Jeff M. Hopper
SOC-14 1K
Would Zhodani believe in ghost? Do the Zhodani practice religion?
Zhodani Spirituality
- Thread starter Jeff M. Hopper
- Start date
DED
SOC-12
There's an article in JTAS 23 entitled "Zhodani Philosophies." It's written from the perspective of a Zhodani diplomat. The title is a bit of a misnomer as the author spends his time dispelling myths about the appearance of Zhodani and then the usage of psionics to advance behavioral psychology.
The impression that I get from it is that belief in ghosts, and other paranormal elements, would be seen as detrimental to society as they typically invoke feelings of fear. Fear does not lead to a happy citizenry so the Teverchedle (which Imperials call "thought police") would attempt to determine the cause of this belief in the paranormal and "cure" it.
As for religion, I can only speculate. If the religion is perceived as a potential source of strife in society, then the Teverchedle would likely seek to eliminate the impulse. If said religion promotes harmony in society, then I would think that it would be tolerated. But again, if the religion seeks to undermine the moral authority of the state, then even a harmonious religion could be perceived as a threat unless the Consulate can find a way to co-opt its message.
Just my two credits. There's been a lot of Traveller product since then.
The impression that I get from it is that belief in ghosts, and other paranormal elements, would be seen as detrimental to society as they typically invoke feelings of fear. Fear does not lead to a happy citizenry so the Teverchedle (which Imperials call "thought police") would attempt to determine the cause of this belief in the paranormal and "cure" it.
As for religion, I can only speculate. If the religion is perceived as a potential source of strife in society, then the Teverchedle would likely seek to eliminate the impulse. If said religion promotes harmony in society, then I would think that it would be tolerated. But again, if the religion seeks to undermine the moral authority of the state, then even a harmonious religion could be perceived as a threat unless the Consulate can find a way to co-opt its message.
Just my two credits. There's been a lot of Traveller product since then.
Krikkitone
SOC-12
From the wiki
Zhodani Religion and Philosophy: The Zhodani Consulate promotes a quasi-religious philosophy called Morality's Path, in which adherents (virtually the entire Zhodani population within the Consulate) strive to pass through various life cycles and eventually unite with the universal energy field by leading virtuous lives. Zhodani are prohibited from subscribing to other faiths. According to Morality's Path, the "good" of a personality is recycled into new living beings for fulfiling it's duties in life, while the "bad" of a personality is permanently lost.
So essentially It’s reincarnationist theocracy (ie good thought = good religion)…so some ghost/spirit supernatural type stuff might be tolerated in proles but only as it fits into the overarching philosophy. (like Medieval Catholics incorporating some aspects of local religions)
Zhodani Religion and Philosophy: The Zhodani Consulate promotes a quasi-religious philosophy called Morality's Path, in which adherents (virtually the entire Zhodani population within the Consulate) strive to pass through various life cycles and eventually unite with the universal energy field by leading virtuous lives. Zhodani are prohibited from subscribing to other faiths. According to Morality's Path, the "good" of a personality is recycled into new living beings for fulfiling it's duties in life, while the "bad" of a personality is permanently lost.
So essentially It’s reincarnationist theocracy (ie good thought = good religion)…so some ghost/spirit supernatural type stuff might be tolerated in proles but only as it fits into the overarching philosophy. (like Medieval Catholics incorporating some aspects of local religions)
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Historiacally, few human societies (if any) have not had some kind of spiritualy (in fact, the cult to the dead is one of the things taken as a proof to sentiency for prehistoric hominids), and I don't expect the Zhodani to be different.
This aside, IIRC, in the SORAG book there was a section of the agency dedicated to religion, so hinting the concept is not alien to them.
About ghosts, several Traveller adventures show them as psionic effets, so I guess they know about what we call ghosts, but probably see them in a diferent way than us.
This aside, IIRC, in the SORAG book there was a section of the agency dedicated to religion, so hinting the concept is not alien to them.
About ghosts, several Traveller adventures show them as psionic effets, so I guess they know about what we call ghosts, but probably see them in a diferent way than us.
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
I would think that with the Zhodani, the state IS the moral authority. That is they decide how everyone should think and have the means to enforce that. So, they have some version of goodthink that they have established. The state then monitors the population--how closely isn't clear but I'd think fairly close--and anyone who has 'impure' or whatever thoughts is then given some level of societal retribution. I could easily see every Zhodani having something akin to a social credit score.
What's allowed and disallowed would likely be well established and widely advertised, not to mention known. A Zhodani would grow up learning and living by these rules. Religion in Zhodani culture could well be a common means to impart social and goodthink on society without making it overtly something the government is pushing. Thus, you have the equivalent of a 'state' church that works hand in glove with the government to produce a right thinking population. The church would push doing the 'right thing' on the population for moral and ethical reasons unlike the government that is using purely legal ones.
I could easily see something like the Middle Ages Catholic church here--there are plenty of other examples of the same sort of thing from around the world throughout history I'm just picking an obvious well known one--where the leadership of the church are embedded into government to assist in making decisions about ethics, morals, societal norms, and likely a good bit of intrigue along the way.
What's allowed and disallowed would likely be well established and widely advertised, not to mention known. A Zhodani would grow up learning and living by these rules. Religion in Zhodani culture could well be a common means to impart social and goodthink on society without making it overtly something the government is pushing. Thus, you have the equivalent of a 'state' church that works hand in glove with the government to produce a right thinking population. The church would push doing the 'right thing' on the population for moral and ethical reasons unlike the government that is using purely legal ones.
I could easily see something like the Middle Ages Catholic church here--there are plenty of other examples of the same sort of thing from around the world throughout history I'm just picking an obvious well known one--where the leadership of the church are embedded into government to assist in making decisions about ethics, morals, societal norms, and likely a good bit of intrigue along the way.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
The Middle Ages Catholic Church had a fair number of dissenters in it, among them John Wycliffe, who translated the Bible from Latin into English, and Jan Hus, a Czech who was burned at the stake, who had many views similar to Luther. Then there was also the Orthodox Church of the Byzantine Empire who did not recognize the Pope at all. The Inquisition was not founded to take care of a few dissenters, but to remove a large number and cow the rest into submission. Basically, I see the Zhodani as the equivalent of the Inquisition.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Instead of burning at the stake, they just fry your brain.
I could see dissenters being persons that are very powerful psionics who can evade the Zhodani government et al., prying into their thoughts. Maybe something like that Star Trek episode with the people Landru couldn't convert...
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Or create them.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
GURPS Traveller Alien Races has a section on Zhodani religion.
Not of need; we are at the stage where it's possible to do the edits, but not at the stage where we know what edits are needed. It's very possible that, by TL14, the Zhodani have a working understanding sufficient to have excised those out. They are not exactly likely to know it, as they may lack compatible biome denizens to test upon...
OTOH, we know the Vilani don't have such compatibles, because MT V&V tells us so..
We also don't know if the Duskir Plague hit the Vargr or Zhodani, who are compatible biomes.
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
I could also see "heretics" among the Zhodani living on low population worlds where they are tolerated because they do something there that everybody needs and frying their brain or whatever, would cause a major upset to the population in general. Imagine a, say, tech 6 Zhodani world with a population of hundreds and the heretic is the blacksmith / mechanic on that world. Offing him, or whatever the government would call for would result in nobody being able to fix everyone's stuff that needs that sort of fixing. So, this person is tolerated instead.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
ZhodAmish.
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