173 réponses à ce sujet

[Navasha]

As IRL, I am pretty ambivalent about it.   I think religions have the potential to be a good thing IF AND ONLY IF the followers come to the faith of their own choosing seeking answers or closure from it.

 

My problem with religion and the Chantry usually stems from their desire to impose their beliefs on others.   That is the one thing I cannot abide.   Constant attempts to brainwash/indoctrinate/spread the 'faith' by any institution/government/ideology is something I disdain.  

 

I can see having a belief in something as a good thing for those that seek it, but the moment they attempt to 'teach' it to others who aren't seeking those answers, then it becomes a violation to me.   

 

This is, of course, how I as the player and some of my characters tend to feel about it.   My characters tend to be roleplayed from all across the spectrum in games from the devout to the heretical. 

[Xilizhra]

I'm not a fan, but that's less due to atheism and more because I find far too many of its beliefs and practices to be deplorable.

[HTTP 404]

I grew up Christian but I am more agnostic now.  I personally find true atheists just as zealous as true Christians.  I see both with a little bit of disdain.  While I rp'd most of characters in Origins as a non-believer, I never put down anyone in the game for believing in the maker, the stone, whatever....unless the belief was violent towards others like the Dragon Cult. 

 

IRL, I don't care what people believe if it makes them happy and it isn't imposed on to others.

[Ieldra]

I'm not a fan, but that's less due to atheism and more because I find far too many of its beliefs and practices to be deplorable.

That's actually quite true for me as well. I wouldn't mind being made to believe in the Maker by the game so much if it didn't mean being made to subscribe to specific other beliefs which are, as I said above, anathema to my own beliefs. Particularly regarding the tale of the Golden City.

[Jaison1986]

I don't like the chantry. People think we hate them because of the sole fact the chantry is an religion, while in fact what most people hate about them is that the chantry is an religion that use their beliefs as an excuse to comit many deplorable acts and then get away with it. If they were just an church that expresses their faith peacefully, most of the players would ignore them. But the problem is that the chantry raise armies, forcibly indoctrinates non believers, otherwise they are doomed to an life of persecution, starts wars in the name of their god, interfere in politics, use archaic methods to control the mages. It's just problem after problem.

[Harlot]

As an atheist I find "faith" being one of two main themes for Inquisition (next to "leadership") very interesting. I'm not a fan of religion or belief in supernatural IRL but roleplaying through this conflict might bring a few interesting dilemmas for my Inquisitor to deal with.

As for the Chantry - I'd be more ok with it if it was a secular organization. Bringing faith into this whole magic problem is not how I'd roll if I could choose. But we'll see what the presented alternatives will be in Inquisition.

[Tevinter Rose]

I'm an athiest leaning agnostic and I don't really care for the Chantry. It's members don't really bother me but the organization itself does. I don't see it as a religion but more as a monopolistic corporation that wants to hoard all the power and wealth in Thedas to itself while doing very little to help with poverty, outlawing minority religions, discriminating against elves, imprisoning and encouraging prejudice against mages, and using tranquils as free labor.

[Sable Rhapsody]

Personally, I've divorced my RL beliefs (including atheism) from the characters I roleplay.  I've played agnostic PCs, devout PCs, PCs who hated the Chantry and everything it stood for.  It's IMO more interesting seeing fictional worlds through eyes different than your own.  Personally, I find the Chantry fascinating because it has some of the complexity and moral ambiguity of RL religions.

[Cainhurst Crow]

The chantry is a necessary evil, providing one of the only avenues of humanitarian relief to the poor and lower class, as well as providing higher education and often standing opposed to the more tyrannical or cruel of the thedas aristocracy.

 

If not for the chantry, people like Vaughan Kendells would be able to run a lot more rampant in my personal opinion, and target all people alike, men or elf or dwarf.

 

Though honestly its all a bit moot when it comes to rping. Its the characters story, and I'm just an observing guest with minor omnipotence. So if a character would want to destroy the chantry, or bring about a new wave of pro-orlesian theocracy, or just didn't care about it, that would just be the way that particular character rolls.

[DuskWanderer]

Not an atheist but not overtly religious, and I find the Chantry terrible. We're informed that they educate others and take in orphans, but we only really see it a few times (if you send Orana to the home, Leandra sends her to the chantry, and the lady from the Harimann Estate who escaped). That's nice, that's fine. But what we mostly see from the Chantry is incompetence (Elthina), malice (Petrice), or something so minor to have such a large influence (the entire Chantry in Origins)

[LostInReverie19]

I'm not an atheist, but I'm not a huge fan of organized religion. Therefore, the Chantry as an institution just bugs the hell out of me. Yes, they do some good, but they do a hell of a lot of bad as well. 

[schall_und_rauch]

My personal passionate hate for the chantry comes from the crone priestess with the awful voice in Denerim who constantly needs to remind me that magic is supposed to server man, blabla. I soooo want to kill her.

 

On a more serious note: I am atheist irl because I find evidence for any god's existence in the real world lacking. However, in DA, we know that there are higher, more powerful beings with god-status who were revered. We have just little evidence of the Maker.

 

I view the Chantry as one of those things that is part of the theme, and it is well done, as part of the story.

However, it is important to separate "do I think it serves the story" and "do I like it". I prefer democracy over monarchy, but that doesn't mean that I want to lead a peasent revolution in Orlais, to demand voting rights for everybody. 

IMO, the Chantry does too little or not the good things to serve as an effective stabilizing force of good.  

 

I am very happy that the BioWare writers chose a path of questioning the Maker's existence in DAI and allow the inquisitor to take an active stance in that matter, rather than making him a default believer.

Most of my character's don't think too highly of the Chantry. However, I will make at least one character who is an absolute believer and supporter of the Chantry. He is pro Templar/Circle and sceptical of non-humans. And while he worships Andraste, he thinks non-Andraste women should stay at home, rather than on the battlefield.

 

...Yeah, I don't like him either, but I'm gonna have soooo much fun playing him.

[aerisblight]

Let people believe what they want, as long as they don't bother me with it.

[Vilegrim]

It's a hate filled nightmare with genocidal ambitions (any faith that has a kill on sight list is beyond the pale, yes this applies to the Qun as well)

[Revelat0]

Agnostic/Deist here, I lean more toward a god existing but lacking a desire to interfere in its creation, regardless I have little evidence, and that which I do have is empirical and based on perspective. I do not adhere to any institutional religions.

 

Anyway, on to the Chantry; they are a group which has historically imposed their political views and religious beliefs on other cultures. They have conducted several "crusades" against other races. In these endeavors they have revealed themselves to be arrogant and oppressive, with that said most of those actions were undertaken from the political side of their hierarchy. The followers of the religion vary from extreme to open-minded. Their leadership having the power it does may be the underlying issue.

 

I am personally indifferent and never tell them to sod off, for example I gave donations to the Chantry in DA:O but refused to accept their blessing simply because I do not believe the same as them. Some priestesses are self-righteous and call me "heathen" others "wept at my generosity". I feel the Chantry is salvageable, and that if they are willing to be more open and accepting and relinquish their political powers they will have a place in Thedas, otherwise their corrupt principles will be purged by way of the dinosaurs. I personally will not dismantle them directly and intently, if my actions in DA:I convert many followers of the religion to be more accepting, it will be of their own freewill and I cannot force them, but those repercussions may come from my choices, and so be it.

[90s Luke]

I'm agnostic, but I think my opinion is equally as valid here.

 

I think the Chantry has been an important institution, despite its failures. It has built infrastructure, educated people, as well as aided the poor and the sick. Furthermore, it has a transboundary criminal justice system, which (up until the Mage-Templar War) had been instrumental in keeping order in Thedas.

[mikeymoonshine]

Well I am an atheist and also somewhat of an anti theist too (I believe religion is an inherently bad thing). That doesn't mean I hate religious people though and while I don't agree with the Chantry it doesn't seem to be quite as bad as the religious organisations it is based on. Also many of my favorite characters have been to at least some extent supporters of the Chantry. 

 

Anyway I don't play as myself and my characters will always have their own opinions based on their own life and expieriences. 

[WardenManu]

While playing as a mage in the dragon age games I saw that the chantry serves only as a means to oppress mages into submission, something that personally i hated. I often agreed with everything that morrigan told me about the religion of thedas. For example in the history of the origins Grey Warden (mage) you are taken from your family as soon as you show signs of magic and thrown into a tower that looks like to me a prison. Certain traditions should be preserved as shapeshifter magic, arcane magic and others. But it all depends on the mage that uses it. I think in an article, the future companion of the next game Solas said something about the demons and the fade that if you believe in that chantry advertises that fade is full of demons who want you to possess this will happen. This is all a matter of perspective and the mage that sees it. So in Inquisition even if im The Herald Of Andraste i will fight for the freedom of the mages with tooth and nails.And those who stand in my way will burn on pyre!!!!  

[Gannayev of Dreams]

As an institution I find it intriguing being able to influence it, and by extension those who believe in it.  Control the Chantry and you control most of the civilized world in DA.

 

As a religion, I'm as indifferent towards it as I am the real world analogues.

[Master Warder Z_]

while doing very little to help with poverty

 

Your joking right? The Chantry is about the only form universal charity to the poor in Thedas.

 

 

outlawing minority religions

 

Only one, and that came after they declared war on the Chantry.

 

and using tranquils as free labor.

 

The Tranquil are free to leave the circle.

 

They are in fact free to leave the Chantry period, they can go out in the world for themselves, them choosing not to do that doesn't make the Chantry's allowing them to practice the art of enchanting, the proceeds of which all go to the circle by the way, "free labor".

[rigron]

The Chantry? I think it is a good thing, great material for fireworks. If you don´t belive me ask my pal Anders.

[frylock23]

It's interesting that you ask this of atheists, but had you ever considered that a Christian could just as easily have a problem with the Chantry? It's not like it's really much more than a superficial resemblance at best to a real world Christian sect. For some, it could even be considered heretical and thus something they can't stand, something that, for them, is as offensive if for a different reason as it is to you.

 

It's something to consider from the inverse of your question at any rate.

 

For myself, I figure that they used analogues of the real world to construct Thedas. Many things are loosely based in some way on the medieval world. And in fantasy, there is always some kind of mythology. In this world, they have a monotheistic Maker mythology that fuels the dominant religion of Thedas. You also have the polytheistic older religious mythology of the Dalish. No one is sure exactly which of the two mythologies are correct, or maybe both, but it's not a stretch that there must be some truth there given the very real demons and spirits that you have to fight against.

 

It's not like this is any different than picking up any one of a hundred different fantasy novels and accepting that the world has a mythology which only serves to deepen and make the place richer in the end.

 

Of course, I guess an interesting question would be to ask how many of you have read any of Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series? If you have, did the religious mythology of Terre d'Ange bother any of you who are atheist?

[LaughingWolf]

Just like how I feel about the real life Church: I don't care

[Master Warder Z_]

The Chantry? I think it is a good thing

 

Seems to be the view of the majority of the folks who actually know what they are talking about when it comes to DA lore

[Br3admax]

It's a hate filled nightmare with genocidal ambitions (any faith that has a kill on sight list is beyond the pale, yes this applies to the Qun as well)

There is literally no faith anywhere in Thedas that demands this. Sounds like the hateful one is you....