I thought it was incredibly cleverly written, actually. I'll sum up what I babbled about in OOC:
We know that in the Amarr Empire, religion isn't so much a practice as a way of life. Unlike in Western society, which is sociopolitically secular while people choose to be religious, spiritual or atheistic, Amarrian faith is worked into every aspect of daily life.The Theology Council is the core of spiritual leadership in the Empire; the people look to them in every theological matter -- in other words, the activities of daily life.We really do not have an Earthly comparison to it.
A person who has faith -- solid faith, self-questioned, researched and accepted in the end -- is not the sort of person who can simply give it up; it takes a
catastrophic change in circumstances, doubt so corrosive it's more a virus than a state of mind.
Bear with me, I'm going somewhere with this.
The clown's ex-wife mentions that he's afraid to upset the Theology Council. One of his sponsors is a member of the Kor-Azor family. I'll repeat that:
the Kor-Azor Family. These are not minor holders, the clown is not a minor entertainment personality. He's someone who has proven his faith and whose ministry to the children of the Empire is approved of by the Theology Council.
Do you see where this is going?
His daughter is kidnapped in order to force him to renounce his faith in a live broadcast across the Empire. In front of billions of children, whose parents trust in the Theology Council to guide their way of life. The Council's ire would be the
least of the resulting problems; in fact,they'd probably have far greater concerns than one disgraced entertainer -- and his highly-placed sponsors, who would also be disgraced and likely out for blood.
For someone with such unshakeable faith to openly denounce it would imply a sudden and deep doubt in the very basis of Amarrian life; the root of which would be seen as the fault of the Theology Council. They approved the guy, after all. You'd have billions of people suddenly losing a little faith in the ability of the Council to minister to their spiritual lives. It would cause an upheaval in Amarrian society which would take YEARS to iron out, and things would never be the same.
Well done, Jasonitas. He's not actually that new, Seri, I met him at FanFest last year