From: c718678@showme.missouri.edu Sent: Friday, January 22, 1999 11:20 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Greetings and questions Jason, The Blue Planet sourcebook does talk about this subject. unfortunately, I've lent it to a friend so I can't give page numbers or specifics, but I think it says that most of the common current religions still exist, probably with some addditional ones. Atlas Materials is mostly Muslim,and Archipelago describes the Mosque in Al-Mamlakah as welll as some Poseidon modifications and company practices to the rituals (facing Mecca, for instance, had to be changed). One of the books also has an Access Denied about the Pope's Poseidon activities. Later, Eva @@@(* > *)@@@ On Fri, 22 Jan 1999, Jason Hockley wrote: > > Hello, > A sometime lurker here with a couple of questions > and comments. I may have missed something in the books and > archives but I hope I'm not repeating things here or asking > pointless questions. > > First of all, what is the state of religion in Blue > Planet, and specifically on Poseidon and those parts of the > solar system further away from Earth? There is some > description of the Church of the Whalesong Theogony, but > what about all the myriad religions we have on Earth right > now? What happens to them over the Blight and what is left > at the other end? > > Part of my reason for asking this is a book I read > a little while ago. I forget the exact title but it was by > Arthur C. Clarke and about an astronaut that seeks the > sanctuary of the oceans after being involved in an accident > that leaves him spinning alone in space for several hours. > It was written about fifty years ago I think, but with the > near future in mind. In this book most of the major > religions of the world had slowly dwindled to low numbers > or disappeared entirely. The only one left was Buddhism in > its various forms and the people in the book join forces > with them to save the whale population from being raised > like cattle for food. Has anyone else read this? > > My second reason for asking was that I was looking > through a book for another of my favourite RPG's, that > shall remain nameless to avoid offense to the Biohazard > bunch (although I see a few names here that are also on a > mailing list for it), and reading about various factions of > a Church. It occured to me that there doesn't seem to be > any profession in the Blue Planet book that covers Priest > specifically. There must no doubt be others not mentioned > and it occured to me that there are probably a good few > people on this list who could give ideas of the skills and > skill groups required for their jobs. So as a suggestion to > anyone reading this, if your job isn't covered by one of > the professions already listed, why not post a list of > those skills and areas you require? Personally, I'm a Maths > student so I have no idea what a real job is like yet. > > Anyway, I've taken up enough of your time. Thank > you for listening and I hope someone is willing to reply. > > Jason Hockley > > ---------------------- > Jason Hockley > jh596@soton.ac.uk > *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: c718678@showme.missouri.edu Sent: Friday, January 22, 1999 12:33 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - religion - formerly Greetings and questions INCLUDES SPOILERS/ ACCESS DENIED! No intelligent life? What about the aborigines? I disagree that it would be inappropriate for a game company to predict the reactions to news of intelligent life. Speculation is what its all about, anyways. And I think it could be done without stepping on anyone's toes or imposing the beliefs of the authors on the gamers. For instance, as I understand it, judeo-christian theology considers God to be God of the Universe (not just of Earth) and could conceivably just accept the aborigines as another of God's creations and a part of his plan like humans are. It would diminish the geo-centric feel of the religion, but that's been diminishing since Galileo and would probably be pretty tiny after the discovery of even non-intelligent life on a different planet. They could even see it as evidence of God's greatness - that his plans include life from distant parts of the universe. Other games deal directly with gods -AD&D can use them as characters, Legend of the Five Rings uses them to describe the history of the land, etc. Blue Planet is obviously more realistic than these types of games, but its still fiction; certainly the talk about the "Creators" and how they seem to have also touched humans shouldn't be considered blasphemy and more than the talk of the seven(?) gods in L5R. Later, Eva @@@(* > *)@@@ On Fri, 22 Jan 1999 Ml10@aol.com wrote: > > Religion is alive and well on the Blue Planet. With the recent Blight, I > suspect that many people embraced religion as a source of comfort. Also, > humans haven't found anything that has shaken their beliefs to the core. > There hasn't been any verified proof that any other intelligent life exists in > Universe, so all the major religions are pretty much intact. While, it would > be interesting to see how the various religions would react should proof of > intelligent life be disclosed to the public, I don't think that it would be > appropriate material for a game company to publish. I believe that such > topics should be left to individul GMs. > > Mike Z *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Wordman [wordman@flashpt.com] Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 1999 10:39 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Religion > Buddhism and Taoism also have strong pragmatic elements, and > might be popular on Poseidon. Keep in mind, also, that the first settlers on Poseidon were mostly scientific types. Genetically altered scientific types. That's bound to color the indigenous populations religion quite a lot. One example might be a more religious version of the Gaea Theory. Wordman *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Auberon [fskln1@uaf.edu] Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 1999 2:13 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Greetings and questions "Robert P. Stefko" wrote: > > >Witness the current Amish fascination with cell phones and cocaine. > > > >Wordman > > The cell phones I'd heard about, but cocaine?! What do you think the cell phones were for? > "Just one more sniff, Jebediah, please. Aahh! That's the stuff." > > What next? Drive-by shootings from Clydesdale-driven, cowhide interior > pimp-buggies bouncing to the tune of gangsta hymns? > > "I like big bonnets and I cannot lie . . ." Wierd Al. "Amish Paradise" -- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= "I never get involved in my own life. It's too much trouble" - Michael Garibaldi (Babylon 5) *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Auberon [fskln1@uaf.edu] Sent: Monday, January 25, 1999 8:15 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Religion "Robert P. Stefko" wrote: > > Fundamentalism is just another way that some groups of people express their > faith. Fundamentalists, however, do tend to disregard certain inescapable > realities (like the diversity of peoples and the multiplicity of ideas and > beliefs they generate), which is simply not tenable in the modern world. > Hence my assessment that the more fundamentalist faiths (Islam, certain > minor Asiatic religions, and some Christian sects) will be forced to either > adapt to the wider (secular) world or be discarded by it. This is harsh, I > know, but there is historical precedent for it (Christianity during the > Industrial Revolution), and the social and political dynamics of the > Information Age more or less demand some kind of transformation. I wasn't disagreeing at all; in fact, I agree completely. I was just responding to the tone of the original message, which seemed to suggest that calling Islam a fundamentalist religion was bad. And as far as the list goes, don't forget the Amish, whose more secular branch is (as I understand) the Menonites, and the Hosidic Jews. One interesting thing to see covered (at a later date) would be some back story -- what happened when the Wormhole was first discovered? The religious implications could be really extreme, and other, newer religions, following the Wisdom of the Old Ones, or some such nonsense, could pop up. Which brings up another point I was thinking of... There might very well be new religions or philosophies, or resurgances of old ones on Poseidon. Buddhism and Taoism also have strong pragmatic elements, and might be popular on Poseidon. -- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= "I never get involved in my own life. It's too much trouble" - Michael Garibaldi (Babylon 5) *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Robert P. Stefko [rpsst16@pop.pitt.edu] Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 1999 1:33 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Greetings and questions >Witness the current Amish fascination with cell phones and cocaine. > >Wordman The cell phones I'd heard about, but cocaine?! "Just one more sniff, Jebediah, please. Aahh! That's the stuff." What next? Drive-by shootings from Clydesdale-driven, cowhide interior pimp-buggies bouncing to the tune of gangsta hymns? "I like big bonnets and I cannot lie . . ." *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.