[EVENT] Grand Religious Debate/Festival

[Solaghar]

I had the idea to have a grand religious debate among all of the theologically minded persons in the realms. So much of the conflict between different faiths boils down to differences in philosophy. What is the meaning of truth; does it serve its own purpose or some higher one? What is chaos, and does it help or hurt people in the end? Did Corellon or Gruumsh start the war between the two? These are just some of the questions that many of the faiths in the game endlessly debate among themselves in canon.

My idea is for anyone who desires to take part, but especially the High Priest(esses) and other faith leaders and representatives of the various churches to gather in a neutral place and hold real debates. A neutral, or at least balanced panel, would be convened for each debate, which would be agreed upon beforehand by the various debaters. People in the audience might get the chance to ask questions for debate as well. We might have other events as well, such as demonstrations of the power of certain deities, information about the various orders the deities sponsor, explanations of rites and rituals, etc.

While the High Priesthood and Faith Leaders would take the center stage, everyone would be invited to take part in an entirely peaceful setting for open debate. All players would get a chance to come and learn more about the Gods and their clergy-members both. Perhaps many of the Faith Leaders present would be willing to open their doors to new members as well as we might consider it a small faithing event, or even larger if the admins decide to join in on that part and turn it into a general faithing day.

My thoughts for a time would be officially starting around http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/f ... c=0&p1=867 and running for several hours thereafter, which should give everyone plenty of chance to prepare and for me to organize the details and basic calendar of events/debate schedule if this seems like a good idea to the admins and is well-received by other players in general. I think that if people believe that their deity is the best, they should be able to state their reasons for believing so in public, and also be able to defend those reasons in the face of questioning. Religion is a big part of what makes the FR campaign setting fun, so it'd be nice to explore more of this aspect in a large-scale event setting. Work would be available for bards as well, to chronicle the event.

[Velius]

Sounds awesome, I'll see if I can be there!

A question, ( if not too IC ) where will be the meeting place for this event?

*Raises his spears and lets a loud yell... "Tempus!!!"

[Mouat]

Solaghar, I hope you do not take this wrong, but simply for what it is worth.

I think the idea is great, but it has many IC implications and OOC implications. Just like the fighting tournament, some faith managers or high priests will not want members to be near their enemies (in terms of the audience you spoke of unless you meant just an unfaithed audiance).

As for the High Priests, I cannot speak on their behalf, but there are huge disadvantages for those of you that read or have read lots of FR books and to those who have not. To have a good ideological debate on the various scripture of each diety is great if you have sound background to go from.

There a bunch of other IC and OOC issues I have with a debate of this nature, but that is not so important.

Now for the flip side, if I were to have an unfaithed character, I would totally want to visit an information meeting about the different dieties, you know... walk into a big hall, a bunch of tables set in rows with High Priests and Faith Managers sitting at the tables so that a unfaithed character can go chat with them their respective dieties. Propaganda signs at tables could be at tables "Down with Cyric, Go with Kelemvor" Or "Go with the better sister Shar not Selune". gee I hope that's right, I really don't know anything about FR kingdom except there are female wizards that tend to undress and dress while invisibile (silly mystran wizards... yes I know... what goes on in Ardeep stays in Ardeep...)

On another note, some new Faith Managers and possibly new High Priests of some faiths have perhaps not met to chat on their stance on certain ideals (yes they should be the same... perhaps) and really should be given time for them to chat about some issues.

Anyway, this was not meant to rain down on the idea, just some realistic OOC implications to have a proper IC debate.

Just my two copper coins worth..

[Dalvyn]

I think that this has the potential of turning into a really great event. I especially like

• that it will be an opportunity for people to learn more about deities and their ethos in a more interactive way than just reading books;
• that it brings together people who might consider each other as enemies in a way that is not likely to degenerate into a pkill feast;
• that it gives people an opportunity to roleplay faith ethos and discuss it (I've found out that discussing faith ethos makes it much more "real" and helps with playing faithful characters).

I must admit that I immediately thought about the concern that Mouat raises when I read the first post though: it can be rather delicate for people who might not know that much about Forgotten Realms lore. Now, I think that people who are high priests or relatively famous in the church should research faith ethos and make sure that they know it well enough, but I can see how such a bit event could make people uncomfortable.

What I would suggest is this: instead of a big free-for-all debate, why not set up smaller debates between two or three people or groups of people, on specific topic. For example, you'd have a debate on "is nature cruel or not?" between a group of followers of Mielikki, a group of Malarites. They would discuss it for a few minutes, then you'd allow everybody to ask questions of them.

The main ideas there are: (1) make a list with who is going to intervene, and allow people to choose whether they will be on this list or not; and (2) allow for group debates instead of single individuals facing each other.

Anyway, I think this can lead to something very interesting. It might just need some refining.

[Solaghar]

Group debates are definitely a good idea, especially as there are more than two distinct points on many of these questions. A debate about the nature of lawfulness composing say, a Tyrran, a Helmite, a Banite and a Talassan would certainly be interesting, as each would have their own distinct position. I think that would be a great idea, and in fact was much as I had envisioned it, debates consisting of a panel of several rather than a one-on-one debate. Taking the handle on organizing the debate, once I have an idea of the sort of people who will be attending, I can come up with some stimulating topics which I think would appeal to a wide audience.

Now, as for people not necessarily knowing much about Forgotten Realms lore, there's a ton of information on the internet, and some great books, I'd especially recommend the 2nd edition Faiths and Avatars which contains a great wealth of information on the priesthoods and is in my opinion, far superior to the 3.5 Faiths and Pantheons in terms of the stuff you learn about the faith. But we should also remember that even within these churches, there is always a debate about how things are. The deities themselves tend to set guidelines, but they're not always the strictest and there can be a big difference between say, a chaotic good Ranger of Lathander's views versus a lawful good Paladin's views of the faith.

What I am trying to say is that I don't think people should be afraid to join in and speak out because they're afraid they don't know enough, or they're not expert enough. This is about learning from and interacting with one another. You might make a mistake, but it's better to interact and express what you believe your deity stands for than to sit on the sidelines because you're afraid someone else has read more FR novels than you and has a better grasp of the faith.

Now, as for whether people choose to show up or not, this is I think, somewhat less controversial than it might seem. Faerunians, no matter how much they dislike another faith, all worship the same pantheon. If Cyric and Kelemvor and Mystra can all get together as Gods to have discussions, then surely their followers can do the same, for a little while. Consider it this way if you like, if you choose not to show up because you're offended that your faith enemy will be there, recognize that your voice will not be heard while theirs will and refusing to even have a civilized discussion with your enemies suggests that one might be afraid that one's beliefs could not stand up to a bit of scrutiny. I am not saying I expect it to be friendly, Cyricists and Kelemvorans sharing dinner and drinks, I expect there to be harsh words, debate, anger... but still civilized discussion.

It's a chance for us to show off philosophically rather than physically. Whether you're a level 10 newbie or a 7 year old FM with every spell and skill GMed, you will convince people only based on the strength of your arguments, the quality of your debate, the intelligence and strength of character which you put forth.

[Nysan]

Hmm, religion chatting with the locals. Sounds familar...

Go for it.