# Religion LLMS index: [llms.txt](/dvw/en/llms.txt) --- As I mentioned in Chapter 6, I’m an atheist. All religion looks like an aspect of anthropology to me. I see where religions come from, I see why they succeed and fail, I see why people follow them, and I see how they propagate. I also see why my making any observations about religions is likely to be highly contentious no matter how impartial I aim to be, therefore I shall keep this short. The necessity of my having to make the preceding disclaimer in this book transfers directly to virtual worlds. If you want to know what the phrase “treading on eggshells” means, this is a great way to learn. In real life, it’s almost impossible to mention religion without offending someone; the same is true of religion in virtual worlds. Yet for many people, their religion is the absolute focus of their life. So what does the designer do? There are basically four options: - Discreetly ignore religion. Simply never mention anything about it. - Make up a religion (or use a dead one). Here, the virtual world conveys the sense that religion or spirituality is important, but it doesn’t use anything that anyone actually believes. - Include references to real-world religions, but only passively. You might have a cathedral, but it has no tangible effects in the virtual world beyond its physical properties. - Embrace one or more real-world religions. This can be explicit (rituals and ceremonies that have tangible effects) or implicit (the virtual world conveys a system of values and beliefs without directly referencing the source). When implicit, it can be combined with one of the other options mentioned previously. Discreetly ignoring religion is the safest approach, especially if it makes sense in the context. This is the way most movies do it: If a character in a screenplay is a priest, he’s a priest for a reason. Science Fiction virtual worlds work this way. When the genre demands a religion, the usual solution is to make up one [^18]. Fantasy religions in Fantasy worlds are generally accepted; those who don’t accept them usually don’t accept the basic Fantasy premise either. Interestingly, the “need” for religion in Fantasy worlds stems mainly from the assumption that cleric-class characters must obtain their healing-type spells as gifts of their deity. Although this is a common fiction, it’s not one that is a necessity; despite its religion-influenced creation myths there are no priestly types in Lord of the Rings, for example (and few wizards). The third option is to put in real-world religious paraphernalia, but not imbue it with any special functionality. Players may choose to conduct weddings in temples or churches or wherever, but to the virtual world engine none of this has any significance. The designer treats a religious building like anything else—a castle, a cave, a boatyard—and religious objects as no different from other expensive or coveted items. This is the safest approach for an historical genre where religion plays a part without being the central theme [^19]. For example, clergymen and churches have a place in Wild West mythology, but they are stylized to the extent that they can be used sensibly without offense. In later settings this also can work, although you’d probably need a reason to use it rather than simply ignore religion altogether [^20]. Finally, designers will often work threads of their own philosophy into a virtual world, and this could include their religious beliefs. A deliberately allegorical work would be more difficult to construct, but it’s by no means impossible. Overtly religious virtual worlds that give tangible virtual world effects to implementations of real-world religious practices are making themselves targets for all kinds of troublemakers, whether from their own faith or some other. Even seemingly innocuous things can be hurtful: Making Santa Claus appear every Christmas and give out presents is “only a bit of fun,” but to a non-Christian it could appear evangelical. Not having Christmas in the virtual world when it’s in full swing in the real world is also saying something, though. Should characters have a “religion” flag that turns on the effects of a religion? Or is it then unfair when Christian characters are given presents (that is, tangible advantages) by Santa Claus but no one else is? The religious sensibilities of players can cause design issues elsewhere. Earlier, I mentioned that I put ham into MUD2 to challenge vegetarians to look at their beliefs, but it also challenges Jews and Moslems too. Even if it were some other foodstuff, that could still give Moslems a problem during Ramadan. If your virtual self eats virtual food in a virtual world during daylight hours, are you breaking your fast or not? Is it the principle or the actuality that matters? What if the virtual world had its own clock or calendar that was out of step with the real one? Would that make a difference? Virtual worlds can depict or allow activities that are legal in the real world but that are disapproved of by established religions. Homosexuality, alcohol use, usury, and non-pacifism are all frowned on by one religion or another. Some religions look on the depiction of their symbols, buildings, or teachers as blasphemy, whereas for others it’s good publicity. Some think that showing “evils” such as black magic or devilry is corrupting, but others think it’s a case of “know thine enemy.” Of particular difficulty is when there is a schism within a religion. Virtual worlds are very good at giving male and female characters equal opportunities, but some creeds are divided over whether such equality transfers to them. Some versions of Christianity allow female priests, but others don’t. Not only does the designer have to choose which religion to depict, but which sect of that religion. Another problem with using real-life religions is omission. A cyberpunk world might have references to fundamentalist Christian churches, high-tech Buddhist and Hindu temples, but have nothing about Islam at all. This definitely insults either Islam or the other religions mentioned, but it’s not obvious which! Then there are the non-standard religions. Some years ago I wrote a series of children’s stories that I put on my web site. One of those stories concerned vampires [^21]. People would look up vampires in search engines and, finding 18 references in my story, would read it. They would then send me emails criticizing me for mocking their religion and publishing blasphemous untruths; about half would include dark threats about what they were going to do to me [^22]. I now have a link on the page explaining the context, which has cut the number of complaints to practically zero; these people may have unconventional views, but that doesn’t mean they’re stupid. The point is that they had beliefs every bit as strong as those held by adherents of conformist religions. A designer hoping to avoid confrontation with zealots can reduce the possibility of its happening, but can’t eliminate it. There are really two sets of morals involved here. The first is the system of morality that comes with a religion; there is a practical aspect to this, in that if your virtual world promotes a morality that runs counter to a particular religion’s views, you shouldn’t expect to get many players from that congregation. If you go really overboard, there could be real-world protests or worse. The second set of morals involved is your own. I’ve assumed throughout this chapter that you will do what you think is “right,” of course, but religion raises the tricky point of how to treat views you think are “wrong” (but that other people think are “right”). I used to know someone who refused to believe Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem; he accepted the proof, just not the theorem. Whatever your own system of morality, someone else’s could well seem as absurd as that. If a player asked you to remove references to Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem because it was wrong, would you do it? What if they asked you to remove references to Easter? Or Ramadan? Or the Festival of Lights? Real-life laws make some boundaries clear, but the others you must set yourself. [^18]: This also applies when you want to lampoon or otherwise say something about a religion, although it’s still something of a risky undertaking. [^19]: But beware of gaffes such as this message that I saw in Civilization III: Play The World: “We have information that the Arab city of Mecca has completed a great project, JS Bach’s Cathedral.” [^20]: This is what I do in MUD2, my reason being essentially artistic. For an excellent (although misinformed in places) critique of this approach, see: Lexley Vaughan, Playing Religiously. Muddled Times, February 2003. http://www.muddled-times.com/article.fod?IssueId=19&ArticleId=1382. [^21]: http://www.mud.co.ul/richard/sbos10.htm [^22]: The “I will sup your blood” ones were the best.