Building Believable Religions for Fantasy Worlds

Defining Four Terms

  • Orthodoxy = Right Belief
  • Orthopraxy = Right Practice
  • Devout = A person who truly believes what a religion declares is true
  • Practitioner = A person who practices external religious elements without belief

Note:  Devout and Practitioner are terms of I developed for purposes of this discussion.

Someone who is devout will value both Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy.  A Practitioner will follow Orthopraxy without Orthodoxy.

There are gradations of these ideas, but for purposes of this discussion, the key point of a Practitioner is that he or she does not believe.

Religion and Society

Until the pre-modern era, religion was integral to all societies in the world.  They all have had Practitioners as well as Devout.  Some prioritize Orthodoxy, others Orthopraxy, and many both.

Religions generally have performed at least one of five important societal functions.  Religion isn’t necessarily exclusive in being able to offer these elements.  These elements do not include what faith offers the individual which may be far more significant on a metaphysical level.  See “Faith and Gods in Fantasy Worldbuilding” for that discussion.

  1. Answering Cosmological Questions
    1. A shared religion provides its believers a common interpretation of foundational questions regarding the universe.
    2. This can contribute to societal stability and socially acceptable behaviors.
  2. Legitimizing Secular Authority
    1. Religion frequently legitimizes political authority.
      1. Legitimacy can provide for stable and long lasting systems of government
    2. If a ruler is considered divinely appointed, then overthrowing that ruler might be interpreted as rebellion against the gods and risk divine reprisal.
      1. This may lead members of society to violently oppose rebels, making coup d’etats, insurrections, and rebellions more dangerous.
      2. A new ruler will almost always attempt to establish his own legitimacy which may include:
        1. Marrying into the prior dynasty
        2. Claiming or inventing blood ties
        3. Gaining support of the priesthood
      3. Rulers perceived as defying the divine order may be erased from memory
      4. The link between ruler and divinity can vary heavily. They might be divine in life, divine after death, or non-divine but ruling with the blessing of the divine.
        1. Attempts by rulers to link themselves with the divine were not necessarily the actions of Practitioners. Many truly believed.
      5. Establishing Cultural Cohesion
        1. Single religion or single dominant religion realms might see greater cohesion than those with many beliefs.
        2. Shared communal practices like rites, services, rituals, and festivals create a sense of belonging and shared identity.
        3. A shared identity creates a strong sense of “Us” and therefore also can create a strong sense of “Them”
        4. Minority religions sometimes filled important niches
          1. They might be able to practice certain trades forbidden or shunned by those of the majority religion
          2. They frequently were limited in how visible they could be in their religious practices, might face additional taxes, or forbidden from proselytizing
          3. In times of crisis, they might be persecuted
  1. Establishing Individual Value
    1. Religions, especially those which establish value to the soul, often also establish value to individuals
    2. This creation of individual value often begins within the same religion
    3. It can stretch outward to include those of other beliefs, but this generally takes a very long time and is very unlikely in ancient or medieval societies
  2. Establishing Moral Expectations
    1. The breadth and depth of religion establishing morality can vary heavily. It is much more likely in literate society where such things can be codified
    2. Moral behavior may vary heavily depending on the religion. For example, one religion might include humility, charity, and kindness while another reinforces obedience, oath-keeping, hospitality, and vengeance.
    3. Such behaviors might be reinforced through public or private punishments, rites, confessions, etc.
    4. In religions and societies that focus highly on Orthopraxy (Right Practice), those who fail to meet these expectations (including those of other religions) may face persecution.
      1. Such persecutions can vary heavily depending on local leadership and current circumstances.
      2. Disaster, famine, plague, etc. may reinforce these religious perspectives, or more rarely, result in widespread conversion to a new faith.

Religious Structure

The complexity of a religion’s structure is dependent on a variety of elements including:

  1. The complexity of the surrounding society. A complex realm with an expansive bureaucracy may lend itself to equally complex and regulated religions.
  2. The complexity of the faith. Religions of literate societies are far more capable of preserving beliefs, doctrinal rulings, and theological writings than societies reliant upon oral tradition.
  3. Geographic scale may also create complexity, but only if centralization needs to be maintained.

A religion shared between two different realms may vary by country or may see a single religious hierarchy that stretches beyond political borders.

Heresies and Schisms

A heresy is a faith, or perhaps religion, that purports to be the same belief but has a different interpretation on at least one key issue.  A schism can occur when an interpretation condemned as heretical nevertheless persists.  Note:  There are broader nuances, but these serve purposes of this discussion.

There are typically three causes of a heresy (and perhaps a schism):

  1. A Debate over Doctrinal Issues
    1. This almost always emerges from two groups of Devout who disagree on some matter of theology.
    2. A common result is some form of council or appeal to religious experts.
      1. If those who lose the debate refuse to comply, schism may result.
    3. A Concern over Religious Practices
      1. This is usually driven by a Devout raising concerns about a religious practice.
        1. Those addressed in the religious institution may include Devout and/or Practitioners
        2. The Devout who raises the concern may be joined by opportunistic Practitioners (see #3 below)
      2. If the concerns over religious practice aren’t adequately addressed, a schism may result.
    4. A Tool for Secular Agendas
      1. This is usually driven by a Practitioner who seeks to use the religion to further his or her own secular ambitions.
      2. Religion can be a powerful motivator for individuals and societies. This makes it a tempting tool for individuals to harness in support of non-religions/faith goals.

In fantasy worlds, it is much more common for everyone to have a shared belief concerning the cosmology (natural laws) and cosmogony (creation) of the world which often leads to single religions.  The use of heresies and schisms is a mechanism to allow for religious fragmentation and conflict and, therefore, to provide more similarities to our world.

Conflicting Religions and the Collision of Objective Truth

A world with multiple religions or different interpretations within a single religion will experience religious conflict.  Aside from outright war, this can manifest in several other ways, including:

  1. A realm with a dominant religion seeing itself as protecting coreligionists in another realm where that belief is not dominant. This often manifests diplomatically, but may flare into war.
  2. Minority religions within a realm may face different treatment or persecution (as discussed in “Establishing Cultural Cohesion” above).

Consider whether the religions are highly compatible, partially compatible, or utterly incompatible.

Two Great Destroyers of Fantasy Religion

Don’t confuse the external worldbuilder perspective with that of an internal Devout perspective.

  1. The purpose of a faith—the internal belief—is not religion. Religion is the corporate manifestation of that faith, including its structure, how it interweaves into society, and how society perceives it.
  2. Practitioners may join a religion for fame, popularity, or other non-faith-based motives. A Devout won’t be.  He or she will be motivated by the fundamental incentive of the faith—some benefit in this life or the next.
  3. If the religion in your world does not serve the needs of the Devout, then it ceases to be faith-based at all. It is now a secular corporation comparable to the Hanseatic League, the British East India Company, Boeing, or Walmart.
  4. A religion comprised solely of Practitioners can’t exist because there is no underlying faith.

The solution is to ensure there is some true faith-based incentive for the Devout.  See “Faith and Gods in Fantasy Worldbuilding” for more on how to do this.

 

Worlds built upon foundations of ancient or medieval societies should not have protagonists whose beliefs are indistinguishable from 21st Century atheism.  This creates a cognitive dissonance.

  1. Modern Atheism didn’t emerge until the Enlightenment. Prior to that, there were skeptics such as the Epicureans and Charvaka.  These were rare, often elite, lived in worlds dominated by powerful religious frameworks, and were careful in their relationships to it.
    1. A character who is openly disrespectful or flippant of an ancient or medieval society’s religion will face severe consequences including being socially ostracized, excommunicated, denied legal protection or economic opportunity, or even executed.
    2. This is especially flawed in fantasy worlds where the deities the protagonist rejects are physically present and openly active.
  2. Be careful not to portray everyone who is religious in a fantasy world as either evil or idiotic.
  3. There have been villains and idiots in any believe, but equating “religion=evil” or “religion=idiot” is narrow-minded, insulting, and another source of cognitive dissonance.

Solutions include having the protagonist be a Practitioner of a religion without being devout or exploring the interrelationship of Epicureans and Charvaka with their societies.  Ensure that most Devout are intelligent about their faith—given them a reasonable incentive to justify their beliefs.

How much focus needs to be given to Religion?

A large focus on religion is not a fundamental requirement for fantasy worldbuilding.

  1. All worldbuilding endeavors require balance to ensure you don’t spend your entire time building a world and never get to using it for its created purpose.
  2. Because religion has huge ramifications for societal behaviors, it should get at least a little attention.
  3. Be wary of using religion to lecture your audience. This will annoy rather than engage them