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[lonelyloner]

 

I am most surprised at how my character started out as atheist, but ends up an Andrastian believer.

 

I blame Mother Giselle.

And those masses kneeling before me. Really makes me wonder, that.

[Hazegurl]

BioWare is a Canadian company staffed mostly by Canadians, including the writers...

And no I did not think the topic of faith was handled very well since the game mostly ignored the faith of my character, a Dalish elf.

I was a human atheist and felt like I was the only one in the entire world that was one. lol! I always thought Varric was a nonbeliever or followed the dwarven stone thing until Cassandra set me straight.

[Big I]

I didn't like the discussion of faith in the game because it equated faith with being solely an emotional support network. Very rarely did it touch upon the idea of people believing something because they think it to be the literal truth.

After adamant I talked to mother Gisele about what the divine said, that it was not andraste that saved me (which is what i been saying all along). Suddenly it's "Oh no, you're only ALLEGORICALY the herald". Wtf? And then she didn't want me to share the truth with the faithful, one of the many reasons I didn't like Gisele.

Faith is about more than finding comfort in community or the existence of a higher power. The fact that the chant of light is right about how the blight began is compelling evidence as to the authenticity of the whole thing. Truth is important.

[Wissenschaft 2.0]

I could make a post about how finding truth in "faith" is an oxymoron but I sense it would be pointless.

[Big I]

I could make a post about how finding truth in "faith" is an oxymoron but I sense it would be pointless.

Whether you agree with a particular faith or not (in this instance the chant of light) is irrelevant. Many are faithful because they think it is true, not just because they like the idea that it MIGHT be true. Any examination of faith that doesn't deal with "truth" in faith is annoying and incomplete.

In the game in Haven there's ambient dialogue between an elf and a priestess where the elf asks about Shartan, and the priestess flat out denies he existed. How about dealing with the lies the faithful tell themselves in order to feel good about themselves?

[Kulyok]

In the game said I believed in fate and/or the Maker, because, well, it didn't really seem like blind luck my protagonist stumbled into the ritual.

 

But I am not sure I would equal that to being Andrastian. I mean, the Chantry has done many horrible things, and Andraste herself wasn't much holier than Garahel. The Maker, the higher power who balanced Cory with the Herald, and the Blight with Flemeth saving the Wardens? Yes, maybe, possibly, I'm open to the idea.

 

But I wasn't quite comfortable with how the game interpreted my "Yes, I believe in the Maker" as "Hey, Andraste placed the mark on my hand!" Um, no, she didn't?

[lonelyloner]

In the game said I believed in fate and/or the Maker, because, well, it didn't really seem like blind luck my protagonist stumbled into the ritual.

 

But I am not sure I would equal that to being Andrastian. I mean, the Chantry has done many horrible things, and Andraste herself wasn't much holier than Garahel. The Maker, the higher power who balanced Cory with the Herald, and the Blight with Flemeth saving the Wardens? Yes, maybe, possibly, I'm open to the idea.

 

But I wasn't quite comfortable with how the game interpreted my "Yes, I believe in the Maker" as "Hey, Andraste placed the mark on my hand!" Um, no, she didn't?

Agree. 

Besides, saying "The inquisition belongs to the faithful" is to exclude the people who are not of Andrastian faith but joins up because they want to help save the world. 

So I go with "We must stop Corypheus." 

[LadyJaneGrey]

I didn't like the discussion of faith in the game because it equated faith with being solely an emotional support network. Very rarely did it touch upon the idea of people believing something because they think it to be the literal truth.
After adamant I talked to mother Gisele about what the divine said, that it was not andraste that saved me (which is what i been saying all along). Suddenly it's "Oh no, you're only ALLEGORICALY the herald". Wtf? And then she didn't want me to share the truth with the faithful, one of the many reasons I didn't like Gisele.
Faith is about more than finding comfort in community or the existence of a higher power. The fact that the chant of light is right about how the blight began is compelling evidence as to the authenticity of the whole thing. Truth is important.

Hmm. Won't let my honest, devout Andrastian talk to Giselle after Adament then.

I thought Cassandra and some of the side clergy showed the "believe because it's the truth/because they believe in Andraste's vision." Also the better clergy leaders were blown up before we could meet them. Good job, Solas.

[Ahalvern]

Well I felt the game really pushed the Chantry faith onto me what with Divine Justinia appearing and then turning into a Holy Radiant Being (complete with golden light and all) while the Dalish belief system took repeated hits of misfortune. "Everything you've ever known and believed is A LIE!!"

 

Needless to say, I'm bitter.

[Treacherous J Slither]

Now that is a complicated question. The nature of reality has long been a subject of debate and as far i know, no real conclusion has ever been reached. I can only answer from my personal view. I know that all gods exist. I worship the old pantheon of my people, but i can't deny the other gods. How do i know? I just do. Why do i believe? Because i know its true. its not based on any measurable evidence nor any point of debate. It just is. Such is the nature of faith. Are atheists wrong? No. To an atheist, gods really do not exist. I know this doesnt make much sense, but to me this is like trying to explain a color. What words can you use for something so personal? Hope that helps somewhat in understanding the mindset of a believer

 

I'm still lost but thank you for the effort.

[EmissaryofLies]

Hated every bit of it and everything about it. Mostly because the Chantry garbage took center stage while the Dalish were made to look like fools who didn't know up from down as it concerns their faith. Cassandra and Giselle preached to me all the while dismissing any other explanations or theories, all culminating in a ridiculous Disney number. Its stench permeates a good portion of the game; you cannot escape it even in the damned fade.

[Linkenski]

Yeah it's not American in any way. Faith/religion and the way it is handled is definitively based off religious Europe hundreds of years ago.

I know but that's not what I was saying. I'm just saying that from watching all sorts of American media and all my friends who have been there everyone thinks USA is kind of infamous for referencing God way too much, whether it's at the dinner table, in a presidential speech, movies, littérateur etc. America has always been extra solemn about this than most other countries in the world. No offense, but that's just how it is to be quite blunt here.

[errantknight]

The, or at least, one of the central themes in the story this time.

 

Personally I liked it for its allegoric aspects. I think it draws some thought-provoking parallels to real world history and how the world's perception of god evolved or changed as new discoveries were made. In Inquisition's case I feel like the story was building towards the paradigm shift not too far from our own of realizing that Earth was part of a heliocentric solar system.

 

Part of me was afraid when I started the game that it would be too american in the typical in-your-face religious talk kind of way. No offence but as a european I've often rolled my eyes at how all US media is way too much about God this, God that and Jesus this, Jesus that. It's just highfalutin platitudes to me, and I'm not even atheist. I can't really decide if DA:I overdid this or not though. I think sometimes it did have a bit of an american-centric viewpoint on how the various characters perceived god, but again, I think it makes sense because this is like mediveal times of the Dragon Age universe.

 

I think though that Corypheus, once again, was wasted in the sense that he was searching godhood and babbled about the throne of god being empty but it wasn't ever examined in depth what his viewpoint was, at least not explicitly through the various cutscenes in the main campagin, and I'm too lazy to read all notes.

I think that's a big plotpoint in a future game

 

I like the way they handle religion. It's very appropriate in a medieval setting that the populace be religious, but they've always left it quite open as to what the reality of it is and it's even murkier now that the elven demigods are in play. Very interesting. It's also very well done that even within the context of a religious society, it's very possible to play characters of varying levels of faith and the perceptions of the society have an impact on the world. Very well done.

[Linkenski]

I feel bad for poor Cory, he just wanted to be god so there would actually be a god. Whys everyone hating on............oh right, demons are eating people because of him. Nevermind. lol

But yes, I do like how Cory was handle. He has so great lines in the game.

My problem was mainly that he's too absent, but I do love all his lines regardless. In that first scene of In Your Heart Shall Burn I was sooo pumped for him to be the best villain from Bioware since Saren, but his absence and the lack of character depth ruined it.

[X Equestris]

I know but that's not what I was saying. I'm just saying that from watching all sorts of American media and all my friends who have been there everyone thinks USA is kind of infamous for referencing God way too much, whether it's at the dinner table, in a presidential speech, movies, littérateur etc. America has always been extra solemn about this than most other countries in the world. No offense, but that's just how it is to be quite blunt here.

Who gets to define "referencing God too much"?

[rpgfan321]

I also felt like the game explore the word "faith", not just in a monotheistic/polytheistic religion, but also branched out in having faith in yourself, in a certain truth, or in a path, etc. I thought the topic was explore also in small scale. I thought I saw this in our companions like Blackwall and Dorian on their reasons for joining the Inquisition. 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

My character started out a non-believer, and has now come to see the world differently. I blame Giselle and Cassandra.

[Bigdoser]

Well for my dwarf he was just getting annoyed by all the fanatical belief and decided to take the mantle of inquisitor to do the right thing and stop cory. Plus don't get me started on npc's saying to hide the fact that the lady was not andraste and how I got my mark. =_= 

 

Since my dwarf felt that people should start having faith in themselves and the people ACTUALLY sacrificing themselves and fighting the good fight instead of gods that may or may not be real or simply don't give a dam to help. Or even creating "symbols" like the inquisitor being the herald just to keep themselves from admitting that hey maybe we gotta do this ourselves? Maybe the Maker does not really care like it says in the Chant. 

 

It was that whole scene in hushed whispers when his friends sacrificed themselves at the end that made my dwarf think that way and by the end? Faith did not find him at all. Hell my dwarf felt some pity for cory considering what happened to him and his thoughts and why he wants to be a god. 

[Dominari]

Besides Bioware is CANADIAN.

 

You mean Canada is not part of the United States?

 

Next thing your going to tell me is that Canada belongs to Great Britin and puts the Queen on thier money. 

[RepHope]

I'd rather the Inquisition not be a faith based organization but I cannot deny the effectiveness it has over peoples minds. So very useful. When you're trying to pull people together to save the world why not go with what works?

Question: Do believers know it's not real and just go about it all as a way of giving meaning to life or do they actually believe all that stuff is real? Is faith like the affirmation mindset? The power of positive thinking? Telling yourself that it's all going to be okay even though it's really merely a hope and not a fact?

I'm not trying to offend anyone. If what I wrote upsets you then please simply ignore this post.

Ha! That depends on the kind of person you are. I've seen people who've embraced faith/religion because they need to believe in something bigger than themselves. I've seen people firmly believe in whatever tenets their religion teaches. I've seen the opposite, people who have no strong faith but continue to identify as religious because that's how they've always identified as. Those types either cling to it because it offers some small comfort or because they're not ready to make the leap into full-blown atheism.

I myself examined the faith I was raised in and concluded that I believed in the values it preached, had become a better person because of my faith, and believe it holds some truth about the nature of reality. Thus I chose to continue practicing it.

[CuriousArtemis]

I know but that's not what I was saying. I'm just saying that from watching all sorts of American media and all my friends who have been there everyone thinks USA is kind of infamous for referencing God way too much, whether it's at the dinner table, in a presidential speech, movies, littérateur etc. America has always been extra solemn about this than most other countries in the world. No offense, but that's just how it is to be quite blunt here.

 

I think we can blame America's Puritan background as well as the recent merging of faith with politics that occurred in the early 2000s. 

[RepHope]

You mean Canada is not part of the United States?

Next thing your going to tell me is that Canada belongs to Great Britin and puts the Queen on thier money.

Canada's got a basketball team. Get a non-awful football team together, and we'd gladly make you an honorary 51st state.

[CuriousArtemis]

Friendly reminder that it's a running joke in America to go to Europe and say you're Canadian, cause then everyone will hate you less/like you more >.>

[TanithAeyrs]

I liked the way the question of faith was handled, even for a Dalish (except for point where you could ask about one of your own Gods - really?).  It is a great roleplaying opportunity when your PC's faith is challenged or upheld successfully within a game.  My poor Lavellan had her faith shaken to the very core throughout the game but she held true to the principles of her religion even as its figureheads were shown in less than deific light.   So I think the deeper aspect of what is guiding a character's moral compass in the face of evidence that their religion may be false or that it may be the literal truth adds a fascinating layer of complexity to the whole debate.  Thought provoking if nothing else.  And definitely fodder for those of us addicted to the lore to over analyze for years to come.

[RobRam10]

Kill Orlesian Chantry

Kill Qun

Kill Elven Pantheon

 

Spread Imperial Chantry