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I finally finished reading this, as I had promised a few months ago, hehe.
But, on a slightly more serious note, I'd like to discuss a few of the things in the novel.
I'm assuming you were painting Saradominists as Christians in this novel--even as they seem to be portrayed, at times, in-game--and I feel one thing that might get in the way of this is that the gods have been proven to be real, and it is a widely accepted fact by all, no matter how much they might hate them, as opposed to the fact that the Abrahamic God's existence is not accepted by all.
At the end there, you mentioned that the priests were "dispersed with arrow," and I interpreted this to be that they were killed. If so, then Ronny is no better than the priests. In addition, I feel that the culture has changed, as least in the United States. We are taught to be kind to all, no matter what they do, and I am a Roman Catholic.
Furthermore, if Edward truly was to banish all religions from the land, would he be just like the "bigots" he described earlier? At least as Ronny described it in his writings, the religions did what they could to survive, and sought to banish those who didn't believe what they believed. Once more, Edward would be no better if he were to purge religion, one of the things that can give cultural identity, and as it was put, unite everyone under one banner.
You cannot silence an idea simply by killing people, and, if anything, killing the opposition may garner more support for the opposition. In this case, big ol' Saradomin can smite the city of Varrock if he wanted to, couldn't he?
As for my personal beliefs, live and let live. On top of that, I have to go against the whole "it's a choice" thing, because there are documented cases of same-gender relationships in the wild. I get tired of the bible belting, but I can't say that I'll organize a pride parade any time soon. I'm going to live my life in a way that I feel will be most pleasing to myself, and God.

03-Jun-2011 04:39:43

Englishkid62

Englishkid62

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Ruben – I’m sure the review will come out when Chuk gets round to it :)
Cheeze – That’s fine, discussions are great.
I'm assuming you were painting Saradominists as Christians in this novel--even as they seem to be portrayed, at times, in-game--and I feel one thing that might get in the way of this is that the gods have been proven to be real, and it is a widely accepted fact by all, no matter how much they might hate them, as opposed to the fact that the Abrahamic God's existence is not accepted by all.
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On a basic level, such as from the perspective of the begger in Varrock, they may never have encountered a ‘god’ in their lifetime. So there are causes for disbelief. On another level, if these ‘priests’ too never encountered Saradomin, how are they able to claim positions to spread his ‘views’? In this novel, I did*’t recall targeting specifically whether there is in fact a God. Or rather, I was targeting the behaviour of fundamentalists and the effects on society.

At the end there, you mentioned that the priests were "dispersed with arrow," and I interpreted this to be that they were killed. If so, then Ronny is no better than the priests. In addition, I feel that the culture has changed, as least in the United States. We are taught to be kind to all, no matter what they do, and I am a Roman Catholic.
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Here, disperse means simply ‘cause to scatter in different directions’. If I used ‘disposed’, it might be a little different :P . As for the culture, I’m not so sure. I still read numerous accounts from the United States about how fundamentalists are hitting back – but if you are surrounded by open-minded individuals, you are a lucky one.

03-Jun-2011 17:29:36

Englishkid62

Englishkid62

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Furthermore, if Edward truly was to banish all religions from the land, would he be just like the "bigots" he described earlier? At least as Ronny described it in his writings, the religions did what they could to survive, and sought to banish those who didn't believe what they believed. Once more, Edward would be no better if he were to purge religion, one of the things that can give cultural identity, and as it was put, unite everyone under one banner.
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Yeah…although Edward might never have actually thought that – Ronny could write whatever he felt Edward had thought during his time in prison. And to be honest, Edward never owed anything to religion, or was obliged to be better than it. Someone did this to you, and you wanted revenge. It’s the same thing. As well as cultural identity, religion also gives the society other things which are not beneficial, such as a channel through which non-thinking/illogical presumptions can be made to easily convince others. And is the world better when everybody’s views, beliefs and outlooks are alike, and as it was put, under one banner? Should we not respect others were made differently or have minds of their own?

03-Jun-2011 17:29:49 - Last edited on 03-Jun-2011 17:30:21 by Englishkid62

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