InvisibleBison wrote:I'm currently re-reading the Safehold series, and I got to wondering what sort of religions would develop after the truth about the Writ and the Church of God Awaiting is revealed. So far, I've thought up four basic ideas:
1) Some people are going to refuse to accept the truth and continue to hold to the CoGA - probably both in its Temple Loyalist and Reformist forms.
2) Some people are probably going to embrace atheism or agnosticism - we've seen people in the series thinking about this, and to some extend doing it (Dr. Mahklyn, for instance).
3) I expect Maikel Staynair, if he's still alive, or the Brethren of Saint Zherenau more generally, to form their own religion. They've already done so to some extent, after all - they are clearly religious people, but also clearly don't believe in the CoGA. Given Staynair's enormous moral authority and lovedness, a lot of people would probably accept whatever he preaches.
4) This one is the most speculative, but it seems to me that people could both accept the veracity of the Big Reveal while still believing in the CoGA. It works like this: The Holy Writ really is God's word, even though the people who created it thought they were fabricating a false religion. All of history before the "Day of Creation" served to set the scene for the establishment of Safehold and the Church, and the "Day of Creation" is a spiritual creation, not a physical one.
I'm interested in hearing what you all think about my ideas, and if you have any ideas of your own.
I figure the biggest, first division will be between people who take the revelation of the human nature of the Archangels, the history of the Terran Federation, etc. seriously and sincerely (call them "Terra-ists"), and those who don't (call them "Terra-denialists").
Terra-denialists are likely to remain vehement CoGA partisans. Assuming the revelation is associated with Charis, its Church, and reform movements, it's going to be hard but not impossible to be a Reformist Terra-denialist. But it's also likely to be hard over the longer period to remain a Terra-denialist, so even CoGA is likely to mellow out on its historical claims over the long haul.
Terra-ists may opt out of religion entirely or may adjust Reformist or Church of Charis practice to it. It's entirely possible to carry on the activities of a religion while ditching all its supernatural beliefs. (Daniel Dennett, a philosopher who's made some study of religion, calls these "former religions".) Given the role the Church has on Safehold, given all the good sense that got into the Writ, and given that people really, really cherish their communities and the rituals that structure them, I think the CoGA has a bright future as a "former religion" in this sense.
Maikel Staynair has an orientation toward religion that's extraordinary. I'm not at all sure it's the sort of thing that anyone else can actually manage, so I'm skeptical about it as the basis for a religion. He doesn't so much as believe as much as hope without worry of being wrong about God and a just hereafter. I do not see him making up something new and pushing it, or being anything less than honest about the status of the Writ after the revelation.
If he can possibly "teach" or otherwise convey his saintly decency, spiritual fearlessness, and thorough honesty, more power to him. But that's going to be a matter of personal example, not doctrinal teachings. Maybe he will be able to convey that attitude after the revelation to those who will listen within the institution of the Church of Charis as a Terra-ist former religion. It would be very nice, I can't rule it out, it's just hard to believe that many other people will pick up his spiritual high-wire act.
It's just possible that old Terran religions will revive, new ones spring up, or the CoGA go through some sort of revision to get a new and different set of supernatural beliefs behind it (your 4 above). But I don't see any of that happening to many people. Religions tend to get people when they swamp your environment through force, get you while you are young, or get a fairly uncommon convert otherwise. Old Terran religions have nothing behind them to give them a push as a sincere belief system on Safehold. Library records won't have people converting any more than Osiris or Quetzalcoatl are getting lots of new followers on Earth today. And after the reveal, Terra-ists won't have a reason to invent a new supernatural scaffolding to put behind the CoGA to keep it going on those terms. (The question won't even arise for Terra-denialists.)