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ReligionsNobody is quite sure how or why humanity's religious stances during the Tribulation coalesced into a simplistic "God or Satan" dualism, although like for most of the Tribulation's nonsense, outsider interference is blamed. After the Snare, the concept of an overarching, interventionist God is pretty much gone from religion - it's hard to have faith in such a concept once it has been experienced in person, in all its fearfulness and might. Only the Remnant actively worships the God of Abraham; most others consider Him a looming danger, although swearing against Him seems to bring misfortune (most experimental theologians assure that this is due to wide-field Remnant NC rather than actual Divine activity, but opinions are divided). As often happens in nature, when a giant tree falls, the underbrush grows -- or as some Remnant theologians say, "When you stop believing in God, you don't believe in nothing: you believe in everything". Local spirits are worshiped where traditions support it, to the point that some even show up and help with the harvest or with keeping the area safe - some field theologians see this as multiple-strand coalescing, while others claim that this is in fact new consciousness emerging from narrative causality. On the other hand, entities ranging from monsters under the bed to Great Old Ones appearing and wreaking havoc are now a thing, and must be dealt with - it is suspected that the last expedition sent to reclaim technology at McMurdo Antarctic Base suffered its end at the hands of a Lovecraftian entity. In some parts of the world, notably southern Europe and South America, cultural Catholicism has syncretised with preexisting traditions and saints have been again associated with Greek or Pagan deities; CATS monitors the situation in case they decide to show up because of this, and there are rumors of a CATS base on Mount Olympus. As it stands, most people find it pragmatically prudent to make small offerings to the local small gods when they travel, at least... Ghostbusting is a recognized profession, with the two main schools being an offshoot of traditional Shinto practices and a high-energy approach popularized in 1980s media; there are a number of recognized types of ghosts, ranging from human souls that cannot reincarnate for some reason and become increasingly inhuman as their stuckness persists, to incorporeal bogeymen of local tradition that manage to "eat up" enough conscious attention to materialize. Ghosts can also be powerful psychic imprints related to a location or an event, usually a death - these "repeaters" are not conscious, and can be exterminated without remorse. The Christian Remnant themselves are divided on theological issues; some believe that they are in the Millennial Kingdom and Jesus will finish the job in 1000 years, some believe that this is a second Church Age and they should evangelize, some believe that the Jesus they worship is not the Jesus that is in containment, some believe that they are currently inhabiting a sort of unreality and the "real world" is something that must be found and reached, and finally some believe that God's Plan has indeed been derailed and it is their holy duty to put things back the way they ought to be. The latter are considered harmful, but CATS has publicly stated that their only concern is to keep Ground Minus One secure. Luciferianism, or "Devil worship", is about as tolerated as One God worship, which is to say grudgingly. Luciferians occasionally have to be reminded that while they are welcome to try and dig to the lake of fire where their lord and master is, doing so near Ground Minus One risks releasing the Other Guy instead. Years of religious oppression of one form or another have caused a backlash among Commonwealth legislators, and even Cthulhu cultists are allowed to practice their faith up to the point where they start to actually summon dangerous outsider entities (in this particular case, however, known Lovecraftian cults are billed for any ordnance expended by the battleship USS Iowa, which has been towed to a particular spot in the South Pacific and had a floating naval base built around her. This is known as the Tentacle Tithe.). |