[Discuss] anti-state-religion

[Jeff Wilson]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: discuss-bounces at news.battlemaster.org [mailto:discuss-
> bounces at news.battlemaster.org] On Behalf Of Tom Vogt
> Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 10:56 AM
> To: discuss at news.battlemaster.org
> Subject: [Discuss] anti-state-religion
> 
> Here's an idea I just had:
> 
> How about we make it so that religions that limit themselves to one
> realm suffer some penalties? Or better, the other way around, religions
> profit from having followers in many different realms? That would make
> multi-realm religions more powerful than state-religions and give the
> religion leaders incentive to ignore the ruler's "stay out of our realm,
> you evil enemy priests" cries.

I'm finding that religion is just too powerful an offensive weapon for it
ever to be accepted quietly by a neighboring realm (or if they do they will
regret it later).  In my recent experience I've seen a neighboring realm
walk in and TO a region right next to our capital in less then a week (and
this is in Colonies where time moves more slowly) and then when we were able
to take the region back we were unsuccessful in our own TO, for a region
right next to our capital.

I'll admit that our realm has been slow to respond to threats and there may
be other factors involved, but from where my character sits, and given Tom's
policy of not letting everyone know how everything works, my character is
forced to see religion as a tool of the state and he will argue forcefully
for building up our own state religion to counter theirs.

So, if you want to reduce the state religion effect I think you must
drastically reduce or eliminate the effects that a priest can have on a
region.  Perhaps it would be enough to put an upper limit on the effect that
a highly skilled priest can have on regions.