From: Colin Watson (watson@computing-science.aberdeen.ac.uk)
Date: Tue 14 Jun 1994 - 17:56:34 EEST
Devin writes:
>>It's a sign that Babeester Gor temple guards have Sharp Axes.
>
>Obviously, but even were the guards to be gone, the man off of the street
>still could not kneel down and say "Hey, I want an Axe Trance". Babs has
>something (nay, everything) to say about it.
This is debatable.
As I see it, the Compromise rendered the Gods' decision making processes
somewhat impotent.
Fair enough, kneeling down and asking for a spell won't work; but then it wouldn't work just like that for a Priestess of Babeester Gor either. Getting magic from a god requires that appropriate rituals be performed. The Priestess knows these required procedures so she can get the spells she wants. If the man in the street knew the rituals then he too could get the same result. The fact that he doesn't know how to get a result is not the result of Divine Judgement; it's just plain ignorance.
Remember, as a result of the Compromise, that the Gods have no free will. They're not omniscient either. They can't read your mind. So long as you carry out the correct rituals etc, they will respond accordingly "giving" you magic. This response to worship is like a reflex. They don't choose who is "worthy" and who is not. That kind of decision is in the hands of the priests of the cult. It is the priests who choose who should be initiated. (And they are fallible.) Once you're initiated you've pretty much got it made.
The question is how many Orlanthi are likely to even *think* like this? The answer is probably fairly few because of the way they're brought up. Lunars, on the other hand, might be sufficiently cynical and enlightened. The GodLearners certainly were.
Mind you, if an Orlanthi can get away with as much slacking as Sandy suggests then maybe he'd try it on with a second cult. And maybe a third...
Anyway, the way I see it, the piety of a cult member is not likely to be governed by how he sees his god manifest in the mundane world (spells etc) because, like I said, the Compromise made the Gods somewhat impotent, predictable and... well... boring. What *might* fire an initiate's enthusiasm are tales of the exploits of his god on the GodPlane: there the gods have real passion and personality. But, since an initiate is unlikely to ever experience the GodPlane, his belief in these myths is a matter of Faith. As much as for any real-world religion.
___
CW.
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