Creating a religion

Well, is it a proven religion or just the crap us earthlings have?

Study real religions. You'll see what you need.

As for what you need to describe in your novel? The same quantity as you would for any other thing you created, aka the length of a perfect skirt: long enough to cover the subject, short enough to keep it interesting.

Rhys Cordelle said:

... an explanation of why we are here and where we go after death. ..

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To me that's the only thing you mentioned that's an absolute necessity, especially if you're dealing with humans. Otherwise all else is more tradition/culture than religion. Teachers of the religion are required, but they could act by word of mouth only - maybe your religion abhors the written word as something sinful. A lot depends on the psychology of your populace. If you can justify it amongst your characters, then anything goes. Cannabalism? Sacrifices? Monogamy? Abstinence? Self-mutilation?

I'm curious - what are your ideas for this new religion? I would, for it to feel real to me as a reader, definitely need to know the basics as mentioned in the above post - how did we get here and why are we here? What's our purpose on this earth? How do we acquire that which we believe we are here for (did that make sense?)

A religion typically will explain the what the world is, where it comes from, what man's place in it is, and his relationship to that world and the forces that act on it. It will almost always involve a belief in unseen realities, supernatural beings, and an afterlife. The proper nature of the relationship between man and the god/s, between man and man will enter into it too. What needs to be done to reach a higher level of spirituality and/or power and/or enlightenment is pretty much universal, although in some religions it's mostly just placating the spirits to ensure survival and prosperity. Prophecy is not essential, but common.

You also have to give thought to the institutionalization of it. Religions that had an identifiable founder have to have a succession mechanism, or they don't last long. You can have a rigid hierarchy with very clearly laid-out paths to rising in it, or something much more informal, based more on personality and influence. There can be schools for the training of priests/pastors/adepts or an apprenticeship system. Or, as in real life, you can have different branches that mix and match these things in different ways.

If you can get your hands on a textbook to a sociology of religion class, you'll probably find out pretty much everything you need to consider in terms of religion in a society, as well as a good number of the variations that have actually occurred in human history.

Read Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. He did an amazing job of creating an "old" religion and two competing branches of the same dogma. All interesting, and germane to the central plot.

A religion normally has some stories, beliefs, practices and symbols that help make sense of things. The kinds of questions religions typically answer include:


The stories may be seen literally or figuratively but they'll generally try and address these questions and tie them to beliefs. The stories might be about times past, or they might present a perception of present times, or predict times in the future.

The practices will normally claim to elevate people -- make them happier, better off. The symbols are reminders of the stories, beliefs and practices. They could be physical (people, places, objects) or conceptual (dates, words, ideas).

A very important element of religions is taboo. Taboo lists things we must or must not do or say or think in certain circumstances. It surrounds rituals, symbols and beliefs and makes them sacred. Breaking taboos normally incurs fear, anger, displeasure among the faithful and often requires punishment or atonement.

Taboos often lie around food, reproduction, birth, particular ages, genders, death, places, tools, words, elements and nature.

Religions often include gods or spirits or other metaphysical characters from religious narrative that are imbued with sacredness (and hence, surrounded by taboo).

Religions are often deeply embedded in culture and politics. They're typically tied to economies (influencing how people make a living or how they do their work, and often benefiting from the work done), politics (influencing who gains power and how, or ratifying the power they gain, and themselves suffering schisms), the stages of life, societal conflicts (wars, rivalries, espionage) and a society's history.

Here's a quick, synthetic religion-sketch as an example. This faith I call Moribo -- the religion of Design.

How did we come to be? We are rejects from a cosmic experiment
Why are we here? This is the place where imperfect things are discarded
Why do we suffer? Because our imperfection creates inefficiency
How should we act? Toward greater efficiency
What happens when we die? Our Assembly is dismantled but our Design remains. Our Design may be Reinstantiated into another Assembly and Retested until we achieve Optimality and depart the world of Refuse.

Holy symbol: The Design, a kaliedoscope of interlocking coloured pieces
Holy practices: Creation of representations of the Pattern; analysis of the human Design, eugenics; Diagnosis: an acknowledgement of our Inefficiencies; Recalibration: repetitive, menial tasks that redress our Inefficiencies
Taboos: Don't suffer deformities to live, for their Inefficiency is a pollutant; Waste nothing -- not words, nor food, nor materials; Never repeat the same task unless Calibrating; never flee Adversity, but master it.

Political Influence: Moribo tends to favour meritocracies and oligarchies, where candidates are tested for their physical, mental and genetic superiority.

Economic Influence: Moriban societies tend to love automation, education, training and frequent testing.

Military Influence: Moriban societies tend to be aggressive, warlike and weak in diplomacy. However, they treat their conquered people well -- if they meet the Moriban standards of health, fitness and intellect. Moriban societies practice eugenics on themselves and are not squeamish about inflicting it on the societies they conquer.

Ceremonies: Moriban ceremonies revolve around Testing and Acceptance. Key passages of life: birth, puberty, adulthood, marriage undergo extensive testing and celebration of acceptance. Death however is treated perfunctorily; bodies are recycled and the deceased's possessions are Reviewed for reuse.

Schisms: Moribo is divided into three major sects: The Prospectives are concerned about planning for the future; they are tolerant of Inefficiency today. The Conservatives are concerned about minimising existing waste. The Determinists are concerned with removing choice as much as possible.

Hope that helps.

Nice Ruv!

Rhys Cordelle said:

Thankyou all, great advice. A bit of background for the curious: There is a pantheon of 8 gods. Whether these gods exist or were designed to explain the world isnt important, if the gods exist they dont make themselves known. Somewhere along the way people begin to worship one of the gods as "the One True God", and they move away from the pantheists. The one god has parallels to earthly monotheist religions but I also want it to feel unique

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In that case, check into the Egyptian shift from their pantheon to the worship of Amun. You could probably find some of what you need there.

All that was said above.

I once wrote a detailed list of everything a new religion needs to address. Unfortunately I lost it when my computer died, and I can't remember much more than what was already mentioned.

One thing though: Fear. How the religion uses it to make people act "right". How people are supposed to overcome it through the religion.

First point is largely how the priests talk (ie. "You will surely burn in Hell if you don't repent now!") and how the sacred text is written (almost gothic in all the burning agony and killing of first borns and what have you.).

Second point couldn't exist without the first point. You need the religion to instil fear (especially around taboos) for the religion then to offer a cure for that fear. I mean, it's easy to tell people how to not be afraid of going to Hell, seeing as how Hell was a construct of the religion's fear process anyway (it's simple - do what we say and repent for past sins ).

Fear in religion is all about strategisms and control.

I can't remember any of the other points I had... except maybe take a page from Pagan teachings - you know, mind, body, soul... except extrapolate it into words that don't tell you, "You're latently psychic and do these empowering exercises." Make it more unknown, shrouded in mystery, and possibly only affecting the Saints or the Afterlife. People will lap it up.

Noooooo, I'm not a cynic...

Cliff

And one more thing. I mentioned above the prospect of psychic powers only belonging to saints. That can be the official party line of the religion, no problem, but I personally think that it'd make a better book if: The rules of the novel are NOT 100% the rules of the religion.

So you could have a psychic bad guy, so not a saint, for instance, and aside from what this would do for the story in terms of what the bad guy can do, it'll also give rise to conflict of religion, which is entertaining and more realistic.

Rhys Cordelle said:

Yep, fear is definitely essential.
I will look into the egyptian religion, thanks for the tip.
For the monotheists I see it being somewhat like the christianity of the middle ages. The church leaders have a lot of power and they have heavy influence over the kings and queens. The plot centres around what happens when a non believer becomes queen and refuses to obey

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In that case -- research Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth I and the response of the Catholic church to each.

Good to hear!

I would also add that you could gain real depth if you created/explored "saints", those that truly honored and demonstrated the teachings, and "sinners", those that either went against the teachings or used them to their own end. Mother Teresa says a lot about faith and general Christianity, as well as Catholicism, and is a good example of a saint. Pope Alexander VI is a good example of a man that turned a sacred office into a joke. Knowing how the good people best demonstrated, as well as knowing how the worst people took advantage of your religion may bring out some interesting avenues.

You might want to check out David Weber's Safehold series, for a very nuanced and realistic portrayal of an artificially created religion. He shows all the complexity and nuances that you can have, from the cynical manipulators to the fanatical to the more or less convinced rank and file to those who exemplify all the best of its teachings. I found this series particularly interesting because the focus was not on bashing religion but on attacking the abuse of it. A rather different twist to find in a science fiction series. He himself has a degree in history and it shows. One of the more impressive jobs of world-building I've ever seen.

The first book is called Off Armageddon Reef, if you decide to go looking for it.

Rhys Cordelle said:

Thankyou all, great advice. A bit of background for the curious: There is a pantheon of 8 gods. Whether these gods exist or were designed to explain the world isnt important, if the gods exist they dont make themselves known. Somewhere along the way people begin to worship one of the gods as "the One True God", and they move away from the pantheists. The one god has parallels to earthly monotheist religions but I also want it to feel unique

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Pantheists necessarily believe in "one true god".

Pantheism is the belief that God literally is everything, including the physical world. For those who need a more transcendent element, Pantheism can suggest that while everything physical is a manifestation of God, there is much more to God than just the physical universe.

There is a variation known as Panentheism which suggests that God is in everything but not identical with it. Just as water can be in a sponge, but not be the sponge.

Pantheism does not equate to a plurality of gods.

I also was dealing with the same problem very recently. I just created the basic ideas, morals, and beliefs of the religion and named it, it's gods, and it's scripture and I was finished. But the religion in my story is not a true one... Anyways, I was satisfied with my end result.

Ask L. Ron Hubbard. He successfully created a religion in real life.

When you're creating a religion, for the duration of the story and while you are in the point of view of the characters who believe it, you must believe it too.

First, your religion has to have a purpose (and the purpose cannot be just oppressing the nature-loving pagans/elves/feminists/main characters). What do the believers get out of it?

Are there things that the believers must always do? Are there things that they must never do? What do the ladies of the Altar Guild talk about on Wednesday nights? What does the local practitioner say to a stranger who comes into town and says, "Tell me about your religion"? How does one become a member? What are the core sets of beliefs? Do they have distinctive forms of dress? Of address? Holidays? Holy days? Rituals? Folk beliefs that aren't part of core doctrine? Are there documents? Are there children's versions of those documents?

Say you are a devotee of Hlu-hlu the Spider God. What's a marriage ceremony like for you?

Suppose you do something that's wrong under your religion. How do you go about getting right with Hlu-hlu again?

maestrowork said:

Ask L. Ron Hubbard. He successfully created a religion in real life.

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On a bar bet by Heinlein, no less. Supposedly. Heh.

Good question... and it sounds like you have an interesting premise!! I've created a religion from scratch in my own work, so I feel for ya. Like people wiser than I have said, look at the tenets of basic faith, and what happens when there's a shift in ideologies. Have you looked at the Cathars, particularly their persecution? Pretty fascinating stuff there, and also when the Roman Empire converted to Christianity.

Good luck!!