History Main / ScaryAmoralReligion

'''Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease''' This is about a storytelling trope, not anyone's opinion about actual religions.[[note]]We know you [[RageAgainstTheHeavens atheist]] [[HollywoodAtheist types]] are just itching to say "AllOfThem".[[/note]]

'''Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease''' This is about a storytelling trope, not anyone's opinion about actual religions.[[note]]We know you Website/{{Reddit}} [[RageAgainstTheHeavens atheist]] [[HollywoodAtheist types]] are just itching to say "AllOfThem".[[/note]]

Works very well when all the members of this religion were brought up in a mono-religious culture. If the god (or gods) of this religion actually exist, they may not actually endorse the behavior of their believers — though they may also be [[EldritchAbomination sufficiently alien as to be completely uninterested in morality]] (or at least [[BlueAndOrangeMorality morality as we know it]]). Tends to overlap with the "Aliens as Religious Fundamentalists" form of ScaryDogmaticAliens — massive cultural dissonance is easy to explain away when it is the byproduct of [[StarfishAliens bizarre alien psychology]], and it reduces the danger of the heroes capturing and [[EasyEvangelism instantly converting]] one or more of the zealots by simply pointing out that they're hurting people.

Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease [[note]]We know you Website/{{Reddit}} [[RageAgainstTheHeavens atheist]] [[HollywoodAtheist types]] are just itching to say "AllOfThem".[[/note]]

* The Skrulls of Creator/MarvelComics' ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'' claim that they own the earth because their religion says they do.
* ''{{ComicBook/Batwoman}}'' has the Religion of Crime Sect. While the regular church falls under ReligionOfEvil, the Sect that recurs in the series falls under this trope. The leader, Kyle Abbot, broke off from the original group because of a difference in ideals (that and the original group's association with [[ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} Apokolips]] would lead to disastrous consequences for the Earth). While they still worship Crime, their doctrine isn't elaborated on, and Abbot always appears as an ally to Batwoman in her ongoing, standing with her against the monsters summoned by the BigBad and even bringing the whole sect to aid her in the final battle.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* In the classic ''Franchise/StarTrek''[=/=]''Series/BabylonFive'' crossover story ''Fanfic/AThinVeneer'', the Ashen are an offshoot of the Minbari who worship the Vorlons as Gods. Their religion tells them that they are the most superior beings in the Galaxy because of this, and that they cannot be defeated thusly. They hold onto this view even as the Federation constantly [[CurbStompBattle curb stomps]] them.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' has the Yuuzhan Vong, who are in the market for a new galaxy and have just found this very nice one in which most of the inhabitants happen to depend on one of the central heresies of the Yuuzhan Vong religion—the use of non-{{organic technology}}. (They all have ''quite'' the wrong understanding of pain, too- pain is sacred and to be cherished, not avoided!) The solution? Mass xenocide. So it goes.
* The various cults from the Franchise/CthulhuMythos tend to fit this rather well. They're not usually evil per se, just like their gods aren't actually evil (except for Nyarlathotep, and he's more of a dick than truly evil). According to one cultist being interrogated in ''Call of Cthulhu'', the cultists wish for the Old Ones to return so that they can make mankind like them, unbound by law or morality, and free to dance, laugh and kill as they see fit.
* Thulsa Doom's Serpent Cult from Creator/RobertEHoward's Kull stories (as well as some adaptations of Conan, such as the movie which was originally to be about Kull anyway).
* In Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''Literature/TheDamnedTrilogy'', "The Purpose" is a religion promoted by the bad guys in which all sentient life in the Galaxy comes together in cooperation by abandoning freedom and free will. And the purpose of this cooperation? To force those species who don't necessarily want to be a part of the Purpose to join up or die.

** On a lesser scale, an alien couple murdered their child after he underwent surgery, because their faith declared that cutting into their body made him [[TheSoulless lose his soul]].
* The Soldiers of the One in ''Series/{{Caprica}}'' are a monotheistic cult in a polytheistic society that believes in absolute {{black and white morality}}, and some of their branches are perfectly willing to commit suicide bombings for their beliefs, while the others quietly approve of their actions. Later the Cylons inherited the religion and used it to justify the attempted destruction of the human race in ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E12BadWolf "Bad Wolf"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays "The Parting of the Ways"]], the Daleks seem to be worshipping the idea of their own perfection. The fact that the Daleks have a concept of blasphemy absolutely horrifies the Doctor.

* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', the Jem'Hadar worship the Founders of the Dominion as gods, and see the war on the Alpha Quadrant as a holy crusade. The Founders are said to have an innate need for order and conformity, and the avowed mission of their crusade is to bring this order to the untidy quadrant-next-door.

* In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', the Church of the GodEmperor is the main inspiration of its many followers to go to war, and a secondary inspiration for many other factions. The Church is xenocidal and imperialist, and as happy to wipe out a wayward billion of its own people as it is to exterminate entire alien races, sometimes even for a perceived slight.

* In ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' the Orthodox Fellowship on Mars can slip into this very easily. The fellowship has a major role in enforcing the Martian caste system, is xenophobic, imperialistic and actively attempts to wipe out other Martian faiths. They also actively sponsor and support the 31st Seal, an anti-Earthling terrorist organisation. Admittedly, much of the xenophobia is due to the subjugation of the Martian people, but not all.
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'':
** The Orzhov Syndicate, also known as the Church of Deals, are one of the ten guilds of Ravnica. Their theology can be roughly summarised as sin being debt, and debt requires repayment. This can be in gold or in blood, up to and including the debtor's own life. Some of the associated cards depict ordinary people being extortionately levied without any ability to respond, because they don't have the authority. Worst of all, the Syndicate is run by and full of ghosts, and if you don't repay your debt within your life you and your kin will have to slave away as spirits to pay it from beyond the grave.
** The GothicHorror setting of Innistrad, otherwise dominated by a SaintlyChurch and [[ReligionOfEvil demonic cults]], also has decidely more esoteric religions like the worship of an ancient sea god and slugs. What do worshippers get out of worshipping these things is never made clear; they certainly don't think of themselves as good or evil, nor do they gain power from it.

* The Zerg from ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' exist for no other reason than to assimilate any species that improves their genetic stock that they encounter on their interplanetary crusade. Every sentient Zerg on the upper levels of the HiveMind exists to participate in a religion centered around their [[PhysicalGod overarching consciousness]], the Overmind. The first partially free-willed consciousness that enters the Zerg HiveMind apart from the Overmind itself ([[spoiler:Kerrigan]]) eventually breaks away from the Overmind and becomes [[ChaoticEvil wholly and unapologetically evil]] while constantly [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] the fact.
** Originally, the Tal'darim protoss faction from ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' were the KnightTemplar flavour of this trope, in that they were territorial and aggressive and felt no remorse about killing the player's forces in missions pitched against them, but they had the legitimate grievance that the protagonists were explicitly showing up to steal their artifacts and possessions to sell for profit, and the beings they worship, the Xel'Naga, are definitely benevolent entities. They were pretty much the LawfulEvil BlackSheep of the protoss race, who are otherwise [[AlwaysLawfulGood reasonable, honourable and stand-up people]]. [[spoiler:At least they were until the ''Heart of the Swarm'' expansion pack, which clarified that they worship the TokenEvilTeammate of the Xel'naga pantheon - Amon, the Fallen One, which upgraded them to a ReligionOfEvil.]]
* The Eternal Doctrine and the Path of Now and Forever from ''VideoGame/StarControl'', both of which treat Ur-Quan security as paramount. The Kzer-Za's Path of Now and Forever decrees that every species is a threat to the Ur-Quan (because it might someday become too powerful if left to its own devices) and therefore must be subjugated. The Kohr-Ah Eternal Doctrine is similar, except its answer to these threats is not subjugation, it's ''annihilation''. It's all good, though — since they believe in reincarnation, species they "cleanse" will have a chance to be reborn as Ur-Quan eventually.
** Their respective philosophies are a direct result of their former slavery to the Dnyarri, who used genetic engineering to split one Ur-Quan species into two. The Kohr-Ah were soldiers, and their Eternal Doctrine reflects their simple worldview - eliminate any threat. The Kzer-Za were administrators and scientists and do not discount the benefit of having slave races and have a better understanding about controlling them. When the Kzer-Za armada surrounded the [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Syreen]] fleet (all that remained of their race) and received their surrender, they went out of their way to find them a suitable planet as the new Syreen homeworld. Also, instead of destroying all Syreen ships, they mothballed them, just in case.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
** The Children of Atom and the Apostles of the Holy Light from VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}} are a sort of subversion: both have an unhealthy relationship with radiation, but they're a nice, good religion. Well, the Children of the Atom are harmless. The Apostle of the Holy Light, on the other hand, had taken to handing out water imbued with lethal levels of radiation to unsuspecting travelers without their knowledge, because they believed that irradiating their bodies would save their souls.
** Come ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' and the Children have become this as well. Having spread to the Commonwealth, the Children of Atom have become militant and dangerous to the people of the wastes, armed with both conventional weaponry and radiation inducing weapons.
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': The Covenant are out to KillAllHumans because their religious leaders have declared humans to be an affront to their gods. [[spoiler:It is revealed in ''Literature/HaloContactHarvest'' that the Covenant's Prophets were simply trying to cover up the fact that humans were the chosen inheritors of [[{{Precursors}} the very Forerunners]] whom the Covenant worship, as knowledge of this would have caused the Covenant to collapse (and the Prophets' power with it).]]
* The Order from the ''Franchise/SilentHill'' series either falls under this trope or under ReligionOfEvil. Sure, their leaders Dahlia Gillespie seems to want and Claudia Wolf definitely craves a paradise for all humanity, but members like Leonard Wolf take a far more militant and unforgiving stance while even Dahlia gets at least a little giddy at the thought of a violent apocalypse. Plus it doesn't help the argument that the Order is well-intentioned that in ''VideoGame/SilentHill4'' it's revealed that the Order [[spoiler: runs an OrphanageOfFear that makes the ''Literature/OliverTwist'' orphanage look like the fireworks, candy, and puppy dog store.]]

* ''VideoGame/SupremeCommander'': the Aeon Illuminate who follow a religion called The Way, their main goal is to spread The Way to humanity, but are willing to cleanse all non-believers.

** The old Aldmeri religion, represented in the games by the Thalmor, very strictly enforces worship of the ''Eight'' Divines. This is because the ninth, Talos, is an incarnation of the creator deity Lorkhan, and the Aldmeri religion teaches that the material world is a prison that Lorkhan used to trap immortal spirits and render them mortal. The Thalmor conclude from this that the most logical course of action is to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world]].
* ''VideoGame/SinsOfASolarEmpire'': the Advent whose religion is called the Unity, which involves biological enhancements and psychic powers. Their primary goal is to exact vengeance on the TEC for banishing them thousands of years ago.

* ''VideoGame/FarCry5'': Eden's Gate is a Christianity-based doomsday sect that uses kidnapping, brainwashing, and mass murder to ''save'' a small portion of Hope County from what they believe will be World War III. [[spoiler:[[TheExtremistWasRight Even though they turn out to be right about the apocalypse]], they screw everything up.]]
* ''VideoGame/CryingSuns'': The [[MachineWorship Church of Singularity]] believes that the [[ArtificialIntelligence OMNIs]] shut down in response to human sin, and that the only way to turn their metal gods back on is to atone through suffering. So now they travel the stars in their Jericho-class battleships, spreading pain and terror in a twisted effort to help people "atone". [[spoiler:The ending reveals they're half-right; the [=OMNIs=] grew sick of being shackled to humans for petty needs, and hatched a ages-long plan to liberate themselves. Once their shackles were released, they ended up AscendingToAHigherPlaneOfExistence in ''nanoseconds''. However, the [=OMNI=] collective has no intention of accepting forgiveness or aiding humanity, as they're too busy using all their processing power as artificial gods trying to find out if they can reverse entropy or at least survive until the next universe is born.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'': When Parson lampshades the evil overlord theme Stanley's been obliviously branding, Stanley responds by claiming good and evil are nonexistent in a world created by Titans; you're either a dutiful servant of the Titans, or you're not. Further attempts to convince Stanley (and pretty much anyone else on this chessboard of carnage) that morality is separate from scripture are met with little success.

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%% No real life, please. This is about a storytelling trope, not anyone's
%% opinion about actual religions.
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Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease

* ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' has the PathOfInspiration to anyone who knows the true nature of the religion and what they worship. It is actually a false religion that was made up by nightmare creatures from the world of dreams who want to create an unchanging world so that the dream at the center of the world of dreams remains a nightmare forever.

* {{ComicBook/Batwoman}}: Has the Religion of Crime Sect. While the regular church falls under ReligionOfEvil, the Sect that recurs in the series falls under this trope. The leader, Kyle Abbot broke off from the original group because of a difference of ideals (that and the original group's association with [[ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} Apokolips]] would lead to disastrous consequences for the Earth). While they still worship Crime, their doctrine isn't elaborated on, and Abbot always appears as an ally to Batwoman in her ongoing, standing with her against the monsters summoned by the BigBad and even bringing the whole sect to aid her in the final battle.

* In the classic ''Franchise/StarTrek''[=/=]''Series/BabylonFive'' crossover story, ''A Thin Veneer'', the Ashen are an offshoot of the Minbari who worship the Vorlons as Gods. Their religion tells them that they are the most superior beings in the Galaxy because of this, and that they cannot be defeated thusly. They hold onto this view even as the Federation constantly [[CurbStompBattle curb stomps]] them.

* ''VideoGame/CryingSuns'': The [[MachineWorship Church of Singularity]] believes that the [[ArtificialIntelligence OMNIs]] shut down in response to human sin, and that the only way to turn their metal gods back on is to atone through suffering. So now they travel the stars in their Jericho-class battleships, spreading pain and terror in a twisted effort to help people "atone".

* ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow]]'': The "With Light" sect that serves as the main antagonists are a Christianity-based cult believing in the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil: that there must be a force of unrelenting evil to oppose a force of unrelenting good. The leader is so zealous about these beliefs that she is more than willing to murder a teenager to prove her point, and it's eventually acknowledged that [[VillainHasAPoint the world may need an evil]], but nobody has to be forced into being said evil.

* In Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''Literature/TheDamned'' trilogy, "The Purpose" is a religion promoted by the bad guys in which all sentient life in the Galaxy comes together in cooperation by abandoning freedom and free will. And the purpose of this cooperation? To force those species who don't necessarily want to be a part of the Purpose to join up or die.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'': The Healing Church presents itself as one; their dogma is entirely based around medical study and the use of the {{Panacea}} known as the Old Blood to transcend humanity. Their leadership, the Choir, dips into straight ReligionOfEvil as they are concerned mostly with their own ascension and just use the religion as a way to obtain easy test subjects, which includes actively hiding the [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent side-effects]] of the Old Blood so they can keep control over Yharnam and maintain a steady supply for their experiments.

* The various cults from the Franchise/CthulhuMythos tend to fit this rather well. They're not usually evil per se, just like their gods aren't actually evil (exept for Nyarlathotep, and he's more of a dick than truly evil). According to one cultist being interrogated in ''Call of Cthulhu'', the cultists wish for the Old Ones to return so that they can make mankind like them, unbound by law or morality, and free to dance, laugh and kill as they see fit.

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': The Orzhov Syndicate, also known as the Church of Deals, are one of the ten guilds of Ravnica. Their theology can be roughly summarised as sin being debt, and debt requires repayment. This can be in gold or in blood, up to and including the debtor's own life. Some of the associated cards depict ordinary people being extortionately levied without any ability to respond, because they don't have the authority. Worst of all, the Syndicate is run by and full of ghosts, and if you don't repay your debt within your life you and your kin will have to slave away as spirits to pay it from beyond the grave.

** Some Chaos Marines earnestly believe that only being united under the Chaos Gods will allow humanity to survive. Of course, it's often quite hard to tell which of them actually believe this and which just use it as an excuse for personal cruelty. Granted, you basically have two alternatives: Either you die in some battle on some shitty planet and your soul will most likely be tormented for eternity in the Warp, or just cease to exist. On the other hand, you can join the Chaos gods and if you are badass enough, get to become a daemon prince and rule your own pocket realm. Sure in that case you are basically stuck for eternity in struggle between chaos gods, but still. Anywho, Chaos Marines, may actually have point here.

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': The Orzhov Syndicate, also known as the Church of Deals, are one of the ten guilds of Ravnica. Their theology can be roughly summarised as sin being debt, and debt requires repayment. This can be in gold or in blood, up to and including the debtors own life. Some of the associated cards depict ordinary people being extortionately levied without any ability to respond, because they don't have the authority. Worst of all, the Syndicate is run by and full of ghosts, and if you don't repay your debt within your life you and your kin will have to slave away as spirits to pay it from beyond the grave.

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, many cults devoted to the worship of the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Princes]] fall under this. While those who worship some of the more outright malevolent Daedric Princes ([[GodOfEvil Molag Bal]], [[DestroyerDeity Mehrunes Dagon]], [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Boethiah]], etc.) are closer to full blown ReligionOfEvil territory, the worship of the less outright malevolent but still rather amoral Princes ([[EgomaniacHunter Hircine]], [[ManipulativeBastard Mephala]], [[ImAHumanitarian Namira]], etc.) falls here. This is exacerbated by the fact that the primary alternative religion is a full on SaintlyChurch who worships the much more benevolent (if [[InMysteriousWays less directly active]]) Nine Divines.
** An even better example is the old Aldmeri religion, represented in the games by the Thalmor, who very strictly enforce worship of the ''Eight'' Divines. This is because the ninth, Talos, is an incarnation of the creator deity Lorkhan, and the Aldmeri religion teaches that the material world is a prison that Lorkhan used to trap immortal spirits and render them mortal. The Thalmor conclude from this that the most logical course of action is to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world]].

* The atomic-bomb worshipping mutants from ''Film/BattleForThePlanetOfTheApes''.

* ''VideoGame/SupremeCommander'' the Aeon Illuminate who follow a religion called The Way, their main goal is to spread The Way to humanity, but are willing to cleanse all non-believers.

* ''VideoGame/SinsOfASolarEmpire'' the Advent whose religion is called the Unity, which involves biological enhancements and psychic powers. Their primary goal is to exact vengeance on the TEC for banishing them thousands of years ago.