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[Laerise [PIE]]

The PIE Inc. amarr PF compilation: http://eve-search.com/thread/534154/page/all

Also, keep in mind that status and public appereance mean everything to amarrians - which is why they are often perceived as haughty for arrogant and of a "holier-than-though" attitude.
While affections in public, of any kind, and the (ab)use of alcohol and drugs in public seem to be looked down upon not many people seem to care what happens behind close doors.

Every major scandal I know of always focused more on the fact that the improper behaviour
a) was considered to be below the status of the person
b) somehow publicised

To drag out the old comparison between federation and empire, if you want to rp a real amarrian, then the easiest way to go about it is to think not in terms what he/she would do, but more what she/he would NOT do in any given setting and moment.

[Odelya]

According to the back-story in 3805 "the Conformists, a group within the Unified Catholic Church, settles on Soekhetvi". Dano Gheinok, who is "one of there leaders" in 7989 directs them to Athra. So there is a genealogical connection to Christianity. (Cf. http://www.eveonline.com/races/amarr_timeline.asp).

But what does that mean? There is also a genealogical connection from Christianity to Judaism, a connection from the Baha'i to Shi'i Islam, yet those communities differ. Also within historical and contemporary religions there are huge differences. The religious practice of Roman Catholic Chinese hasn't much in common with "Jesus Camps" in the United States; Judaism today cannot be compared to Judaism at the time of the Temple etc. etc. That is to say: Even if we can trace a specific origin it doesn't mean a lot. "Holy Books" have been interpreted, ignored and edited. In this regard concepts of "heresy" and "orthodoxy" are questions of power and not "right interpretation". (I find it rather strange that people refer to themselves as "heretical" in certain rp situations.)

[hellgremlin]

According to the back-story in 3805 "the Conformists, a group within the Unified Catholic Church, settles on Soekhetvi". Dano Gheinok, who is "one of there leaders" in 7989 directs them to Athra. So there is a genealogical connection to Christianity. (Cf. http://www.eveonline.com/races/amarr_timeline.asp).

But what does that mean? There is also a genealogical connection from Christianity to Judaism, a connection from the Baha'i to Shi'i Islam, yet those communities differ. Also within historical and contemporary religions there are huge differences. The religious practice of Roman Catholic Chinese hasn't much in common with "Jesus Camps" in the United States; Judaism today cannot be compared to Judaism at the time of the Temple etc. etc. That is to say: Even if we can trace a specific origin it doesn't mean a lot. "Holy Books" have been interpreted, ignored and edited. In this regard concepts of "heresy" and "orthodoxy" are questions of power and not "right interpretation". (I find it rather strange that people refer to themselves as "heretical" in certain rp situations.)

Hmmmm... I wonder if the Unified in Unified Catholic Church has significance. I mean, the Amarr have a lot of islamic/hindu influence - perhaps by 3800 AD, those religions have meshed together somewhat.

Perhaps the religious people of the milky way were becoming a sort of minority. Forced to unify and band together in the growing face of secularism/atheism everywhere else (the logical and inevitable conclusion to any religious society.) Maybe that's why the Conformists fled to Soekheviti, then New Eden.

[Horatius Caul]

According to the back-story in 3805 "the Conformists, a group within the Unified Catholic Church, settles on Soekhetvi". Dano Gheinok, who is "one of there leaders" in 7989 directs them to Athra. So there is a genealogical connection to Christianity. (Cf. http://www.eveonline.com/races/amarr_timeline.asp).

Can't see where it says that the Unified Catholic Church is in any way related to Christianity.


Etymology
From Latin catholicus from Ancient Greek καθολικός (katholikos) from κατά (kata, “according to”) + ὅλος (holos, “whole”)

Adjective
catholic (comparative more catholic, superlative most catholic)
1. All inclusive; pertaining to all mankind.
He has catholic tastes.


EDIT: and church is a Germanic word with origins in Ancient Greek (κυριακόν, kyriakon) which was most likely used well before the spread of Christianity

[hellgremlin]

Huh... learn something new every day.

[Z.Sinraali]

According to the back-story in 3805 "the Conformists, a group within the Unified Catholic Church, settles on Soekhetvi". Dano Gheinok, who is "one of there leaders" in 7989 directs them to Athra. So there is a genealogical connection to Christianity. (Cf. http://www.eveonline.com/races/amarr_timeline.asp).

Can't see where it says that the Unified Catholic Church is in any way related to Christianity.


Etymology
From Latin catholicus from Ancient Greek καθολικός (katholikos) from κατά (kata, “according to”) + ὅλος (holos, “whole”)

Adjective
catholic (comparative more catholic, superlative most catholic)
1. All inclusive; pertaining to all mankind.
He has catholic tastes.


EDIT: and church is a Germanic word with origins in Ancient Greek (κυριακόν, kyriakon) which was most likely used well before the spread of Christianity

It's not a necessary connection, but in common use//connotation, it's almost always used to refer to the Roman Catholic Church. As Istvaan has helpfully demonstrated for us (thanks bro), most English speakers aren't aware of the 'real' definition of the term. It's not a huge leap to imagine that whoever wrote that, especially if they were a non-native speaker, was using it in the former sense.

[Elsebeth Rhiannon]

Timescale, guys... Even if the first Amarrian settlers were Christian, and the emphasis on religion in the society still comes from that tradition, it's been a couple of TENS of thousands of years and a collapse of civilization since. The Christianity today is only two thousand years old (an order of magnitude shorter), and has already evolved to sects I suspect would have been pretty unrecognisable for the first followers. If we are talking about the Amarrian religion today, I don't think who the first settlers were actually is even relevant.

[Z.Sinraali]

Timescale, guys... Even if the first Amarrian settlers were Christian, and the emphasis on religion in the society still comes from that tradition, it's been a couple of TENS of thousands of years and a collapse of civilization since. The Christianity today is only two thousand years old (an order of magnitude shorter), and has already evolved to sects I suspect would have been pretty unrecognisable for the first followers. If we are talking about the Amarrian religion today, I don't think who the first settlers were actually is even relevant.

Also true.

[Invelious]

Did the dark times period not take place after Gheniok? We should be really looking at what happened after that time period rather then what happened before. It would provide the best result of what has shaped Amarrian faith to date.

On a side note, I know the takmahl were at the top of their game when it came to cybernetics and bio-engineering. Maybe it was that same technology used in the Emperors to keep them alive for so long. hmmmmmm.

[Casiella]

Right, and I referenced the timescale issues in the OP. It would be folly to assume that twenty-first century Christianity, Judaism, Islam, or anything else would be recognizable to most followers of Amarrian religion. But at the same time, the Talmud, Gospels, Epistles, and so forth might have a small place among the (now greatly enlarged) Scriptures and that some small portion might place high value upon them. Similarly, some Christians believe that the Ten Commandments should continue to provide a ruleset for their lives, whereas others believe that the Mosaic Law no longer has validity.

As far as UCC: among the various Catholic churches (Roman, Orthodox, etc.), the term "unified" has a very specific meaning. I see no reason not to interpret it in that sense, and while the word "catholic" does of course mean "universal", that's also where the "Catholic Church" originally derived its name. Personally, I don't understand taking a term that makes perfect sense in context and assuming that it actually means something else.

That said, the idea that the unification included something much greater than just the Catholic denominations also could make sense.

[Louella Dougans]

Amarrians are the space Jews.

care to explain?

[Seriphyn]

I always took a futuristic Arab/Persian aesthetic with the Amarr. It's in the names especially, lots of "Ak" stuff lying around.

I think CCP have developed Amarrian religion enough to significantly distance itself from Christianity, standing on its own.

[DosTuMai]

Religion is always changing, so that which the Amarr follow now would be unreconisable to the people that entered the EVE Gate and subsequently brought about the religion.
Show a Christian from 1,000 years ago what their church is like and they'd scream heresy. Doctrines change - albeit slowly - so any minor similarities between the Amarr religion and all other religion is purely accidental.

P.S.: This is as close to a discussion on religion as I'm getting.

[lallara zhuul]

Amarrians are the space Jews.

care to explain?

Sure.

Of the three current religions worshiping the Hebrew God (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) only one currently contains the concept of the Chosen People of God through blood, Judaism.
This can easily lead to 'us' vs 'them' mentality which can be easily interpreted as xenophobia.
The people that are referred in day to day language as Jews descend from twelve different tribes that all had their own lands, customs and practices when it comes to expressing their religious beliefs.
Tribe of Naphtali, a militaristic tribe, Tribe of Issachar, religious scholars, Tribe of Zebulun, scholars and scribes,... the list goes on.
What is common to all the tribes is that the deeds of your ancestors define your role in the society, those ancestors may be only part of the religious texts but your link through your blood and family gives you a connection to your religion that cannot be found in Christianity.
This connection is based on tradition that has been passed down the generations for millenia, there is similar traditional connections in the Islam where there are families that are direct descendants of one religious leader or another, family connections to your religion that go down the generations for centuries if not millenia (I met an egyptian guy who was supposedly descended from one of the religious leaders that rose up after their Prophet about 1400 years ago.)
This is probably one of the hardest concepts for a westerner to understand, at least I have struggled with it, there are houses in Ireland that were built around the same time that Finns were busy running away from bears in the forests, which basically means that my concept of family goes back only three generations.

Was there anything else?

Well, me personal view on the UCC is that it is a bit like Islam at the moment, in Islam they see Jesus as a prophet that was before their latest one.
Basically for me that means that at some point in history (perhaps when the UCC was formed) the different sects of the same religion (worshiping of the Hebrew God) put aside their differences, did the ecumenical thing and got all the different sects under the same Church.
Created their UCC Bible and let the local churches deal with the issue of whom of the holy people the local people wanted to worship.

The marriage of church and state in the Empire is easy.
The lineages have never been broken (or new ones have risen) and the first leaders took their mantles as Kings to lead their people in a time of crisis.
Kings of the different tribes or lineages formed a council which elected an Emperor who was the first among equals.
Empire got a big crisis, council elected an Emperor that did not want to let go of the power which lead to Moral Reforms.
Which lead to the current system.

But I am rambling, better get something else done.

[Odelya]

Of the three current religions worshiping the Hebrew God (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) only one currently contains the concept of the Chosen People of God through blood, Judaism.

That is a common misconception. The concept of the “chosen people” exists also within other religions, even in the ones you have named. Within Christianity you have many denominations who consider themselves to be chosen. In Sunni Islam you have—in simplified terms—the concept of a global umma vs. the nonbelievers. In and Out groups are almost everywhere when it comes to religion.

Can't see where it says that the Unified Catholic Church is in any way related to Christianity.

Well, it doesn’t. But CCP is a company based in Iceland, so we can assume that western concepts of religion aren’t unknown to them and can also assume that their works contain some play with accessible connotations. If you want to design a religion that is “understandable” for the “consumer” you wouldn’t refer to the Maori concept of life and death for example, but to more common stuff.

EDIT: and church is a Germanic word with origins in Ancient Greek (κυριακόν, kyriakon) which was most likely used well before the spread of Christianity

Church is not a Germanic word but a loanword from medieval Greek kyriakón doma = The Lord’s House. Since it is a loanword from medieval Greek the English/German word “church/Kirche” hasn’t been used before the spread of Christianity, especially not in the sense of a building. However, not the building is addressed here, because a building cannot be universal (καθολικός). Thus “church” refers to ἐκκλησία “assembly” or “congregation”, “church” which is widely used in a Christian (or colonial, translatio religionis-style) context. The Christian framework is—among other things—aesthetically supported by the emblem of the Theology Council which bears a cross-like symbol (and by the way: Theology is a Christian term, Judaism doesn’t use the word and in Islam there is a debate whether to use it or not), by the “medieval” appearance of the “monks”, the concept of sacred kinship etc.

Anyhow, this doesn’t mean much. As I and many others have already pointed out: There are huge differences within religious groups, both on a horizontally and a vertically time scale. The key concept here is reception. Plus: What happens to Amarrian Religion (wherever it derives from) in Khanid context (Mongolian? Japanese? I would say Ottoman)?

Best,
Odelya