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| 3 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Take care to put your example in its proper place in accordance with Administrivia/HowToAlphabetizeThings! |
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| 7 | %% Image selected via crowner in the Image Suggestion thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/ImagePickin/ImageSuggestions61 |
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| 10 | [[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/interfaith.png]]]] |
| 11 | [[caption-width-right:350:Okay, doubtful that it's really the ''first.'']] |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ->''"[Netty's] faith is omnistic: finding truth in every religion. She draws on American folk magic for blessing; works with Catholic saints; uses Buddhist house-clearing techniques to help Reddit friends with ghost problems."'' |
| 14 | -->-- '''Jessica Rawnsley''', ''The New Statesman'', "[[https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/religion/2023/08/strongfaith-faithless-age-strong The Witchcraft Generation]]" |
| 15 | |
| 16 | This is when a constructed fictional religion is clearly a mix of any number of real-world religions. [[{{Website/Wikipedia}} That Other Wiki]] knows this process as it happens in RealLife as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncretism syncretism.]] |
| 17 | |
| 18 | Differs from CrossoverCosmology in that this creates a "new" cosmology from pieces of established idea systems. Popular in SpaceOpera and ScienceFiction as representative of alien cultures. A subtrope of NinjaPirateZombieRobot and a SisterTrope to CultureChopSuey. Can also be TruthInTelevision since there are few religions that don't share certain rituals or beliefs with other religions. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | [[AnimeCatholicism This seems to come up a lot in anime fantasy settings]], though it could (and oftentimes appears to) just be a cultural misunderstanding of Western ideas and philosophies while substituting familiar concepts (like Buddhism and Shintoism) into the knowledge gaps. Also, sometimes in {{anime}}, instead of [[ChristianityIsCatholic All Christianity Being Catholic]], you'll see a mix-mash of ideas from various Christian denominations all pooled into a single faith. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Related to EmergencyMultifaithPrayer, when [[PrayerIsALastResort a character in a tight spot offers a prayer]] to every deity they can think of in the hopes that at least one of them will be listening. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Compare and contrast ChurchOfSaintGenericus, where the religious details could cover any number of faiths simply because they're left nonspecific. See also UniversalChaplain, who will provide services for someone of any faith if necessity calls. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | ---- |
| 27 | !!Examples: |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 30 | |
| 31 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 32 | * ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'' is largely a CrossoverCosmology, but still makes this trope out of Heaven and the Angel faction, which appear to be a broad-strokes amalgamation of every major Abrahamic religion. What makes this stand out is one character being a properly-researched Protestant, as contrast to the usual [[ChristianityIsCatholic all-pervasive Catholicism]]. The writer has stated this just made the whole mess much easier to keep track of, while [[WatsonianVersusDoylist the story]] explains that Heaven being more unified than its followers is classified information, as [[spoiler:GodIsDead and the faith-based mechanism Heaven gets its power from if already close to falling apart without Him,]] and revealing the truth could sink the faction entirely. Also, while Church-faction civil wars do drive a couple of conflict arcs, they're always Catholic schisms who know the truth or never have their denomination made clear. |
| 33 | [[/folder]] |
| 34 | |
| 35 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 36 | * ''ComicBook/BuckGodotZapGunForHire'': The Church of Slag-Blah are "militant agnostics" and celebrate a different religious holy day every day. |
| 37 | * ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'': In ''[[Recap/TintinTintinInAmerica Tintin in America]]'', it's a mixture of Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam, they claim they were the fastest growing religion, and want Tintin to become a member of them. |
| 38 | [[/folder]] |
| 39 | |
| 40 | [[folder:Film -- Live Action]] |
| 41 | * ''Film/{{Gandhi}}'': |
| 42 | ** Invoked consciously by the titular character: |
| 43 | -->[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWwVMPrfzZc "I am a Muslim and a Hindu and a Christian and a Jew and so are all of you!"]] |
| 44 | ** He also mentions that it was common for him as a child attend religious services where the priest would quote from the Vedas, Qu'ran, and Bible alike. |
| 45 | * ''Film/TheMatrix'' movie trilogy is all over the place, embedding clear (in order of dominance throughout the series), Buddhist, Christian and Gnostic philosophies not only throughout the characters and plot, but including the music score, especially in ''The Matrix Revolutions'' soundtrack, which uses OminousLatinChanting, Sanskrit flavored, while the BigBad ridicules the hero about being a MessianicArchetype. |
| 46 | * ''Film/PitchBlack'' has 'Chrislam' (which is a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrislam real thing]]) pilgrims heading for the planet of New Mecca. |
| 47 | * ''Franchise/StarWars'': The Force, once described by Mark Hamill as "Religion's Greatest Hits!" The religion of the Force has strong elements of Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, Daoism and a bunch of other mystical traditions, with Christian symbology (the Jedi are [[KnightInShiningArmour Knights In Brown Robes]] who have a fair bit in common with [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar monastic]] [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsHospitallers knightly]] [[UsefulNotes/TheTeutonicKnights orders]], and not for nothing is the hero named [[Literature/TheFourGospels Luke]], to say nothing of [[MysticalPregnancy Anakin's virgin birth]]). |
| 48 | * TheFilmOfTheBook ''Film/WhatDreamsMayCome'' blends Eastern mystical concepts of reincarnation with Christian concepts of monotheism, heaven and hell,[[note]]Although religions like Buddhism ''also'' have heavens/hells that one can be reincarnated into as rewards or punishments.[[/note]] as well as an EpiphanicPrison for those that commit suicide. Dogs go to heaven, too. |
| 49 | [[/folder]] |
| 50 | |
| 51 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 52 | * Creator/PeterFHamilton's ''[[Literature/TheNightsDawnTrilogy Confederation Universe]]'' has more a case of in''tra'' faith smoothies, with the various factions of Christianity and Islam reconciling their differences and each forming a single religion. |
| 53 | * Philip K. Dick was particularly fond of this: in several novels (notably ''Literature/TheDivineInvasion'') there was a merger between the Catholic Church and the Soviet Union in the backstory. |
| 54 | * The far future religions in the ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' series are either this (i.e. the Orange Catholic Bible) or the CocaPepsiInc type (Zensunni). The CocaPepsiInc ones are the more numerous though. The Orange Catholic Bible ''seems'' to be more dominant in the first novel, but then a Zensunni branch ends up overrunning the known universe. There is also the fact that the Orange Catholic Bible was created to be the most universal holy text reasonably possible, not necessarily the most universal ''religion'' reasonably possible.[[note]]A bit of a GeniusBonus since the word "Catholic" originally meant "all-encompassing", which became a sort of ArtifactTitle for the real Catholic Church.[[/note]] |
| 55 | ** The prequel novels show that the creation of the OCB was far from a peaceful and universally-accepted process (taking place less than a century after the end of the [[RobotWar Butlerian Jihad]]). In fact, the people who compiled the book nearly got themselves lynched by the angry mobs. They were only spared when TheEmperor intervened and granted them sanctuary in his palace. That is, until his young daughter caught one of them supposedly raping the Empress (said daughter would later start to suspect that the act may have been consensual). The Emperor then had all the translators publicly executed, making his daughter watch the consequences of her actions. It's not clear when that hatred for the OCB turned into nigh-universal acceptance. |
| 56 | * "Unto the Last--Stand Fast", a ShortStory in ''Literature/TheFourHorsemenUniverse'', features a syncretic religion resulting from cultural exchange between Roman Catholic human colonists and CrystalDragonJesus Arritim colonists (they had inadvertently both colonized the same planet, fought over it, and then ended their war when they noticed the similarities in their religions). Both groups' home churches consider this faith heretical, and the Arritims' progenitors the Arezzo (same species, different church) are engaged in a crusade against it. |
| 57 | * The ''Literature/{{Janissaries}}'' by Creator/JerryPournelle has a world that has both Christians and pagans, with the pagan religion being very loosely based on Myth/ClassicalMythology. When a Christian nation enters into a political alliance with two pagan nations, a bishop has a rather convenient revelation that the two religions in fact worship the same god, resulting in the creation of a politically backed syncretic religion. |
| 58 | * Enigma Babylon One World Faith in the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' books, which consists of Roman Catholicism merged with various Christian sects. |
| 59 | * In ''Literature/LifeOfPi,'' the title character manages to be a practicing Hindu, Christian, and Muslim all at once, to the confusion of most of the other characters. He was born a Hindu but chooses to simultaneously practice both Islamic and Christian rituals as he grows up. His stated reason is that he "just wants to love God." |
| 60 | * ''Literature/TheLostYearsOfMerlin'': InUniverse, Merlin's mother Bronwen worships both the Celtic gods such as Dagda and also Jesus. The series has Dagda show a lot of traits traditionally attributed to Jesus as well (possibly in the books they are the same being). |
| 61 | * The end of ''Literature/ThePendragonAdventure'' has Ravinia, in which people see life in the rest of the universe (Halla) for the first time. This is not a religion in itself, but something that attracts people regardless of religion into one group. On the other hand, it divides people based on social class. |
| 62 | * PlayedForLaughs in ''[[Literature/JetlagTravelGuides Phaic Tăn]]'': |
| 63 | -->''"Whilst primarily Buddhist, over the years the people of [[{{Pun}} Sukkondat]] have absorbed a wide variety of religious influences, including '''UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}}''', '''Animism''', '''UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}''' and '''UsefulNotes/{{Sikhism}}'''. Because of this the dominant religion throughout the province could best be described as '''[[{{pun}} Confusionism]]'''."'' |
| 64 | * Gaianism in Paul [=McAuley=]'s ''The Quiet War'' combines generic nature worship with Catholic ritual. It's "green saints" are similar to gurus. |
| 65 | * The Church of God Awaiting in Creator/DavidWeber's ''{{Literature/Safehold}}'' series is an InUniverse example. It is a mash-up of real religions that was created for the purpose of putting ultimate power in the church's hands and [[MedievalStasis precluding the possibility of technological advancement]]. |
| 66 | * ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' seems to do this with fictional religions in the cult of the Many Faced God. The temple includes shrines to gods from all over, and his adherents believe that all gods (or at least all death gods) are avatars of him. There's also some implication of the religion taking elements from other faiths in the universe in its theology and worship. |
| 67 | * ''Literature/SorryBro'': Erebuni was raised an Orthodox Christian like most Armenians. She also practices Wiccan magic though while taking communion and sculpting traditional cross statues, blending both. |
| 68 | * ''Literature/StrangerInAStrangeLand'' has Valentine Michael Smith form a union of every single religion called "The Church of All Worlds," which eventually inspired a real religious community of the same name. |
| 69 | * ''Literature/TheSwordOfSaintFerdinand'': Agatín is half-Christian half-Islamic. He assures his guests he is fully Christian but he merely keeps Islamic relics so he is not given grief by potential Moorish visitors. Fortún and García are not convinced, since he casually will quote both UsefulNotes/JesusChrist and Muhammad in the same breath, but they will not give him grief about his weird syncretism either. |
| 70 | * Sanshinto or Tritheism in ''{{Literature/Tasakeru}}'' is based primarily on Shinto, but has elements from Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology. The species' differing beliefs draw from ''everywhere'', even, [[WordOfGod according to the author]], the Franchise/CthulhuMythos. |
| 71 | * The ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' series has the Global Standard Deity (GSD), a church that openly and shamelessly mixes and matches elements of various faiths apparently at will -- her brother "the Very Irreverent Joffy Next" is basically a hedonist. This is partly down to the fact that in this world literature is the major SeriousBusiness in people's lives, with sport, religion and television distant runners-up. |
| 72 | * In ''The Unincorporated War'' by Dani and Eytan Kollin, the various religions in the Outer Alliance get together for a conference in order to come up with something like this. Mostly the Abrahamic religions but others as well. [[spoiler:Unfortunately it's interrupted by an attack from the United Human Federation resulting in slaughter.]] |
| 73 | * In one of the ''Literature/{{Uplift}}'' novels a crazy alien evangelist preaches that a single Creator made humans without one of the sinful Galactic species [[UpliftedAnimal uplifting]] them, a species-wide virgin birth. And cites not only Jesus but also Moses, Buddha, Mohammad, Tipler, and Weimberg-Chang. |
| 74 | * The ''Literature/{{Videssos}}'' books, being chockablock with {{Fantasy Counterpart Culture}}s, have lots of these. The religion of Videssos proper (the fantasy analogue of the UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire) looks a lot like UsefulNotes/OrthodoxChristianity (with bishops, monks, ecumenical councils, schisms over variations in the Creed), but the dualistic belief system is much more like Zoroastrianism (two powerful gods, one good and one evil, at war). There are heresies with variant understandings of the war (Videssians believe the good god is sure to win, Khatrishers believe the two gods are perfectly balanced, Namdaleni believe the gods are balanced but you ought to ''act'' as if you're sure the good god will win). The main other empire starts out as practically-Muslim (with belief in a single God and four supreme Prophets), but ends up being dominated by a diabolist religion that worships the evil Videssian god. |
| 75 | [[/folder]] |
| 76 | |
| 77 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 78 | * Wayism in ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'' is this. It's mostly Buddhist 'peace in suffering' teachings, with a few other things thrown in. In universe it was created by a Magog who was taught the concepts of various religions to him by the human host he was [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong spawned from]]. |
| 79 | * ''Series/Babylon5'' has a few varieties of these. Dr. Franklin follows a religion called Foundationism that believes all religions in the galaxy reflect the same greater truth at their core, and freely adopts customs from all of them for its own use (such as the Australian Aboriginal practice of going walkabout). There's also a TheMaker religion, a belief so generic that members of several different cultures take it up and integrate it into other faiths. We are also introduced to an order of Catholic monks who have made it their mission to find out all they can about alien faiths in order to "learn all the names of God". |
| 80 | * {{Satir|e}}ized in a sketch on ''Series/ABitOfFryAndLaurie'' in which a schoolmaster (played by Creator/HughLaurie) invents a new religion to accommodate all his students' diverse beliefs, which he describes as "a kind of religious [[UsefulNotes/EsperantoTheUniversalLanguage Esperanto]], if you will." Named "Lip Wip Wip Wip," the religion believes in "a committee of Gods. There are eight voting members and a non-executive chair who rotates every four years," and worships air, flexible work-share schemes, and things with rounded corners. Unfortunately, the religion has already split into a rival sect that worships oblongs instead, resulting in Inquisition-style tortures and burnings for little heretics. |
| 81 | * ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' is a subtle example, as the only explicitly religious ceremony it shows is a funeral which combines Christian and Buddhist elements, which may just be Artistic License - Religion. |
| 82 | * ''Series/{{Lost}}'' always favored the archetypal over the specific, and throughout its run contained references to many different religions and philosophies, hinting that there's some universal basis to all of them, even John Locke's personal shamanistic and prophetic belief system. The finale reinforces this by showing a stained glass window with symbols of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism on it, all radiating outward from one single source (that's also the same color as [[spoiler:the light at the heart of the island]]). |
| 83 | * ''Series/MotherlandFortSalem'': The witches seem to practice some kind of paganism, judging by their Beltane orgy and other references. Raelle is mocked by another cadet for using a Bible quote in her spells though, described as "Christo-pagan". |
| 84 | * The Church of Confusion sermonette on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. For starters, it's delivered by the Most Reverend Archbishop Maharishi O'Mulliganstein, D.D.S. |
| 85 | * ''Franchise/StarTrek'': |
| 86 | ** The [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Klingon belief system]] seems to be an odd mish-mash of Shinto and Norse mythology, with a MessianicArchetype figure (Kahless) and a quirk (they had gods, but killed them as too much of a bother) thrown in. Vulcan spirituality seems to have elements of Shinto ancestor worship within a predominant Buddhist philosophy, with 'logic' substituted for Dharma. |
| 87 | ** The Bajoran faith which features prominently in nearly every episode of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' combines elements of all three Western monotheisms (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) together with Eastern Hindu/Buddhist mysticism (with the bonus that their gods are definitely real and occasionally show up to chat with the heroes). Plus, they once had castes like Hinduism. And a Catholic style leadership (The Kai and the Vedak Assembly lining up with the Pope and the College of Cardinals respectively). |
| 88 | ** One episode of ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' featured a LostColony whose ancestors were [[AlienAbduction whisked away from Earth]] during WorldWarIII. They believe they were saved by God, but couldn't agree on ''which'' God saved them. As a result they created a religious text that brought in aspects of, among others, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, and even Wicca. |
| 89 | * On ''Series/Teachers2016'', Ms. Bennigan's religion combines Catholic, Mormon, and evangelical stereotypes. |
| 90 | [[/folder]] |
| 91 | |
| 92 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 93 | * Music/GeorgeHarrison's song "My Sweet Lord" features background vocals that begin by chanting "Hallelujah," gradually shift to chanting "Hare Krishna," and eventually become a Vedic prayer to Vishnu, all while the main vocal continues in the same prayer to "my Lord" (of course, Hindus also refer to their gods as "lords"-e.g. Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva, etc.). This could also reflect his personal journey from Christian to Hindu beliefs. |
| 94 | [[/folder]] |
| 95 | |
| 96 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 97 | * The ''Handbook: House Davion'' sourcebook for ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' details a religious movement in the Federated Suns called the "Unfinished Book Movement" which is a literal mash-up of a number of existing religions (most of which still exist elsewhere in the setting, even within Davion Space) into a single entity with a single, collected, holy scripture. Apparently it's becoming quite a major player in the realm by the time the book was set. |
| 98 | * Since its earliest days, ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has liked to present players with the option to include "pagan" religions as real pantheons of deities in their settings. This has on occasion led to pantheons being offered up which are actually made by rather crudely combining different faiths together; the most infamous examples, which hail from the game's earliest days, are the Native American pantheon (which combines heroes and deities from many different beliefs) and the Celtic pantheon (which combines Continental Celtic, Romanized Celtic, Irish and Welsh gods into a single group). |
| 99 | * The ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' are an incredible blend of deities from multiple real-world religions operating alongside both each other and completely fictitious deities. The core pantheon alone includes the Nordic Tyr, Finnish Loviatar, and Irish Oghma alongside a CrystalDragonJesus in Ilmater and the elf & dwarf creator-gods Corellon and Moradin. |
| 100 | * In ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'' the state religion of Rokugan, a FantasyCounterpartCulture of Japan, is Shinseism, a fusion of Japan's two most common faiths (Shinto and Buddhism), plus Taoism. |
| 101 | * InUniverse for ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': While there are four Chaos Gods (representing the emotions of rage, desire, hope and despair) and many of their worshippers devote themselves to a single one, it's also possible to worship them as a pantheon as a follower of Chaos Undivided. (The possibility of worshipping just two or three of the four is never mentioned.) The Imperial faith from 40k is a mix of all kinds of things in and out of universe, although at its core is a cult of personality. |
| 102 | [[/folder]] |
| 103 | |
| 104 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 105 | * In ''VideoGame/AfterTheEndAPostApocalypticAmerica'' the end of the world brought new faiths, some which try to mix old ones into one: |
| 106 | ** The "Druidism" of Northwest Canada combines Celtic paganism with the religions of the Innu and Inuit peoples of the region. |
| 107 | ** The cult of the Falling Star is a a syncretic mix of the shamanism of the native Miskito people’s and the Moravian church which became a major part of the Miskito people’s culture when missionaries arrived, with the addition of a messianic figure of the titular "Falling Star", an angel that prevented the world to be destoyed. The Moravian church can be restored through an event chain [[spoiler:reveals that the "falling star" was simply a falling meteor]], however. |
| 108 | * In ''VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth'', Kavitha Thakur of the [[{{Egopolis}} Kavithan Protectorate]] is some kind of religious leader, though the tenets of her belief system are mostly left ambiguous. However, an in-game quote from one of her prayer devotionals unambiguously reveals how mish-mash the faith's mythology is. |
| 109 | -->''[[OurAngelsAreDifferent Seraphim, Cherubim,]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}} Devas, Fravashi,]] and [[UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}} Yakshas]], extend thy arms to cover us, hear us and convey our prayer to [[TheMaker the Lord Creator]].'' |
| 110 | * At the outset of ''VideoGame/CrisisOfTheConfederation'' the Pilgrimage has elements of this. Formally it is only a loose association helping to organize pilgrimages to Earth, but this exists to a large part because seeing Earth as sacred has become a shared element across many religions (there are those that reject it, but that is a cleavage point ''across'' modern-day religions rather than between them). If chance should place a faithful Pilgrimage adherent in a strong enough position over Sol, it is possible for the Pilgrimage to be reformed into an actual, if broad, church, the Terran Orthodoxy. |
| 111 | * ''VideoGame/CrusaderKingsIII'' adds a lot of syncretism between faiths and allows you to create new faiths and syncretize with others through certain tenets. There's also a lot of faiths which are syncretic by nature. |
| 112 | * In-Universe in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series with the original Eight Divines pantheon. Founded by Empress Alessia of the First Cyrodilic Empire, she is said to have consciously made a synthesis of elven and Nordic gods, in order to appease both her Nord allies (notably Kynareth/Kyne and Stendarr/Stuhn) and the elven Cyrodiilics and Ayleids (notably Auri-El/Akatosh and Xarxes/Arkay)she now ruled. |
| 113 | * ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'' contains shades of this with few easily defined religions having survived the atomic war. By the time of ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' and ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' the largest surviving faiths seem to be the Church of Atom that worships nuclear weapons, and some variation of Christianity preserved by the NCR with all others being down to individuals groups. The majority of organized churches seen hold the view of praying to whatever gives the individual comfort rather then being faith specific. |
| 114 | * In ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity: Nova '', the Church of Krim-Hwa is this in-universe. |
| 115 | * The heroine of ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend'' describes herself and her family as Shin-Buddhist, but is perfectly willing to celebrate Christmas if given the opportunity. This is pretty much [[UsefulNotes/ChristmasInJapan exactly how real Japanese people treat Christmas]]. |
| 116 | * ''VideoGame/NewEraOldWorld'', an unofficial spin-off of ''After the End'' set in the Old World has a few flavors: |
| 117 | ** Muwahidunna is an Islamic sect located in Sahara, which preaches that all Monotheistic religions of the world follow the same God and as such, are all brothers which shouldn't fight. |
| 118 | ** Chrislam, the religion of the Nigerian Empire is a syncretic blend of both Christianity and Islam, incorporating elements of both. |
| 119 | ** Yugoslavism of well, Yugoslavia, is a blend of Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Sunni Islam, attempting to bring peace to a crumbling Empire. |
| 120 | * Angels in ''VideoGame/NexusClash'' each follow one of three [[PowersThatBe Elder Powers]], only one of whom can win the battle to shape the next world. However, since every Angel is a PlayerCharacter and most players don't identify with specific Elder Powers, most Angels just identify with Good generally, regardless of which Power it says they follow on their character sheet. |
| 121 | * ''VideoGame/OracleOfTao'' has a strange mix of Shintoism, Taoism, and Christianity. They call it Aiken (based on Japanese ''ai ken'', not Clay Aiken). It's basically very heavily into nature and love (and ancestor worship). |
| 122 | * ''VideoGame/TheOuterWorlds'': Scientism is a weird mix of Christian Scientist, Taoism, Confician Philosophy, and [[MegaCorp megacorporate]] CargoCult. It is supposedly the culmination of Deist philosophy, a purely logical religion that worships the laws of physics themselves... but it's pretty clearly more intended to keep everyone controlled and obeying their superiors. |
| 123 | * ''VideoGame/{{Rift}}'': In the backstory, the Guardians, made up of humans, high elves, and dwarfs, had all at one point worshipped the five gods separately. But when the Dragon of Death, Regulos, had tried to invade Telara, the gods came together to form the Vigil, and now all three races worship all five of the gods together. |
| 124 | * ''VideoGame/{{Solatorobo}}'s'' Oshilasama seems to be one part the Buddhist-Shinto amalgam common to Japan and one part FunctionalMagic. Oh, and something about an evil dog-god who loses his powers if you turn his statues upside-down. |
| 125 | * ''[[Videogame/ShadowrunReturns Shadowrun: Hong Kong]]'' has Ten-Armed Ambrose share that his sister was a practitioner of Trans-Catholicism, a mix of Catholicism and Hinduism. With the academic etiquette, your character knows some prayers for it. |
| 126 | -->"Ambrose silently bows his head as you recite a string of words in Sanskrit and Latin, invoking Karen to rejoin the Trans-Catholic concept of universal oneness: the Atma Brahma of the Holy Ghost." |
| 127 | * ''VideoGame/Siren1'' has the local religion of Hanuda, which combines village and Japanese folklore with Christianity and worship of an "alien god" [[spoiler:who the locals ate during a famine and whose new physical incarnation serves as the final boss of the game.]] |
| 128 | [[/folder]] |
| 129 | |
| 130 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 131 | * In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' omniquantism is the idea that if God is omnipotent and all things are possible, then it is possible that all religions are correct simultaneously. One in three AIs [[LogicBomb lock up]] after hearing the concept, [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1400/fc01388.htm Florence managed to make sense of it though.]] |
| 132 | * Gamzee's religion in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' seems to be based around Christianity, with a little Islam for flavour (he gets [[BerserkButton very upset]] about seeing video depictions of his Messiahs), and perhaps with a little Judaism (his ancestor was responsible for the persecution of the [[CrystalDragonJesus Troll Jesus]]), mixed up with [[TheStoner stoner]] / [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippie]] culture, and then all applied to UsefulNotes/{{Juggalo}} fandom. A parody, obviously. [[spoiler:WordOfGod is that is was inspired by an EldritchAbomination and his ManipulativeBastard [[TheDragon Dragon]], arguably making it a ReligionOfEvil.]] |
| 133 | * In ''Webcomic/KoanOfTheDay'', the guru is an amalgamation of [[http://www.koanoftheday.com/27 Jesus,]] [[http://www.koanoftheday.com/56 the Buddha,]] and [[http://www.koanoftheday.com/42 Socrates.]] |
| 134 | * Pangaeism, the most politically correct religion ever, is briefly mentioned in ''Webcomic/LastRes0rt'', apparently they have a minor holy war every time a new species is contacted and the scripture needs to be revised to include their mythology. |
| 135 | * ''Webcomic/RustyAndCo'': There are enough OddJobGods from different pantheons that they [[http://rustyandco.com/comic/critical-missives-42/ group up]] to offer themed LLC (Limited Liability Congregation) [[ReligionIsMagic spellcasting]] packages to worshippers. |
| 136 | -->'''Derek the Cleric:''' Before, if you wanted to worship, say, the Sun, you had to [[MundaneFantastic compare plans]] with [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Apollo]], [[Myth/PersianMythology Mitra]], [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Ra]], [[Myth/MesopotamianMythology Shamesh]], [[Myth/HinduMythology Surya]], and like a dozen others... Now you'd just sign up for a general Sun-worshipping package, and the gods invested in it will share the devotion and spell-granting duties among themselves. |
| 137 | * The Eastern Dragon in ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'' is a living embodiment of all East Asian religions. |
| 138 | * In an ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' [[http://xkcd.com/900 strip,]] this discussion takes place: |
| 139 | -->"I'm the kind of Christian who only goes to church on Christmas and Easter, and spends the other 363 days at the mosque."\ |
| 140 | "… I don't think that's a thing."\ |
| 141 | "Our rabbi swears it's legit." |
| 142 | * [[https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/temple Generic Temple]] in ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' allows its worshipers to pick and choose their own beliefs for the explicit purpose of psychological relief. |
| 143 | [[/folder]] |
| 144 | |
| 145 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 146 | * The ''Literature/ChaosTimeline'' has the Indian Chandramoorthy develop his own religion, which combines elements from Hinduism, Islam, Catholicism and the classical Greco-Roman religion. |
| 147 | * Parodied in ''Website/GaiaOnline'' by the Church of Non-Specific Worship. This may exist because one plotline has shown that not only do {{Physical God}}s exist in Gaia, they're numerous and varied enough to make categorization and organized religion difficult. |
| 148 | * ''Literature/PiecingTogetherTheAshesReconstructingTheOldWorldOrder'': |
| 149 | ** One of the major [[AfterTheEnd post-Deluge]] religions, Widdhism, is a fusion of Wicca, Taoism and Buddhism, along with some smaller sects. |
| 150 | ** The major post-Deluge branches of Christianity in America also qualify — the Reconstructionist Christians are the result of remaining Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and some Protestants while the Southron Church of Christ combines numerous Protestant denominations together along with Confederate nostalgia. |
| 151 | * The ''Website/SCPFoundation'' has several examples: |
| 152 | ** SCP-3004 is a [[PlayedForHorror horrific]] form of this: an old cicada-based nature deity that found itself syncretized with the Christian God by missionaries to win over its cult. Unfortunately, this worked too well, as this meant the cicada god ''itself'' was convinced it was the Christian God, and is essentially trying to replace God as the central figure of Christianity--and it doesn't help that it also conflated the idea of venerating Jesus's sacrifice with just venerating pain and torture in general. This manifests in abrupt and inexplicable instances of staunch Christians and churchgoers performing bizarre sacrificial rituals that usually end in live cicadas crawling out of someone's orifices. |
| 153 | ** The Fifthist Church is this trope played for a different type of horror. The Church's central tenet is something about transcending reality and assimilating into the mysterious 'Fifth World', which is so alien that the only way they can relate to normal human belief systems is by co-opting a kludge of whatever beliefs are common to the area, some astral symbolism and Lovecraftian themes. A lot of modern Fifthist cults take a NewAgeRetroHippie look, but there's versions that appropriate Christianity, Buddhism, Communism, Aztec polytheism, Confucianism, self-help books, chapstick sales, and every other belief system under the sun. The general effect is to highlight how creepy the Fifthists are. |
| 154 | [[/folder]] |
| 155 | |
| 156 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 157 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' plays with a somewhat joke-y version of this trope in the First Amalgamated Church, headed by Father Changstein El-Gamal. Supposedly created from the merging of major 20th Century religions - Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism as well as agnosticism, and the logo shows it. Differs from more serious examples in that part of the joke appears to be that the Church doesn't have even a semi-coherent belief system and mostly just tries to be as generically 'spiritual-ish' as possible. |
| 158 | -->'''Father Changstein El-Gamal:''' Dearly liked, we stand here before one or more gods, or fewer; to join this couple in pretty good matrimony. If anyone objects to this union, may they speak now, or forever hold their peace; or do something else. |
| 159 | * ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXLtCsa6yy4 God's Gang]]'' is a cartoon about an interfaith themed crime fighting superhero team. |
| 160 | * The only thing you can definitively say about Reverend Lovejoy's church in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is that it's some variety of Protestantism. In an episode where Bart and Homer convert to Catholicism, the Rev describes the One True Faith as being "the Western Branch of the Reformed Church of American Presbo-Lutheranism". |
| 161 | ** Ned Flanders confesses in one episode that he's "kept Kosher to be on the safe side." |
| 162 | [[/folder]] |
| 163 | |
| 164 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 165 | * Certain Unitarian Universalist congregations can end up like this. Since [=UUism=] rejects the idea of central dogma in favor of emphasizing the value of spiritual community, nothing stops any individual from being a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Pagan or even atheist/agnostic and still a practicing [=UU=]. It's not too far from the truth to joke that [=UUs=] begin their prayers with "To whom it may concern..." |
| 166 | * Messianic Judaism, which combines the main tenets of Judaism with a belief in Yeshua, or Jesus as Messiah. Most Jews consider Messianics to be simply Christians by another name, or at worst, disguised proselytizers. |
| 167 | * The proper term for this trope is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncretism Syncretism]]. As you can see, there are enough examples of it in RealLife. |
| 168 | * UsefulNotes/{{Manichaeism}} claimed its prophet Mani as a successor to Zoroaster, Gautama Buddha, and Jesus. |
| 169 | * Some Anglicans (Church of England) embraced Catholic spirituality and outward elements (i.e. Mass, the rosary, vestments) while still remaining with the Church of England. They're called Anglo-Catholics. |
| 170 | * In the 19th century, it was very common among scholars of world religions to seek a complete understanding of God by bringing the knowledge of all religions together to create a unified whole. While certainly admirable, religious authorities of all religions were mostly unimpressed and didn't share the belief that other religions had anything to contribute to their models. However, such pluralism is quite popular in liberal religious circles now, and it's fairly standard to hold that "all religions are a path to God". |
| 171 | * The independent/noncanonical[[note]]Eastern Orthodox term for an unrecognized Orthodox Church that isn't in full communication with the main Eastern Orthodoxy[[/note]] Eastern Orthodox denomination named the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelical_Orthodox_Church Evangelical Orthodox Church]] that blends Orthodoxy with Protestant (mainly Evangelical and Charismatic[[note]]which this part of what remains of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherding_Movement Shepherding Movement]][[/note]]) elements, and their current mission is to spread their religious beliefs through the world. There are [[https://www.evangelicalorthodox.org/who-we-are currently 120 churches under the EOC and most are in Burundi.]] |
| 172 | * Very common in East Asian cultures. While Judaism, Islam, and several modern denominations of Christianity forbid syncretism, major East Asian religions like Shintoism, Buddhism, and Taoism have no such restrictions. And Sikhism explicitly declares that no religion (including itself) can hold a monopoly on the divine truth. For instance, most Japanese religious people are Shinto Buddhists. |
| 173 | ** Similarly, during the Middle Ages and even into the early 20th century, a form of Christian syncretism was common enough among the educated classes. Greek and Norse and Celtic and other ancient European pagan gods were often reinterpreted as Christian angels who had been mistakenly worshiped (whereas the gods of other parts of the world were often assumed to be demons who had been mistakenly worshiped) or reinterpreted as Christian saints who had been deified against their will. |
| 174 | ** The Literature/MuneShinri, a web-based religion is a syncretic blend of Taoism, Shintoism, and Christianity. If Christianity forbids syncretism, and Taoism allows it, [[LogicBomb does that make it right or wrong]]? |
| 175 | * The Baha'i faith is arguably an example of this. It basically recognizes the prophets of a wide range of other religions (including Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and others) and claims that they all founded "the religion that was necessary (and possible) at the time", in a scheme for humanity's collective evolution, whereas Baha'i is (obviously) the appropriate religion for our own time. The actual belief system seems to be a syncretic mish-mash of (primarily) the monotheistic religions, with all the nasty bits taken out and a pinch of rationality and egalitarianism thrown in. |
| 176 | * The currently under-construction [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_All_Religions Temple of All Religions]] in Russia aims to offer services for, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin all religions.]] |
| 177 | * Historically, this was the case for most non-monotheistic religions. An ancient German could adapt very well to Celtic, Tengri, Greek, or any other gods you could name. Exactly what the relationship between the various pantheons was depended on the priests, but most laity simply accepted that AllMythsAreTrue until their local priest told them otherwise. |
| 178 | ** It helps that polytheistic pantheons often included the same basic archetypes (LoveGoddess, WarGod, patriarch deity in the sky etc.) and thus could easily be mashed together by explaining the foreign gods as alternate names for your own pantheon, as the Romans were particularly fond of doing, especially with their WarGod Mars, whom they believed themselves to be descended from. |
| 179 | ** According to historians, the Roman, Greek, and other nearby faiths ''really are'' different branches of an earlier [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_religion Proto-Indo-European religion]] as they had developed after the conquerors merged with local peoples and developed in isolation over centuries. Calling them alternative names for the same god is, more or less, true. |
| 180 | ** It also helps that polytheism by its nature holds that multiple gods exist. So even if a newly-introduced god ''can't'' easily be explained as any of the currently-worshiped ones under a different name, adding another god isn't that big a deal. For example, the ancient Canaanites believed that the gods of other pantheons they were aware of (such as those of Egypt and Greece) were the children or cousins of their own gods. |
| 181 | * Chapels in public facilities such as hospitals or airports have to accommodate anyone who wants to visit and pray, regardless of their religion. So they can become like this simply out of necessity-- if four patients' families are Muslim, Hindu, Catholic, and Protestant, it can make for a rather eclectic prayer service. |
| 182 | * Interfaith families often practice a mix of both parents' religions. A Jewish/Christian family, for example, might celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah. |
| 183 | * This concept actually played quite an important role in initially winning over the Turkic and Mongol tribes to Islam, as the belief in Tengri was close enough to an Abrahamic monotheism that Turkic tribes such as the Volga Bulgars were able to look upon Islam and see a basically more refined version of their traditional religion. |
| 184 | ** The Mongol ruler Ghazan of the Ilkhanate also converted to Islam and argued that his ancestors' veneration of Tengri was actually a form of proto-Islamic religion. |
| 185 | ** Also employed in the Dastans of Dada Korkut, a collection of sagas regarding Oghuz Hakaan, the mythical father of the Turkic peoples, where it is said that Dada Korkut (a figure similar to Merlin, or Odin) is said to have journeyed to Madinah where he spoke with Muhammad (PBUH) and accepted Islam, carrying that religion back to his people in the steppes. Over time, that belief in Islam was misinterpreted as the worship of the sky god Tengri. It's quite clear that this was added by Turkic chroniclers sometime after their conversion to Islam in order to mitigate their pagan past. |
| 186 | * The conversions of many formerly pagan areas to Christianity resulted in a lot of this. |
| 187 | ** Mexico's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead Día de Muertos]] combines the Catholic All Saint's Day with an Aztec festival. |
| 188 | ** South American Catholics often practice what were originally Incan religious festivals. For example, the parades with the statues of the Holy Family and major saints were originally done with the mummies of Incan kings. |
| 189 | ** What little we know of Slavic pagan beliefs comes mostly from extrapolation backwards from records of Slavic/Christian syncretism. The Slavs seem to have initially taken Christianity as simply an ''afterlife'', while still paying obeisance to pagan spirits in day-to-day life. |
| 190 | ** Several Afro-Caribbean faiths mix Catholicism with the native religions of enslaved Africans: Myth/{{Yoruba|Mythology}} in the case of Santería; Ewe, Fon, and related cultures in the case of UsefulNotes/{{Voudoun}}; and so on. |
| 191 | * There is a lot of debate over whether Christmas originated as a syncretic co-option of pagan celebrations such as Saturnalia, Dies Soli Invicti, and Yule. While today this is mainly brought forward by neo-pagans to argue that it was a plot to suppress their own faiths, historically this argument was primarily used by Protestants to denounce the 'impurity' of Catholicism. Prior to the mid-18th century (and in places, well into the 19th), some Protestant sects rejected all religious holidays except Easter (and even then often preferred to called it the Celebration of the Resurrection, as the name 'Easter' was seen as syncretism), and went to great lengths to reject Christmas and Halloween in particular. This even reappeared in the 20th century among a number of Christian sects and offshoots, especially those in the Charismatic and Millenarian movements. |
| 192 | * This trope was - partially - the reason why Japan was so eager to convert to Buddhism. Before that, gods were treated as {{mons}} - each clan had its own, and the power of each ''kami'' was closely tied with the family's standing. So, when Buddhist missionaries from Korea started to preach about this "Buddha" - who's said to be stronger than everything else - some people were more then eager to adopt him as their personal OlympusMons. |
| 193 | * The Lord's Resistance Army is a heterodox Christian terrorist group operating in Uganda, Central African Republic, Sudan and South Sudan that practices a bizarre mixture of Christianity and Acholi mysticism. Their leader Joseph Kony is a former Catholic altar boy turned DarkMessiah whose aim is to establish a theonomy based on the Ten Commandments. This isn't unique to the LRA, though. A lot of other cultures across the continent have syncretized their native traditions with Christianity or Islam, usually with more benign results than what Kony thought up. |
| 194 | * The "God Worshipping Society" of UsefulNotes/QingDynasty China mashed up elements of Protestant Christianity with Chinese folk religion, at the hands of Hong Xiuquan, who claimed to be the second son of the Judeo-Christian God (and thus Jesus' younger brother), and also considered God to be the true Chinese emperor. This spawned the 14-year-long Taiping Rebellion, with the commonly estimated death toll being 30 million.[[note]]This would make it the deadliest civil war in history, and some estimates are ''much higher'' at up to a staggering 70 million, which would make it the second deadliest war in all of human history after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.[[/note]] |
| 195 | * From a review of ''Cursed Britain: A History of Witchcraft and Black Magic in Modern Times'' by Thomas Waters: |
| 196 | --> Since Waters is covering the whole period from 1800 to the present, he has to include the story of Wicca, a religion constructed in the Fifties by a retired civil servant, Gerald Gardner, out of “freemasonry, high Victorian occultism, eastern spirituality, nudism, Malayan knife-work and domestic folklore”. (Unfortunately the role of those Malayan knives is not explained.) |
| 197 | * In a similar vein, Creator/AleisterCrowley 's Thelema religion was intended to be a unification of all mystical knowledge. To that end, a number of its beliefs and practices are incorporated from various Abrahamic ceremonial magic traditions (most notably Hermeticism, Gnosticism, Sufism and Kabbalah), various polytheistic sects (especially the one of ancient Egypt), Hinduism and Taoism. |
| 198 | * [[UniversalChaplain Military Chaplains]] can fall into this due to a [[ClosestThingWeGot lack of available options.]] Usually they just administer to different sects of the same religion, but in a pinch, will provide their best attempts for military personnel outside of their faith. The good ones tend to plan for such an occasion. There are chaplains on university campuses as well, especially for those in small towns where there are unlikely to be holy places for minority religions. |
| 199 | [[/folder]] |
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