> On Apr 19, 2019, at 8:19 PM, Jeff Zeitlin <xxxxxx@freelancetraveller.com> wrote:
>
> 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.

Somehow this seems like a good thread for me to jump back in on.  I finally figured out why I haven’t been getting TML emails, when the list changed servers, I obviously got dropped.  I finally found my way back last week.

Touchy subject…  That’s something of an understatement.  I learned that about 25 years ago on this list. :-)

It seems to me that at least four Earth religions would likely have survived in some form.  I feel that this should be included, but treated with care.  Does anyone remember a Sci-Fi episode from the mid-80’s, I think it was the Twilight Zone remake, about a Priest onboard a Starship exploring the universe.  They find a dead world whose star had gone out, and the Priest realizes this star would have been the one leading the Wise Men to Jerusalem for Christ’s birth.

Thinking back on the Traveller background you’ll have religions that have sprung up around the Ancients.  Probably a few cults as well.  Might even be good to have a paragraph touching on how a cult differs from a religion.

When in the timeline are you looking at?  Or is this ignoring the timeline?  Worlds settled by other worlds, but which have sunk to below TL4 and stayed there for a good period of time have a real potential for religions based on legends around their founding.  I’m vaguely reminded of the Star Trek episode, “For the World is Hollow, and I have touched the sky”.

Zane