Corrupt Church: Difference between revisions

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** They aren't as bad about technology as this says; while they hardly advance quickly, new things ''are'' invented on a regular basis, usually by combining existing technologies in new and imaginative ways. As for the Emperor, he wasn't quite an atheist; he knew very well that gods existed and was powerful enough to be considered one himself; he just told everyone that there was no gods to weaken the Chaos gods, who feed off belief.

** which badly failed because the Chaos Gods feed on emotion and blind faith hurts them. And that said both Ecclesiasarchy and Cult Mechanicus aren't as Corrupt as many think.

** And of course, in the [[Crapsack World]] that is the WH40k universe, free-thinking, open-mindedness and tolerance of unorthodox religious views has a very high risk of resulting in [[Demonic Possession]], opening a literal Hellmouth, and the ravaging of your home planet by [[The Legions of Hell]]. Really, the Church is doing you a favour when it executes you for dabbling in things you were not meant to know of.

** The Ecclesiarchy of "Confederacy of Light" teachings of 40k millennia may look brutal sometimes, but on the average it's downright nice when compared to insanity of the years immediately before the Reformation, when the old "Temple of the Saviour Emperor" Ecclesiarchy became a puppet of Goge Vandire. ''That'' time is known as "The Reign of Blood" - which [[Beyond The Impossible|really says something]], given usual practices of the Imperium and tagline "...there's only war". Yet there's a sect secretly sticking to the old ways of - now itself considered heretical, of course. The greed stuck and one of the few visible giveaways is that they shoot for opulence in their temples.

** The [[Lawful Neutral/Lawful Good|Lawful Neutral]] god Pholtus, of Greyhawk, isn't exactly evil, although it's known for being intolerant of other faiths and very strict in its doctrines. The faith is also split into several feuding branches, one of which is a group of murderous religious bandits. It should be said, though, that his faith is also one of the most ardent opponents of the living demigod Iuz and his demon empire, and they're downright mild compared to the devil-worshipping remnants of the Great Kingdom, where the state religion was dominated by the worship of Hextor, god of tyranny and the "Herald of Hell."

*** Also, the [[Neutral Good]] sun god Pelor from Greyhawk has a popular [[Epileptic Tree|speculation]] that he is actually evil. The reason being inconsistencies in the "lore" of generic D&D 3.x - [[Too Many Cooks Spoil the Soup]], especially when they don't have a good continuity editor nor - too often - good sense to check basics on their own.

 

== Theatre ==

 

 

** All the problems with the living Tribunal stemmed from being cut off from {{spoiler|the heart of Lorkhan, the source of their powers and immortality.}} Because of this, {{spoiler|they're slowly losing their divine abilities, and, while supernaturally powerful, can actually be killed by mortals, such as the Nerevarine.}} In spite of this, only {{spoiler|Almalexia}} becomes corrupt, while Vivec is amiable, if aloof. {{spoiler|(Sotha Sil, of course, is already dead.)}} Still, the good the gods themselves did while they were at full power, such as confronting and banishing Mehrunes Dagon, and the good the church still does (a Dunmer priest of the Nine in ''[[Oblivion]]'' mentions how he misses the charity work the Tribunal temples used to engage in) are convincing arguments for the value of the temple.

* The Mechanists of the second ''[[Thief]]'' game.

* Though confined to a single house of worship rather than a widespread institution, Oublie Cathedral in ''[[Eternal Darkness]]'' is this trope in spades. Going back to the 9th century, its clergy has been replaced by demons in disguise who worship the [[Big Bad]]. This is particularly highlighted in the cathedral's second level, when Paul Luther discovers that {{spoiler|the demons have been publicizing a fake relic held at the cathedral in order to lure pilgrims as sacrificial victims.}}

* ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood|Assassin's Creed Brotherhood]]'' has the main character Ezio against an evil organization called the Templars, many of which are officials of the Catholic Church. This fits with the Renaissance setting, as the Church was very corrupt at the time. The [[Big Bad]] of ''Brotherhood'' was actually {{spoiler|a pope in the real world, and he was so corrupt that the next Pope outright stated he was going to Hell}}.