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torzzzzz

While being bombarded with images of the new pope on the TV today, a thought crossed my mind...... what it the state of religion in the shadowrun world? I mean are the main religions still live and kicking? or have they been replaced with some supper faith?

How douse things affect the running of things, for instance the Arab nations are influence by religion (in one way or another).


Torz x spin.gif
wagnern
I could see the 6th world strenghting many of the religions. As the various magics of each religion work agian, (All religions have a 'magic' system, even if they don't admit to it any more) and sprits, souls, other plains become fact. If there is an Astral plain compleat with sprits, heven and hell are only a simple extrapliation.

Yet agian, if this is all fact, then who needs the church? Humanist can still view this as new layers on how the world works, like descovering the atom exc.

I'd say the churches are there, and they are both stronger and weaker because of the 6th world.
hermit
Main religions are still alive and kicking. For a reason I cannot begin to logically understand, america has europeanised, though (meaning religion there is handled, in SR, as it is in most of Europe, not as it is in America as is). There're many new cults (children of the dragon ect.), and old faiths (wicca, shamanism, druidism) have resurged, but for all I know, the catholic church is still the biggest single faith on the planet, Islam and protestantism are still strong (though apparently, protestantism, especially in the former US, lost a lot of credit, though I'd rather expect all Americans to become green ecological wonder boys than less religious, but meh).

Arab nations in particular are all, in one way or another, Islamist. There's a christian-oriented quasi-rtheocracy in Italy, a hard core theocracy in a part of Germany (whince), too. There's tight relations between state and religion in Aztlan and the Tirs.

Religion still plays a major way, and especially religion where magic intertwines with faith (wicca, shamanism) has actually seen a vast upturn.

Oh, and a word on the new pope: YIKES! Really, the candidate I hoped would NOT be elected. Oh, the joy.
Crimson Jack
Religion is still around in the 6th world. Its just evolved with the times. Some of this is described in the main rule book. There are scatterings of additional information in other source books. Magic in the Shadows talks about it the most.
DocMortand
Also some of the militant sects of Catholicism are covered in Threats 2. Order of St. Sylvester is in there, among others.
The Question
MitS has quite a good section on different religions and how they cover magic and the awakened...
ElFenrir
I like the MitS bit on religions. It does give a clear example...dont forget the voodoo religions, and the like...and a mundane could easily follow these too of course. I got the idea from there to make my sam an Odinist type. Mundane as all hell but he still follows it basically. Tho Odinist sects are prolly a bit small compared to the Catholics still biggrin.gif My other buddy played an ork who was still Russian Orthodox.
Kaosaur
I would assume that at least a few of the more hardline conservative Christian sects are also fiercly anti-meta....


Although I bet they'd get quite the fright (and the rest of us quite the laugh) when one of their Jerry Fallwell-esque evangelists SURGEs out in front of congregation. >:P
Dawnshadow
DEMON! He's been possessed! BURN THE DEMONS OUT!!

Oh the wonderfully evil thoughts..
winterhawk11
QUOTE (The Question)
MitS has quite a good section on different religions and how they cover magic and the awakened...

There's a small section in the Sprawl Survival Guide as well, in the "Living in the Sixties" chapter.
Cynic project
QUOTE (hermit)
Main religions are still alive and kicking. For a reason I cannot begin to logically understand, america has europeanised, though (meaning religion there is handled, in SR, as it is in most of Europe, not as it is in America as is). There're many new cults (children of the dragon ect.), and old faiths (wicca, shamanism, druidism) have resurged, but for all I know, the catholic church is still the biggest single faith on the planet, Islam and protestantism are still strong (though apparently, protestantism, especially in the former US, lost a lot of credit, though I'd rather expect all Americans to become green ecological wonder boys than less religious, but meh).

Well, seeing as how the catholic church is running out of clergy in the world, I think it is still big but not nearly as big as it is now. Look at the numbers, there are less Nun, and Priests now, than there were 20 year ago, and even less than were 50 years ago. The numbers are even worse if you look at the wealthy countries, as most of the clergy are coming from third world nations. Those types tend to stay in one area, and you only need so many of them in any given area.

Now, I find it funny that you forget the Billions of people who are Hindu or Budist. These numbers are rather interesting, not only because of shear volume of them, but also where they are going. The numbers right now show a small, but growing numbers of Hindu, and Budists in Areas that used to be wholly domintated by the one God types. Now this could just be a phase, but I do not really think so.
hermit
QUOTE
Well, seeing as how the catholic church is running out of clergy in the world, I think it is still big but not nearly as big as it is now.

It is in Europe, but not anywhere else - it's growing in Africa, Latin America, even China and the US. There's a shift away from Europe, granted, but the resurgence of Magic should stop that, as people start looking to old traditions for explanation of something science is even 50 years after it showed up only beginning to understand.

QUOTE
Now, I find it funny that you forget the Billions of people who are Hindu or Budist.

Oh, I didn't; I was only talking about pope-related faiths mainly. But I don't see either Europe or the Americas (the core of the christian world) convert to either any time soon. Especially not the Americas.
The Hindu population surely has taken a huge blow due to VITAS (whcih supposedely hit India much worse than any other place) and the nuclear exchange with Pakistan. As for Buddhism ... this faith has also been stagnating at best.
Neither faith has any sort of missionary component, which means they're considerably at disadvantage compared to the agressive monotheist faiths (which is why those are so dominant in the world today).
torzzzzz
Thanks for that, it has have been very hectic at work lately but this has made things clearer for me, sorry i took so long to reply!

torz x grinbig.gif
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