities, or by party member casters.
Likewise, the workings of magic are, in a very real way to the inhabitants of Toril, a technology which only works for a few percent of the people... but a technology none the less. Formula X gets effect Y, incredibly reliably. (Games with casting checks aren't as technology-like.) Continual Light or Continual Flame spells are an inexpensive spell, and cities should have enough of them that night is not a threat.
Mod Note:
Let’s not compare real world faiths with game mechanics for the supernatural. It’s also not exactly polite to dismiss religious beliefs as myth, especially in such a facetious manner.
It’s inherently disrespectful towards people’s faith, and that’s disruptive of civil discourse on the subject.
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Sepulchrave II
Legend
A few thoughts, FWIW.
I don't think that looking to modern expressions of polytheism (e.g. Hellenism, Asatru, Romuva) is particularly useful in trying to illuminate the - rather odd - D&D religious worldview. Nor do I think that looking at certain aspects of contemporary Hinduism has much to offer: as much as a continuity with antiquity is more demonstrable, modern Hindu polytheism is still very much a product of modernity. Contemporary religions are a function of contemporary times, with regard to their mores, praxis and worldview.
The default D&D paradigm seems to be - largely - one of monolatry. I have my patron god, you have yours, and while we each accept the existence of other deities, we each - for whatever reason - believe that ours is the "correct" deity to worship. This brings D&D religion most closely into alignment with Bronze Age or Iron Age patterns, where different cities or ethnopolities had a tutelary deity - except, in the case of D&D, this worship doesn't seem to be particularly localized (although more so in Greyhawk than FR). Which is to say, it doesn't really resemble anything in our own world's history.
I don't find nontheism in a D&D setting particularly implausible. Unless someone - along with a group of other people - witnesses the manifestation of a deity in their full majesty, I think that denial is entirely reasonable.
A deity appeared to me [it was an episode of madness]
We encountered an angelic servant of a deity [it was not what it claimed]
The priests of Heironeous use divine magic [its source is not what they claim]
Etc. etc. And given how humans are adept at denying demonstrable, replicable facts (think flat-earthers and vaccine-deniers) in order to accord with their existing worldview....
People may otherwise view deities as merely entities of a different order, impostors, useful allies, symbolic constructs, objects unrelated to the pursuit of spiritual truth, phantoms or hallucinations, irrelevant, or simply nonexistent. Regardless of their specific position, they don't deem deities worthy of worship.
I don't think that looking to modern expressions of polytheism (e.g. Hellenism, Asatru, Romuva) is particularly useful in trying to illuminate the - rather odd - D&D religious worldview. Nor do I think that looking at certain aspects of contemporary Hinduism has much to offer: as much as a continuity with antiquity is more demonstrable, modern Hindu polytheism is still very much a product of modernity. Contemporary religions are a function of contemporary times, with regard to their mores, praxis and worldview.
The default D&D paradigm seems to be - largely - one of monolatry. I have my patron god, you have yours, and while we each accept the existence of other deities, we each - for whatever reason - believe that ours is the "correct" deity to worship. This brings D&D religion most closely into alignment with Bronze Age or Iron Age patterns, where different cities or ethnopolities had a tutelary deity - except, in the case of D&D, this worship doesn't seem to be particularly localized (although more so in Greyhawk than FR). Which is to say, it doesn't really resemble anything in our own world's history.
I don't find nontheism in a D&D setting particularly implausible. Unless someone - along with a group of other people - witnesses the manifestation of a deity in their full majesty, I think that denial is entirely reasonable.
A deity appeared to me [it was an episode of madness]
We encountered an angelic servant of a deity [it was not what it claimed]
The priests of Heironeous use divine magic [its source is not what they claim]
Etc. etc. And given how humans are adept at denying demonstrable, replicable facts (think flat-earthers and vaccine-deniers) in order to accord with their existing worldview....
People may otherwise view deities as merely entities of a different order, impostors, useful allies, symbolic constructs, objects unrelated to the pursuit of spiritual truth, phantoms or hallucinations, irrelevant, or simply nonexistent. Regardless of their specific position, they don't deem deities worthy of worship.
