by Crinos » Thu Jun 10, 2010 1:17 pm
Religion in the Crinoverse
Naturally, a world where Gods and Supermen walk the Earth has had a profound effect on religion. Here is a sampling of some of the major religions in the crinoverse, and how they have been affected by the presence of super beings.
Christianity: By default, Christianity is somewhat neutral on the presence of super beings, with certain factions either welcoming or condemning supers. Mentioned previously is the Church of Jesus Christ, Paragon, which believes that all supers were blessed with their gifts by God and are destined to lead humanity to salvation. On the other hand is the Church of the Seven Thunders, which says a supers are the spawn of Satan and are harbingers of the end times.
Aside from these factions and those like them the Catholic Church has a great number of super beings at its beck and call; The Vatican is home to over 50 supers, including Metamen, Aces, Novas and Gestalts. Many of these are healers, but there are other powers present among the faithful supers, including a telepath, a weather manipulator, and a Nun who can fire plasma blasts.
The Vatican also employs numerous magic users. Officially, the Vatican considers magic use to be a sin against God and condemns all magic users. But the Pope can (and has) give special permission to certain mystics to practice their art in Gods name without it being a sin. Among those faithful given this right include Ky Kyske, Paladin Alexander Anderson, Charlotte Aulin, and Robin Sena, as well as the mystic members of The Covenant.
Islam: Like Christianity, Islam is for the most part neutral on the nature of supers, with different factions having different opinions on how to treat them. Two of the most vocal factions of Islam in regards to super beings are the Nur and the Ahl-i-Batin.
The Nur Sect was founded by Nur Al' Allah, a charismatic Syrian Ace, in the eighties, and holds that superbeings are blessed by Allah, but those with obvious physical deformities are cursed by Allah and must be destroyed. With his Ace power (a hypnotizing voice), he was able to sway many to his side and nearly took over Syria before his throat was slit by his sister (at the nudging of Puppetman) thus weakening his power and stalling the movements group. In the Modern age, Nur Al' Allah has had his voice box repaired thanks to the Foundry and is now back to full power. The Nur Sect has a friendly rivalry with Gene Nation (The Red King considers Nur a dangerous potential rival), and has contacts with Al Khalyl (The Middle Eastern Branch of SHADOW).
Ahl-i-Batin (The subtle ones) draws its name from a group of mystics who allegedly helped to form the Muslim Faith, and is a more liberal sect which seeks to protect the Muslim faith from threats both within and without. Members of the Faith are deeply ashamed of the actions of the Nur Sect and Al Khalyl, and seek to battle these extreme forces along with other potential threats. One of the most prominent members of the subtle ones is The Wonder Worker, a Grue Infiltrator who went rogue and converted to Islam during the Grue Invasion.
Judaism: Unlike the other two Abrahamic faiths, there aren't any major superhuman inspired Judaism sects, although there are a fair number of Jewish supers, including Splotch, Magneto, and The Acidic Jew.
Buddhism: There is one primary school of Buddhism which is focused around super beings: Kamisama Buddhism is a combination of Buddhist and Shinto beliefs which holds that superbeings are the modern reincarnation of spirits.
Hindu: Hindu is currently experiencing a boom due to the fact that many members of the Hindu Pantheon have taken a direct interest in their followers; Many of the supers in India are avatars of the Hindu Gods, their half mortal offspring (better known as Scion), Gestalts of the Hindu Gods, empowered champions or mystics who draw on their power. India has become a country where the Gods literally walk among their followers.
Voodoo: Like Hindu, Voodoo is experiencing a boom due to the high profile actions of heroes and villains such as Siren and Baron Samedi. To the point where Voodoo temples can be found in most major cities.
Neo Paganism: With the return of many Gods (and their offspring), sects worshiping the old Gods have become much more mainstream; these sects are collectively known as Neo Paganism, although they each worship a different Pantheon. The most successful of these, by far, is the Neo Heliopolis, who worship the Egyptian Pantheon, and operate out of the city of New Memphis. These sects worship the old Gods, but do so with a new age mentality (so don't expect any human sacrifices). Most Gods active on Earth find these new worshipers annoying at best, but begrudgingly accept their candor.
Atheism: Now here is the million dollar question: How does Atheism work in a world where Gods and divine beings exist. Actually rather well; most Atheists just believe that the so called "Gods" are just creations of human imagination from the Imageria, aliens, or super beings presenting themselves as Gods. There also exists a secret order known as the Ur Sect, a group of dark mystics which actively hate the Gods and seek to wipe them all out.
Other Religions: A great number of new sects, devoted primarily to super beings, have also popped up, they include the following:
The Pinnacle Path: A part pseudo religion part pyramid scheme part self help seminar, the Pinnacle Path claims that super beings are the next step of human evolution. Some of the more extreme factions willingly transform themselves into super beings using dangerous procedures such as willful infection with the wild card virus.
The Church of Humanity: A bogus religion thought up by Australian industrialist Sydney Smythe which claims all super beings are the creation of evil aliens out to steal human souls. Very Popular in Hollywood, secretly the front for the terrorist cult known as the Knights for a Pure Mankind.
The Sakrohm: An interstellar cult consisting of humans and aliens, the Sakrohm preaches peace between Earthlings and their space brethren. The Sakrohm also violently oppose all forms of science fiction, seeing it as anti-alien propaganda.
The Pantheon: A self styled cult/commune, the Pantheon are a group of dangerous and powerful super beings who believe themselves Gods. Led by the old Centurion Rogue Gaia, The Cult operates out of their private island, and devote much of their time to answering prayers sent in by people worldwide (for a price of course).
The Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign: A cult dedicated to the Old ones, the Brotherhood, once a cult of dangerous lunatics, as since reinvented itself into a more formal, traditional and mainstream religion. Amazingly enough, they have actually had some success in spreading their message by going "legit", and have become both more and less of a threat because of it.
Alright, that covers religion, may do more in depth looks at some of these later.
