 I wanted to tackle something uncontroversial in this video, so let's talk about religion. I don't think it's too relevantory to tell you how important religion has been, and continues to be, in our world. On an individual and societal level, religion informs decisions, lifestyles, government, war, conduct and more, and basically everything else. Even if you aren't religious, or have a low opinion of organized faith, its effects are undeniable. And yet, it often goes underdeveloped and overlooked in worldbuilding. Sure, it's common to see characters make references to ideas like the pit instead of hell, or divines instead of gods, but it's rare to get much detail beyond that. It's also rare to get characters that are religious unless they're some sort of zealot. Fantasy writers understate how much of a role religions of all sorts have had throughout history. Meanwhile, sci-fi and dystopian writers ignore religion almost entirely. Part of the problem is that when religion plays a role in the story, it usually confirms that one religion is correct. There will be a pantheon of a couple gods who maybe help out the heroes while one or two of them are evil and either support the villains, or are the villains. Even Lord of the Rings does this, sort of. The only people who don't worship the real gods are either dumb, atheist, straw men, or barbaric tribesmen who worship spirits because only barbarians don't follow the good guy religion, duh. While that's not inherently bad, it's not at all how things are in the real world, where things are much less certain and therefore more varied and interesting. So this video will be made with the idea that full confirmation of any religion won't be made in your setting, though a lot of this advice applies whether it's confirmed or not. I'll also try to avoid going into the depths of theology since I'm not qualified to speak on that and once you fall down that hole, you never get out. Making something where it's just like the Catholic Church except they're all evil, so just like the Catholic Church, is boring. Let's find a way to make faith interesting. Part 1. Government. Governments are a complicated thing to say the absolute least. I've done a whole video on them and it doesn't even scratch the surface. In modern liberal democracies, there's usually one or two political parties that make religious doctrine a staple of their platform. They're usually on the right wing, though occasionally you'll find a center or left wing religious political party. If they get into power, then they can enforce religious doctrines, such as mandating prayer, outlawing certain clothing, and restricting the rights of other religious groups. This tends to breed resentment, obviously, and can be a source of conflict in futuristic settings. Even if religious extremists gaining power in government couldn't reasonably lead to outright genocide in the world that you've built, non-deadly persecution can be a great way to start civil unrest, wars, and political strife. Plus, something as extreme as genocide tends to be the end of a long series of escalating actions. It doesn't come out of nowhere. Then there's the whole separation of church and state argument that societies have all gone through to some degree or another. In the real world we have full-on theocratic regimes in Iran and Saudi Arabia, then there are a bunch more governments that are, at least on paper, secular, but religious interests hold a lot of influence over them. Italy is officially secular, but when 75% of your population is Catholic, the Pope has a lot of control over your affairs, that's just how society works. We all have complex, overlapping responsibilities and pressures coming from the various social groups we belong to, career, family, nation, religion, ideology, and more all influence how we act. Sometimes they convince us, sometimes they strongarm us. This second type is great for those who promote religious doctrine and law because it gives plausible deniability. They can couch their actions behind layers of religious freedom and social order and the will of the people. And remember that while for some religion is just an excuse to gain power, others take it 100% seriously and genuinely believe that they're making the world better. Then there's a lot of people in the middle who sort of believe it in order to convince themselves that they're on the right side while still amassing power. But what about in non-democratic societies like most fantasy settings have? Then religion usually should play a much bigger role. Religious organizations like churches and temples wield money and influence over the populace, meaning that they can serve as either rivals or power bases for rulers. There's a big misconception that the Catholic Church was the real power in medieval Europe, that the nobility were just fancily dressed puppets, and the fact of the matter is that they were constantly working both with and against one another. The Pope had command over religious matters, but he didn't have much military power. There are several instances of popes being removed by emperors or kings that didn't like them. There are also cases of kings setting up rival, quote, true popes, and quote, who would try to usurp the other guy's authority and it always turned into a shit show. It was a constant push and pull, not a simple case of the church ran everything. Moreover, most of the clergy came from noble families in the first place, so it was really more like one group of nobles who had their own infighting working against another group of nobles who had their own infighting. Isn't politics fun? Not only that, religion has often been something that those in power used to justify their hold on it. Most of the time it's some variation on, I was chosen by God, therefore do what I say. In societies that are democratic or semi-democratic, they'll tell people, vote for me because I'll do what God wants us to, unlike those other guys. You might vote for the, I don't know, God's people rock party, but you won't genuinely think that they're divine. Egyptian pharaohs were believed to literally be gods serving as the link between humanity and those who ruled us. The pharaoh was responsible for maintaining mat, or order, and if he was gone things would fall apart. At least, that's what the priests told everyone. And the average person thought, why shouldn't we believe him? Ever since he's been in charge the reigns have come on time, our crops have grown, and there have been no plagues. And gods are treating us well. The peasants will spend a lot less time wondering why they work out in the fields all day to provide for the lavish lifestyle of their rulers if they think that disobeying their rulers will cause earthquakes and shit. And then if the earthquakes and shit hit them, if there's a plague, or a famine, or any other sort of disaster, then they might start to believe that their rulers are no longer favored by the gods and they might rise up to remove them. This has been pretty negative so far, but that isn't the case 100% of the time. If religious doctrine requires things like charity, protection for those less fortunate, respect for minority faiths, or other pleasant things, then having it influence government would be great. A pity that's not more common, IRL. Part 2. War. Religion can be a cause of, or contributor to, war. That much is pretty obvious, I think. When groups of people disagree on how to live, they don't always get along and that can lead to conflict. I'm not exactly breaking new ground with this. And even if they fight for other reasons, religious differences can throw gasoline on to the fire. The biggest religious war in European history is the Thirty Years War, which took place in what is now Germany. The schism in the Catholic Church had opened 100 years earlier and there were, by now, large numbers of Protestants spread throughout, particularly in the northern Holy Roman Empire. When the Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, tried to enforce Catholicism across his whole empire, a bunch of the regional Protestant leaders were less than enthused about this and the conflict spiraled out of control from there. While it certainly started as a conflict between Protestants and Catholics, it turned into standard geopolitical fare. The staunchly Catholic France sided with the Protestants to attack their enemies, among other political shenanigans that I simply don't have the time to get into. In many ways, it was a standard war for resources and political power that religion simply kicked off. Over 8 million people died in the conflict, not just from fighting, but from the resulting famine and disease. Beyond religion contributing to conflict, it affects conduct during war as well. The Thirty Years War was so nasty, partially because previously held rules about accepting surrender and attacking non-combatants were broken. Blooting was endemic, destroying farms and lowering the food supply. Then famines and disease would break out as a result. And when someone is attacked in such a way, they tend to retaliate with equal force, perpetuating the cycle. All it takes is one guy breaking the rules for them to all go out the window. So when building a setting, think of what kinds of political and social taboos there are that people could respect or break. Are temples slash churches off limits for attack? Then they'd be great spots for discussing treaties and ceasefires, or staging an ambush when your enemy's guard is down. Are certain types of magic, such as necromancy illegal? Then armies probably won't have any sort of defense against undead. Which makes them easy targets for anyone with an undead army. Should have gotten a cleric with higher wisdom, bro. And if someone breaks these taboos, what happens when they're captured? Excommunication? Execution? A stern talking to? All of this can and should play a role in world building and plot. If you want to include religious conflict in your setting, just remember that it's very rarely JUST about religion. Part 3. Education. During the European Dark Ages, most knowledge was kept by the church. Well, sort of. In the early years after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, and before the collapse really, repositories of knowledge fell apart. Fewer people were being educated. Most of them were too focused on survival to worry about preserving the works of old philosophers. Most old works and education were preserved in Greece, and later the Middle East. The Catholics took a few hundred years to get their act together. But you didn't come here for a whole ass history lesson, so let's just focus on the post-10th century Latin Church. Like I said earlier, the clergy were mostly nobility, specifically younger children of noblemen that wouldn't inherit anything and so got a job with the church. They would have received a basic education before joining the clergy, learning how to read along with some basic theology and history. The more advanced stuff usually came afterwards during their training to be bishops or whatever. They didn't just learn about the Bible, they learned about the history surrounding it, the works of philosophers that commented on religion and logic, and the nature of the universe, how to speak Latin, rhetoric, even astronomy. And since priests were often administrators, they learned how to do that too. Granted, most of this knowledge and education was predicated on the idea that they already knew everything and that questioning established doctrine was heresy, but it was something. And with no one teaching it, a lot would have been lost. Not to mention how technology would have stagnated. Latin was the language of the church, which made it the lingua franca of all Europe and facilitated communication, at least among the ruling class. And when everyone followed the same religion, it fostered a sense of trust. All parties had the same set of rules to follow in trade or political dealings. Outside of Europe, religious institutions also functioned as places of learning since in most cases they were more stable than the government. I know that's a generalization, but work with me here. If there's no mass education, then what education there is will likely be handled by religious institutions. Not a large, united church necessarily, but temples, shrines, and other places where you worship. The English language is strangely limited in this regard. And if education is controlled by religious interests, then the knowledge educated people have will be filtered through that lens. Things that go against doctrine will be frowned upon, ignored, or derided. If there IS some sort of education that isn't religious in nature, it'll probably be government run, which runs into the same problem. In other words, education can be, and often is, propaganda. So if you're making a fantasy setting, then think about what form it takes and how widespread it is. Whatever the case, it probably won't be widespread and the lower classes won't have much access. And if the education system won't teach certain things, I'll use necromancy as an example again, then that'll be less commonly known. If you're making some sort of sci-fi setting, then education will probably not pay a major role in it. The average person has some basic level of education, just like today. Great. In dystopias, which are usually sci-fi but work with me, education should be key to indoctrination, and religion can be a part of that. Imagine kids being told that their country was ordained by the gods every day, don't get any more ideas, Modi. They'd probably believe it. And if they're taught that followers of other religions are the cause of all problems because they suck up government social programs and are secretly more loyal to their religious doctrine than our country's law, they'd probably believe that too. They make a great scapegoat. Part 4. Society. It's no secret that the ultra-religious often frown on things like homosexuality, but they've had a lot of punching bags over the years. People of other religions, other sects of the same religion, women, atheists, apostates, the list goes on. I've gone on long enough about how religion can lead to oppression, so I won't get into that anymore here. Just spend some time thinking about how day-to-day life is affected for those that deviate from religious doctrine. Do they have to keep their deviance a secret for fear of being murdered in the street? Or are they just treated slightly worse than everyone else? This can be an important question for world-building, story, character, and whatever else you might need to focus on. If you're GMing in RPG, then you can use this as an excuse to throw all sorts of obstacles at your players. Maybe have them arrested, because fuck those rules-loyering murder hobos. Conversion is an interesting phenomenon too. Despite what many people think, most conversions in history have been peaceful, not forceful. The forceful examples are more famous, is all. When your whole society worships a certain God, and you have difficulty getting employment from people who worship that God, and your leaders all worship that God, and you have to pay a tax that others don't, then converting just makes sense. After all, if your old God was so great, wouldn't everyone be worshiping him instead? Daily life is usually affected too. If you have to pray 7 times a day, then you'll have less time for other things. If you aren't allowed to eat meat, then you need to get your food somewhere else. If your religion forbids charging interests on loans, then either you'll have to live without them, or members of some other religion will have to give out all the loans. Don't worry, I'm sure that won't breed resentment. For that matter, how do people pray? Do they just look into the sky and talk? Face a specific direction? Write something on a piece of paper and burn it? Piss on a statue? You can go real weird with this. You don't have to, simply putting any sort of ritual at all adds layers of depth. Unusual doesn't always mean better, but it does help it stand out. And this is the best way to show what religion is like without exposition dumps. Show people simply going through the various rituals and ceremonies involved with the practice of their faith. Prayers, bathing, weddings, criminal trials, simply showing all these inactions will go much further to giving your setting an identity than a million encyclopedia entries. One small point I'd like to make, and I have to keep it small because it's a gigantic topic that I have neither the time nor expertise to talk about in a proper way, is how religious ideals can permeate throughout an entire culture. The culture you grow up in affects your mindset in ways you're probably unaware of. And I know all of you are currently thinking, yeah, that happens with other people, just not me. Which is completely wrong, so stop thinking that. When religions encourage or discourage certain behaviors and thoughts, that permeates throughout the overall culture over generations. For example, Buddhism generally teaches people to get rid of all desires, meaning that if they follow it, they probably won't care much about advancing their own station in life. And over generations, this mindset would become so normal that even non-Buddhists would keep elements of it. Not to say that this is inherently good or bad, or that every member of these cultures act and think like this, just that on a societal level, things often work this way. Now, this is a chicken and egg question here that I, to reiterate, am nowhere near qualified to answer properly. Maybe Buddhism creates societies of people content with their station, maybe they become Buddhists because they're already content. The point is that this mindset affects how individuals, even secular individuals, act and see the world. Conclusion. Religion is a pretty controversial topic, though however you feel about it, its effects on the world are undeniable. For good and ill, religious people and ideals shape the world around them. Religion is an eclectic aspect of world building across all genres, which is a shame both because it's an interesting subject on its own, and because it can make things interesting thematically. And frankly, it's an easy way to add depth to a setting without needing to spend time expositing about the history of kings such and such as war against the Blarconeps. Like all world building, it's easy to overthink this and think that you need a massive pantheon of gods with their own backstories and domains before things will be interesting when all you really need to do is show the effects of their worship on the world. Anyway, thanks for watching and all cops are bastards. 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