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How might religion react to superpowers?

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Zolnier The Odd Lad from A suspiciously dull shop Since: Apr, 2009
The Odd Lad
#1: Mar 28th 2011 at 7:12:08 AM

Okay so I've got a bizarre baby boom, eight thousand or so children with superpowers? How might responses vary depending on religon?

Life's Gonna Suck When You Grow Up... But Is It That Great Now?... Also I'm Skylark2 now.
papercut Since: May, 2010
#2: Mar 28th 2011 at 7:17:38 AM

I dunno, depends on the religion? Is this fantasy? A real life religion? What came from the top of my head is that either the religious authorities will hail them as miracles from the Powers That Be or abominations.

Zolnier The Odd Lad from A suspiciously dull shop Since: Apr, 2009
The Odd Lad
#3: Mar 28th 2011 at 7:19:44 AM

Real life religions.

Life's Gonna Suck When You Grow Up... But Is It That Great Now?... Also I'm Skylark2 now.
papercut Since: May, 2010
#4: Mar 28th 2011 at 7:27:02 AM

Hmmm, with the Christians and their history of witch hunts or disliking anything supernatural that's unconnected to 'miracles', I suppose that the majority would go 'It's the work of the devil!' on them. I'm not sure with the rest though...

PiercingIdeal Since: Oct, 2012
#5: Mar 28th 2011 at 7:37:26 AM

well, depends on the superpowers and how quickly they become noticed. For instance, a priest could make a phonecall to a cardinal about it and recieve orders to "take care of business"

cue in the guns

Zolnier The Odd Lad from A suspiciously dull shop Since: Apr, 2009
The Odd Lad
#6: Mar 28th 2011 at 7:47:54 AM

The children were conceived when an entire town's populace fell unconscious and when they emerged from their collective coma all the women of child bearing age were pregnant. The children had no DNA from any man on record and they had a telepathic link to each over since babyhood. Their powers manifested around eight.

edited 29th Mar '11 9:02:13 AM by Zolnier

Life's Gonna Suck When You Grow Up... But Is It That Great Now?... Also I'm Skylark2 now.
Gvzbgul from Middle Earth Since: Jul, 2010
#7: Mar 28th 2011 at 4:27:56 PM

It'd be pretty confusing seeing as it's someting that happened out of nowhere. Most religons would assume some kind of a supernatural reason for it. Whether an act of God or some kind of devillry. I think people would have their own opinions rather than a unified resonse.

What are the superpowered people doing? If some were involved in politics then there's no end to the stupid accusations of witchcraft etc. On the other hand, if there were some helping out then they'd be seen more like guardian angels or whatever.

I've tried to think of how Buddhism or some of the other religons would react but I have no idea.

annebeeche watching down on us from by the long tidal river Since: Nov, 2010
watching down on us
#8: Mar 28th 2011 at 5:15:23 PM

  • In Hinduism, when a child is born with multiple limbs, often she may be revered as a goddess in human form by the local people. Do you remember little Lakshmi? I don't know much about Hinduism, but my theory is that children with magic powers may be treated the same way.
  • Consider the extreme reaction of various sects of Christianity to the Harry Potter series. If this is how they react towards fictional magical powers, how may they react to real powers? Their sons and daughters being born with it?
    • On the reverse side of the coin, some Christians may also see it as a miracle and treat it as such.
  • Islam: "There is not one god but Allah."
    • On the flip side, would some Muslims interpret it as an act of God? Because, after all, these kids are born with the powers so God must have given them to them, rather than they took the powers for themselves. Islamic teachings are very strict, but they are also flexible, and can apply differently in different situations as to be fair to everyone. (EG: It is necessary for a Muslim to complete the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime, but not traveling may be excused if the Muslim is too ill or injured to travel.)
  • In latter Viking society, a male with magic powers would be chastised as magic is considered "unmanly". This is actually a hijack by Jesus, however.
    • Females with magic powers would be Vǫlur (sing. Vǫlva), and are highly regarded in society, essentially like priests.

So yeah, depending on the religion and the individual, a kid with magic powers may be condemned or revered to varying degrees.

edited 28th Mar '11 5:26:26 PM by annebeeche

Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.
FallenLegend Trickster. from Navel Of The Moon. Since: Oct, 2010
Trickster.
#9: Mar 28th 2011 at 5:52:41 PM

@papercut

Wrong thats an straw man response. I as a christian can help you.

It would depend on each christian mostly . Tough if the powers are magical in nature (spells , invocations , incantations, hexes, talking to the death. etc). He will be most likely rejected as a siner. Unless he abandons such things.

Otherwise some of us could possibly trust him. For example we have Samson on the bible wo had superpowers (super-strength). Mainstream chrstians would at best treat him like a miracle of God, just like Samson maybe a prophet.

No smart christian (read not fanatic) would declare that he is divine unless he proves it. For us christians having "powers" isn't enough prove for divinity. And considering revelations ... He isnot going to be confused by Jesus anytime soon.From a biblical perspective we only prasie God.He might have followers if he preaches to be sent from God. But if he preaches that he is God he isn't going to be praised or anything... We don't prase angels or anything that isn't God...

He "might" be considered an antichrist or false prophet if and only if he starts to talk with A God I Am (declaring to be God)tendencies and/or atacks actively and directly christianity.

If he excludes himself fromt he church or his power aren't supernatural.Christians will try to convert him. But beyond being "something cool" to talk about. he isn't going to be treated any diferently. No matter what.If he isn't a chrisitans.Christians will alwyas try to convert him to chrisitanity.

edited 28th Mar '11 5:59:34 PM by FallenLegend

Make your hearth shine through the darkest night; let it transform hate into kindness, evil into justice, and loneliness into love.
Zolnier The Odd Lad from A suspiciously dull shop Since: Apr, 2009
The Odd Lad
#10: Mar 28th 2011 at 5:58:23 PM

The powers are more like those associated with superheroes than fantasy magic.

edited 28th Mar '11 6:31:27 PM by Zolnier

Life's Gonna Suck When You Grow Up... But Is It That Great Now?... Also I'm Skylark2 now.
FallenLegend Trickster. from Navel Of The Moon. Since: Oct, 2010
Trickster.
#11: Mar 28th 2011 at 6:19:34 PM

[up] Ok

For starters all christians are different so everyone would have a different opinion. Note the following is about maistream chrsitanity (protestant and maybe catholic, otherwise you can find even athesist calling themselves "christians")

But using the bible as reference. It might depend a lot on what he says and does. He isn't going to be considered christ or God under any circumstances tough. The bible is very clear on revelations on how christ second coming is. We don't praise angels or anything that isn't God himself.

  1. If he doesn't claim to be divine or anything. He will be considered as "blessed by God". Just like Samson was, possibly even blessed directly by God himself. But no one would praise him or anything.
  2. If he claims to be God. He will be rejected and defied. no exceptions
  3. If he claims to be a prophet or a judge of God. Some people might follow him and even give their lifes for him.
  4. If he atacks chrisitanity actively and with hate continiously. At best he would be considered as simply bad or mistaken just like all the people that have atacked chrisitnity in the past. At worst he would be considered the antichrist or a false prophet

Under ALL circumstances. People we would try to convert him, not nessesarily in an anvilicious way. But surely.

edited 28th Mar '11 6:22:34 PM by FallenLegend

Make your hearth shine through the darkest night; let it transform hate into kindness, evil into justice, and loneliness into love.
Zolnier The Odd Lad from A suspiciously dull shop Since: Apr, 2009
The Odd Lad
#12: Mar 28th 2011 at 6:32:31 PM

So how might religions try to explain the children?

Life's Gonna Suck When You Grow Up... But Is It That Great Now?... Also I'm Skylark2 now.
FallenLegend Trickster. from Navel Of The Moon. Since: Oct, 2010
Trickster.
#13: Mar 29th 2011 at 8:21:11 AM

It woepebd on the people.

But in the case of Christianity. You can see a great example in Superman's parents the kents.

Make your hearth shine through the darkest night; let it transform hate into kindness, evil into justice, and loneliness into love.
Zolnier The Odd Lad from A suspiciously dull shop Since: Apr, 2009
The Odd Lad
#14: Mar 29th 2011 at 9:00:44 AM

Being off topic but (the story occurs in Australia by the way) how might the nations react? And how might children's welfare organizations react?

edited 29th Mar '11 9:10:08 AM by Zolnier

Life's Gonna Suck When You Grow Up... But Is It That Great Now?... Also I'm Skylark2 now.
Mullerornis Adveho in mihi Lucifer from Iberia Since: Mar, 2011
Adveho in mihi Lucifer
#15: Mar 29th 2011 at 9:58:12 AM

In my settings, pastors and priests had Shock and Awe all along.

A single phrase renders Christianity a delusional cult.
KnightofLsama Since: Sep, 2010
#16: Mar 29th 2011 at 5:24:38 PM

I think its worth pointing out that as far as Christianity goes, Catholicism is the only major denomination that has a single authority that can make definitive and binding statements from on high.

I would argue that in general that the more realistic approach would be to have religious opinions divided on the subject. Some are 'This is all part of some divine plan' while others react in a more 'Burn the Witch!' way and a large contingent who are more or less 'meh.' Which reactions you want to assign to which group is a whole other can of worms.

Wanderhome The Joke-Master Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Healthy, deeply-felt respect for this here Shotgun
The Joke-Master
#17: Mar 29th 2011 at 5:33:21 PM

Mainstream religion wouldn't really have a reason to take any position on it. The vast majority of Christians and others wouldn't even consider it in theological terms at all. Those who did would mostly just chalk it up to the will of God/a miracle and then forget about it.

There would be a few people on the lunatic fringe who'd get worked up about it (whether they're talking about killing or deifying the super-powered people), but you can take any issue at all and find someone who thinks it's the work of the devil, so even that probably wouldn't be particularly remarkable.

edited 29th Mar '11 5:33:35 PM by Wanderhome

SakuraTenshi Since: Nov, 2010
#18: Mar 29th 2011 at 11:48:05 PM

[up][up] To answer the guy who asked about how governments would react, in an old super hero story I wrote, meta-humans had been pariah for a long time for political reasons. This was more my attempt to Hand Wave the fact that while meta-humans and superpowers had been around since the dawn of humanity, why they had so little (at least so it would seem in the beginning) impact on history. Basically what happened was that after Rome became an Empire, the normal human Emperor looked, and realized that these meta-humans who had been a great help to him could also be an enormous threat to the establishment. Thus, it became culturally ingrained that meta-humans were evil, and the idea caught on to other civilizations, up to, and including, modern times. Though this was only a generalization as there were cases of some super humans being accepted. Namely in this universe, Dwight Eisenhower was the Super Hero AtomIke, Leonardo Da Vinci was a gadgeteer vigilante who fought against the corrupt members of the Roman Catholic Church, and Nikola Tesla was also revered as a hero... When his Super Genius Evil Side wasn't calling the shots.

cityofmist turning and turning from Meanwhile City Since: Dec, 2010
turning and turning
#19: Mar 31st 2011 at 1:29:02 PM

Divisively.

Realistically, it wouldn't be 'Christians think this, Muslims think this'. Everyone would have a different opinion, and they'd probably fight over it. You might get 'official' standpoints from religious leaders, but that would by no means imply that everyone who subscribes to that faith would share those opinions.

Scepticism and doubt lead to study and investigation, and investigation is the beginning of wisdom. - Clarence Darrow
GiantSpaceChinchilla Since: Oct, 2009
#20: Mar 31st 2011 at 2:44:15 PM

how genre savvy is the verse? if they have comic books and they notice a bunch of kids with comic book powers they might suspect human intervention.

Bluelantern2814 Mage of Life-Breath-Doom Since: Sep, 2009
Mage of Life-Breath-Doom
#21: Apr 1st 2011 at 5:21:24 AM

There is sooooooo many variables to this question. Each power would cause a different reaction from each people, religion would be a major factor of that reaction, but how big is unsure. If most powers are dangerous, people would be scared, religion or not. If many powers are useful or "good-associated" (like religion) there always be a faction that will say that it is the work of the devil trying to trick us.

"Here to welcome our new golden-eyed overlords," said Addy promptly.
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