Official Traveller material has generally kept away from religion in the
game, for very good reason - it can be a touchy subject, and if not handled
well, can destroy a game, or a gaming group.

Nevertheless, I doubt very much that sophonts will outgrow the need for
faith in a higher power, at least not without becoming something that we
might have trouble establishing 'mutuality of concept' with - something not
at all placeable on Orson Scott Card's Hierarchy of Foreignness (from the
Ender Wiggen books).

Admittedly, the topic hasn't been _completely_ avoided; I recall articles
in the GDW JTAS touching on Zhodani, K'kree, and Aslan
philosophico-religious thought, and there is (and has been) character
generation for clerical (clergy, not bureaucrat) characters.

Thus, this request:

In a respectful, thoughtful, serious manner, discuss the character of a
religion of your choice, be it an evolution or syncretism of current
faith(s), a new faith produced from purported schism or from whole cloth,
or expanding on information already extant for a religion that may have
been mentioned and partly described in Traveller sources. I'd really
appreciate it if various 'California cult'-like religions (e.g.,
worshipping Princess Diana or Elvis Presley, or gathering in the desert to
be picked up by an Apocalypse-inducing UFO) were avoided; too often, even
the 'best' discussion of such tends to look and feel like mockery of the
entire idea of religion (which is most definitely _not_ my purpose here).
I'd also request that if you want to use as a starting point certain
controversial religions that arguably have some amount of legitimacy, that
you be _extremely_ careful; at least one such has a reputation for legal
action against anyone or anything that they even imagine might _slightly_
slander them.

Beyond that, the field is wide open - it doesn't matter whether the
religion is propitiatory or ethico-philosophical; deitic or not;
monotheistic, dualistic, pantheistic, panentheistic, or polytheistic;
church, temple, shrine, or sacred circle; ritualistic or lifestyle;
whatever. There's a lot of intelligence and imagination here on the list;
this is an invitation to let them work together.

I am especially interested in how your profiled religion affects the daily
life of its practitioners, both within their own culture, and when they are
among the non-believers of the wider multi-world society.

The objective here is to have a collection of articles suitable for
Kurishdam/Lecture Hall and Library. Stylistically, I leave it up to you,
whether you choose textbook explanation, encyclopedic, lecture at the
beginning of a university course, lecture at a weekend seminar, panel
discussion, ... whatever flips your switch. Including looking at faiths
pertinent to Vargr, K'kree, Zhodani, or other non-Imperial humans or any
non-humans. Again, the only constraint is _respectful_, _thoughtful_, and
_serious_.

For those with extensive collections of Traveller material, but a dearth of
immediate ideas, feel free to start by rolling up something, perhaps from
BITS 101 Religions or the Population-related details from World Builders'
Handbook. Or start by talking to clergy from a faith not your own. Or do a
self-Q-and-A like I suggested in my article "Building a Culture" from the
May/June 2017 issue of Freelance Traveller
(https://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/preproom/buildculture.html).

I eagerly await your response, which may be shared here, or emailed
directly to me (at the usual editorial address).

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referenced materials is not intended to
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--
Jeff Zeitlin, Editor
Freelance Traveller
    The Electronic Fan-Supported Traveller® Resource
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