Why does Nazareth prefer Edenists?
- The Confederation Handbook says that the nation of Nazareth on Nyvan is a fundamentalist Christian theocracy. It also says that its preferred trading partners are the Edenists. That doesn't make sense when you consider that Fundamentalist Christians in the Night's Dawn universe hate the Edenists as much as they do.
- At a guess? I would think that given the ongoing potential for religious issues in the ND universe, having a trading partner that has absolutely no care or concern WHAT you believe, only that you provide trade or pay in a timely manner, is a far better thing. Better to grumble about non-believers that don't care than non-believers who might try to drum up trade embargoes or commit other forms of economic warfare. Plus they can be sure the Edenists have no particular sympathies for any other nation-state on Nyvan.
- Also it's been 500 odd years since the start of Edenism and the excommunication, so while there is still some friction between them, it would be mainly historical for most people in the era the books are set.
Overpopulated Earth
In the real world, birth rates tend to fall as nations become richer and more educated: people don't need a lot of children to support them in their old age, and women find other things to do than having children. A handful of nations now have birth rates below the replacement rate. Dictatorial governments have experimented with limiting family sizes, with varying success.
In the Night's Dawn world, Earth has an enormous population, despite being very rich and having an oppressive government. Is this explained anywhere in the novels?
In the Night's Dawn world, Earth has an enormous population, despite being very rich and having an oppressive government. Is this explained anywhere in the novels?
- We know from the books that the primary method of contraception for Terran Adamist cultures is a nano-medical package, and that not everybody in the Confederation can afford nanonics, especially among the lower classes. If the Reunified Christian Church retained Catholicism's prohibitions against contraception, then both middle and lower classes would have religious and economic obstacles to its use, especially if medical science made childbirth itself sufficiently safe and painless that simply carrying children to term was an easy practical alternative.
- It's also possible that the governments of Earth (possibly at the direction of the B7 Council, who would have an interest in forcing humanity's continual expansion into the galaxy) might have set up financial incentives to have children which have simply never expired.
