On 9/8/2021 8:23 PM, Jeff Zeitlin - editor at freelancetraveller.com
(via tml list) wrote:
> 1a. A reasoned argument_in favor of_  incorporating religion into
>      Traveller.
> 1b. A reasoned argument_against_  incorporating religion into Traveller.

Dragging astrology into this, ;-) , as a Libra I can see both sides of
this issue.  That said, I think that under the proper circumstances with
the right players, religion can elevate a game from "this was good" to
"this was frakking awesome!".  However, I think this will be the
exception and not the rule, though I'm looking at it with a mature (50+
years) point of view where during my formative years religion was an
important part of our life (Church on Sunday, confirmation classes in
HS, etc.).  I acknowledge that the younger generation (teens and 20s)
may not hold these views (at least based on the broad scale demographic
research that I've seen) as the belief that religion is an important
part of life/culture is falling out of favor.

The other downside that I see is that religion can easily be turned into
a mockery of belief, an exaggeration of certain doctrinal issues or
beliefs, and in general turned into a Hollywood villain (and not a very
good one at that, even considering the current competition coming out of
there).  In many cases, at least the games I've been in over the years,
GMs/DMs have seen religion as restrictive rather than empowering or
freeing.  For example, I think I was in one game that lasted all of
three game sessions where religion was truly freeing (it was actually
rather hedonistic), while pretty much every other time it was more of a
list of institutionalized "do not's" that were used to restrict behavior.

I'll be the first to admit that my experiences may not be the common
ones, especially as I've lived in a rural, generally socially
conservative area where religion (or at least the observance of such)
played a major part in small town life.

When I look at religion in Traveller, I look at what was printed during
the CT years (IIRC, there was a bit in The Traveller Adventure and Night
of Conquest) and use that as a guide.  The bare bones were presented and
the GM fleshed out as he saw a need.

--
Kurt Feltenberger
xxxxxx@thepaw.org/xxxxxx@yahoo.com
“Before today, I was scared to live, after today, I'm scared I'm not living enough." - Me

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