Quintillius said:
Comrade Crimson said:
Does Atheism have any bonuses to equalize the lack of a relic bonus? Maybe have the book of Carl Sagan in there or something or Galileo's astronomical publishings
Atheism does not have any bonus as it's generally considered as bad habit in the medieval world.
Also; Galileo remained a devout Catholic throughout his life.
But on a more serious note maybe having scientific publishing's or certain philosophical works could work like relics for Atheism.
Science isn't the opposite of religion nor philosophy, only atheism.
Also on the note of religion, I always thought it weird for Calradia to have our real world religions: Maybe change the names of these religions and their base symbols? The actual beliefs need not really vary.
Not this discussion again x). The point is... perhaps you played Sims Medieval? There they do have two religions based on Christianity. The one is almost the same as Protestantism and the other looks like Catholicism. It's very difficult to create religions that aren't based on real-life beliefs. And don't forget that using real faiths in this game brings in the wonderful histories, habits and cultures of these. They have a much stronger effect than having a religion loosely based on the Islam in the desert...
Galileo remained a strong catholic, its just his findings were heavily contradicting to the Catholic Church's theories.
And a lot of old philosophies often denounce the gods or promote humanist thought, and other thinking patterns. And science typically has always been a subject that has contradicted religion.
I'm not saying Atheism and science are the same. I'm saying Atheists use science as a means to back their claims up, which is often true for better or worse.
As for creating religions and ideals that are unique-
That's not as hard you think
And I can prove it by sharing concepts with you. It's all a part of world building, and you can do it by looking at how populations behave in different environments and the social histories behind them.
So, say if I wanted to create a religion within... the Sarranids since you mentioned "islam like religion in a desert."
First off I'd avoid any association things like that.
Here goes a development concept-
Say I wanted to make a religion solely for the Sarranids; well lets start with their environment.
They are a desert with oasis and some odd plains.
Alright; so we know the types of lifestyles that could occur- nomads and oasis dwellers or people living along the coasts. That means we have an interaction of various groups of people; and scarcity for certain resources is a common issue with this culture, especially water.
Water has a high value. Sharing water, would therefore be something seen as something incredibly generous and a means to save lives. There may also be bloody conflict over the scarce resources of this region.
Here's a religion that could develop from this region.
A divinity cult over water, and generosity. A goddess who gives life into the desert, and perhaps there was a man who showed these desert people that sharing and treating the water with respect was the means to continue to be fertile and alive in this harsh land. Thus enter a cult of generosity; where a theocracy over the control of water developed, and now you have a strong priesthood over this goddess, the life giving goddess of the desert. But wait, for those who wish to steal water and cause bloodshed and upset the harmony of life by taking it for their own, maybe there is the opposite of this. Whilst females were typically seen as mothers, nourishing, men would be seen in this culture as the opposite, as takers and violent. So whilst the goddess represents life, peace, generosity, submissiveness and docility...
The male counterpart, is war, death, greed, independence and pride. But whilst many may look down upon the male counterpart for his violent ways, he is also a necessary part of the desert and is much a part of it as the lifegiving oasis. And sometimes, the man must protect the woman, so the waters of life can flow. Blood sometimes must be spilled to ensure one can drink.
In short, you just developed a palpable and actual culturally influencing religion- you have an almost ying yang dualism based off human nature as well as gender roles here, you have a society that values generosity, and using scarce resources wisely but is also known to fight for said resources to protect it vigorously or take from others when needed.
And not only that, you could potentially have people have this split loyalty to either god- some may see being docile as weak, whilst others might see being aggressive as self destructive. And some try to maintain a balance.
Plenty of room for other stuff in there and you got a unique religion.
If you need names?
Mashar, and Pedahb.
Mother, and father.
Life, and death.
Peace, and war.
You could call it Sarranid Dualism for the religion name, or for the specific cults, Masharism and Pedabhism.
And that's just for one culture. You could apply a sort of similar formula and also combine it with history for the others.
I'd be happy to develop more concepts if you like this sort of thing. I just find that interjecting our real world things into a fictional universe robs that universe of its own lore and immersion. But alas, my opinion.