The religious impact

[JoshuaMadoc]

What he said is in his series, because that is a very probable outcome. It could very well be like that, if werewolves were real and society knew about them.

Well, unfortunately, his theory concerns me as it seems a bit hollow and one-dimensional.

[BlackWolfDS]

I think it will basically turn out like this.

There are two types of religion. There's the new and less "strict" and the old more strict. The new usually refers to younger people who are willing to accept more things, while the older are older people who are intolerable to change. Now if werewolves were to come out, I think the older religions would have the main problem but that doesn't mean that all the older people will have the problems. Then newer will too, I just think most of it will come from the older religious people. Ugg....sleepy

[Silverclaw]

Well, unfortunately, his theory concerns me as it seems a bit hollow and one-dimensional.

Well, what do you think would be the correct theory then?

[Fenrir]

Heh, this reminds me of this

But it's different.....

But I believe that there wouldn't be much grief on the Christian side, they'd be like meh, then try conversion......Now some more violent religions.....which I shall not name.....would probably want genocide

[Set]

Now some more violent religions...

Ahem. What exactly makes you think Christianity is not violent? They've done some pretty horrid things in the name of their religion.

[BlackWolfDS]

What religion hasn't?

[JoshuaMadoc]

Well, unfortunately, his theory concerns me as it seems a bit hollow and one-dimensional.

Well, what do you think would be the correct theory then?

"Correct" isn't a good word. It's more a matter of "there should be more to this than that". Because there's ALWAYS things people don't want you to know.

[Amoux]

The crazy bible thumpers here would probably say the same thing, and use the KKK or make a supremacist group of their own to do

They are most likely not going to believe werewolves are evil unless it says it in the bible. Hence the name "bible thumpers" and seeing is how werewolves aren't mentioned in it, its highly doubtful that they will even think they are, unless its their own personal opinion. Plus, I don't think people who are called "bible thumpers" would use the KKK either.

[Scott Gardener]

kitetsu:

Are you sure you're not using elements of your lycanthrope series to back up all this?

Actually, it's the other way around. My writing is based on what I think would happen.

My opinions are based on what I've seen happen surrounding a combination of factors, including general superstitiousness (Fundamentalism's rejection of evolution and insistance on literal interpretation of The Bible), general paranoia (Fringe Sunni terrorist interpretations of Islam justifying behavior remarkably similar to that of medieval Christianity), analogous groups (Wicca, a movement that worships nature and advocates the existance of magic, and the Fundamentalist reaction against followers of Paganism; homosexuality and the discrimination today against gays; historic discrimination against race and sex, issues still yet to be resolved), and extrapolation.

My predictions might seem biased against religious Fundamentalism. Some of this in my writing is intentional, as a criticism of it. But, perhaps my bias against their bias is not without logic. I have a hard time seeing guys like Jerry Falwell, who blame homosexuality for terrorist attacks and catastrophic hurricanes, as being likely to welcome with open arms a virus that transforms humans into wolves, or people like the fringe radicals that lead the rest of us sadly to associate Islam with terrorism, the people who order the assassination of Salman Rushide or the artist of a Scandinavian cartoon picture, when their respective radical belief architecture contains built into them horrific images and associations involving wolves or beasts in general. I have a hard time not seeing "The Beast" from Revelations getting mentioned. And, I think avoiding getting bitten at all costs will be one of the few things Sunnis and Shi'ites would agree on.

Still, the only way to know what really would happen would be if an actual lycanthropy epidemic occurred. So, how about it? I'm a doctor. Any of you got a lab I can borrow? Any of you good with nanomolecular transhumanistic genetic engineering? Oh, that's right. There's a ban on something as basic as human cloning. Something about being against God. I rest my case.

Still, there's a lot of extrapolation, and what happens at one point affects the next. My timeline probably wouldn't happen per se. But, I think it's a good guess about what would, and a lot of similar events might occur.

[Fenrir]

Now some more violent religions...

Ahem. What exactly makes you think Christianity is not violent? They've done some pretty horrid things in the name of their religion.

Bah, 99% of Christians TODAY could care less..... it's the mormons ya got to watch out for....with there pesky door knocking thing..... and 90% of everyone else would be like meh ok so what

[Set]

Mmhm. Right. I only live in Bibleville, what in hell would I know about Christians?

[BlackWolfDS]

Now some more violent religions...

Ahem. What exactly makes you think Christianity is not violent? They've done some pretty horrid things in the name of their religion.

Bah, 99% of Christians TODAY could care less..... it's the mormons ya got to watch out for....with there pesky door knocking thing..... and 90% of everyone else would be like meh ok so what

Hey hey hey. My best friend I have known all my life is Mormon and she has never done anything like that. And you can't pin that on Mormons either. I have had Christan church people come to my doorstep asking me if I believed in God. I told them no and they told me I was going to hell.
How ironic though.
An Agnostic Therian protecting a religious person who would quite possible hate him if he were a werewolf.
Strange how that works, huh?
I guess pack is pack, no matter the shape, color or belief.

[Midnight]

What religion hasn't?

I haven't heard of the Baha'i doing anything like that, although they probably just haven't had the chance yet.

I hope Fenrir's just trying to tweak Anubis' nose about Mormons... I've known a few in my time and they were no weirder in public than any other denomination. And as long as what they do in private is legal and between consenting adults I don't see as how it's any of my business. For what it's worth I'm also an agnostic. Despite that, I've helped friends and family out before with church-related projects... because it's the sort of thing people do for their family and friends if needed. I don't share their beliefs: oh dear, how sad, never mind. I can live with my family and friends not comprehending the awesomeness that is early `eighties low-fi garage rock, so it works both ways.

Back on topic... My guess: 99% of Christians, 99% of Muslims, 99% of Jews, 99% of Buddhists, if confronted by a real live werewolf, would say "please don't eat me". The other 1% would be the interesting reactions to watch or read about.

[Fenrir]

Now some more violent religions...

Ahem. What exactly makes you think Christianity is not violent? They've done some pretty horrid things in the name of their religion.

Bah, 99% of Christians TODAY could care less..... it's the mormons ya got to watch out for....with there pesky door knocking thing..... and 90% of everyone else would be like meh ok so what

Hey hey hey. My best friend I have known all my life is Mormon and she has never done anything like that. And you can't pin that on Mormons either. I have had Christan church people come to my doorstep asking me if I believed in God. I told them no and they told me I was going to hell.
How ironic though.
An Agnostic Therian protecting a religious person who would quite possible hate him if he were a werewolf.
Strange how that works, huh?
I guess pack is pack, no matter the shape, color or belief.

heh it was supposed to be a joke, because out of all the churches, the mormons usually get the but of the jokes.

[BlackWolfDS]

heh it was supposed to be a joke, because out of all the churches, the mormons usually get the but of the jokes.

Uh.....I'm confused...I think I know what your talking about...
I just want to clarify that I wasn't angry when I wrote that little thing above, just explaining.

[TakeWalker]

This thread is beginning the swift slide into religion-bashings. I knew it would from the start, but I'm fairly impressed it took this long. Why don't we all take a step back and look at the original question? I think we're starting to hit an impasse of people who think one way and people who think another on the topic not being able to see one another's side, and this seems mostly due to differing life experiences.

Slightly more on-topic, I didn't mention earlier that I liked Scott's mention of cults springing up around werewolves. It's not something that gets talked about a whole lot, but I guarantee it would happen.

[MoonKit]

I think...if I might jump in...it would depend on religious leaders and individuals. But no matter what the religion I think there would be a lot of hate, and maybe restrictions or even genocide, just because people dont want to believe that they may not be the biggest baddest thing...no matter what the religion. People are people and they'd be afraid.

[Kelpten]

Even though I'm a mormon myself, I'm not sure how our leaders would react, though I'm sure what they say would be what's right. I think that after the inicial shock of discovery it would really be dependent on what the lycanthropes do. If people start dieing of wolf attacks, then of course everyone is going to jump to genocide. If they behave civily, then people would be a little more hesitant, though I'm sure some group would jump up to attack them. And, on a side note, the reason we mormons go knocking on doors is because we're estatic with what we have and want to share it with everyone else. We don't try and force it on you, just let you know it's out there.

[BlackWolfDS]

Two things you never talk about in a conversation: Politics and Religion.

[Kelpten]

I guess I'm just a little shaken up. I asked my brother what his reaction would be if I were hypothetically a werewolf and he freeked out and sugested that if I were I should go to a medical facility to be cured. I was begining to believe that our society would have advanced far enough from the dark ages to let some of these persicutions rest, but seeing how my own brother wouldn't accept me, I realized how isolated a werewolf would be. I thought for sure that he would understand since we've always been close, so I feel a more than a little betrayed and insecure. If my own family turned against me, what about all my friends? Of course, I'm not a werewolf, but I wasn't prepared for such prejiduce still existing in our world.

[BlackWolfDS]

A lot of things aren't accepted in our world. I think being a werewolf and telling someone that you are is an extreme. For example, if I told my mom what I was, I'm she would flip. My mom comes from a strong religious background, so I kind of understand why she would flip....besides...I already told her I was Agnostic and she told me that I was going to hell.....yeah...no way in hell I'm telling her I'm a Therian.

[Terastas]

There are two types of religion. There's the new and less "strict" and the old more strict.

It might be easier to say that the two types of religion are those that stress enlightenment and those that stress conversion.

For some religions, the focus is primarily on the individual and their own spiritual awareness and wellbeing. Confucianism, Hinduism, Zen Buddhism and (possibly) Shintoism fit that description, but we tend to more often thing of "new age" nature-based religions like Wiccan, Shamanism and Neo-Pagan. For most faiths of this nature, werewolves would be regarded as part of the natural order and be regarded with anything from acceptance to indifference.

For other religions, the emphasis is more on titles than the meaning. In this case, it's more important that one address God by a specific name than it is to be a good person. These are the religions that emphasize conversion; more time is spent forcing that religion upon others than is spent practicing it themselves. Essentially, they are taught to view the entire world as being either "us" or "them" (Islam / Infidel, Catholic / Heretic, etc). We typically think of Militant Catholicism and Islam first, but you could also apply this to cults like Scientology and Westboro Baptism.

The major religions like Christianity and Islam can be divided into either category. Some Christian subgroups emphasize serving God and/or obeying God, others emphasize loving God and/or being one with God. Some would say werewolves are heralders of the apocalypse, others would say they are as God created them.

[Teh_DarkJokerWolf]

Two things you never talk about in a conversation: Politics and Religion.

I soooo agree with you there I was afraid to even get into this, but I have to say my 2 cents. My religion I was raised on (Jehovah Witnesses) they are totally agaisnt such things. They don't believe in such thing as the possiblity of werewolves an such. Most of my family strongly believes everything this religion teaches an they often slam me for my werewolf art, or any of it that looks demonic, so I guess they assume I'm possessed..It's crazy though, I can't talk to them about this kind of thing ever, if I tried to tell them I was a therian they'd freakout fer sure, so I keep quiet about it..

I dun go to that place anymore, but I know they keep trying to pull me back..I hate to think if I did or anyone transformed into a werewolf in front of them wat they'd do. Just from talking about werewolves at all they say demonic demonic demonic.. Sorry to say but I can't be under some rule like that. To me that's to controlling. Therianism..Could that be considered a religious belief, but some? therianism, could even be called the relgion of the devil. because of how people were raised an wat they were told about werewolves an wolves. everyone assumes it fact. Drilled into their heads for so many years. My family told me I was crazy for wanting to enter into a den site with real wolves. Wolves are evil, they'll bite you. All this crap.

Sadly enough BW religion an politics would probably be working together against the idea if werewolves came out into the open. There would surely be wars an much preaching. "Armaggedon is here!!" I can see it now, the war between species. The true survival of the fitessed. We already know man turns against man. A werewolf still is a human being, but because of their new apperance an reputation in movies an stories, they are considered to be the devil walking on earth..That could be said about rapist an murders, suicide bombers, kidnappers, pediphiles!! See man will be the end of man in the end..I think werewolves that are out there are wise in their thinking, still you can't help but to feel sorry for them, having to hide in fear of being hunted down like some rabid animal, like the wolf..False claims is wut kills.


There have been many cases of it, people who have sat in prison for many years, saying they were innocent an they truly are..Their life is gone by the time they are freed!! Man screws themselves over!! There are so many religions out there an so many fols believe theirs is the right one, how can you know that? how can anyone know wat is really facts anymore? So much has been crupted over the many hundreds of years..Another example, when people go to court they are told to place their hand on the bible an swear the truth. So many lie anyways, so way use that anymore. Clearly people don't truly believe in religion, but as soon as this would happen, well you get the idea. Things that are truly demonic are respected, but werewolves/wolves being called a devil all this time, the spawn of Satan..Eh there's no real win..Relgion an Politics would become one..

[Aki]

Two things you never talk about in a conversation: Politics and Religion.

You can. You just have to handle them carefully. They're volatile subjects to be sure, but they lead to interesting discussions at times.

There have been many cases of it, people who have sat in prison for many years, saying they were innocent an they truly are..Their life is gone by the time they are freed!! Man screws themselves over!! There are so many religions out there an so many fols believe theirs is the right one, how can you know that? how can anyone know wat is really facts anymore? So much has been crupted over the many hundreds of years..Another example, when people go to court they are told to place their hand on the bible an swear the truth. So many lie anyways, so way use that anymore. Clearly people don't truly believe in religion, but as soon as this would happen, well you get the idea. Things that are truly demonic are respected, but werewolves/wolves being called a devil all this time, the spawn of Satan..Eh there's no real win..Relgion an Politics would become one..

Religion isn't about "facts", it's about "Faith". If one could prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that [insert diety] exists, it'd defeat the purpose of religion. As it's become fact, it would become science. One knows which one is "right" by which one they feel is right. Which one matches with their beliefs and such.

[Scott Gardener]

Based on the present day persecution of homosexuals, Wiccans, and others who hold socially unusual philosophies that do not inherantly represent any specific threat to anyone, I would have to say that society has not yet evolved quite enough to tolerate werewolves' existance very well. But, we're headed in a good direction.

Transhumanism is a movement that advocates human evolution through technology, with the goal of transcending the state of being human. Transhumanists are futurists who look forward to many of the things predicted by science fiction, and we're reassured by the past trends that many previous predictions have indeed come to pass. But, rather than assuming that cybernetics, genetic engineering, cloning, and so forth are inherantly evil and destined to bring about terror and ruin, we instead believe that it is a way to solve the limits and flaws of the human condition.

As a physician, I routinely see the imperfection of the human form. I see needless suffering all the time. As a transhumanist, I am optimistic that there will come a time when future physicians' jobs will have nothing to do with suffering and desperation, that my professional decendants will perhaps more resemble the staff of Microsoft or perhaps the spa up the street, where my wife gets her hair styled and colored. Imagine if cancer and disease were historic novelties, and I could instead concentrate on engineering custom a feline centaur body for a Chakat enthusiast, or helping someone optimize one's brain to enable better understanding of a form of mathematics that hasn't yet been discovered, because no one alive today can comprehend it?

If the transhumanist movement gains ground, I have every reason to believe that in perhaps a century or two, maybe sooner if nanotechnology really takes off, werewolves will exist, and they'll be a relatively normal element of society--significantly more mundane than some of the other possibilities that will come. But, introducing a werewolf today would be like introducing the concept of furries or spiritual therianthropy to people in Victorian England or a town in middle America around 1910. It'll be so intimidating a thing that a gut reaction of revulsion and horror would surface, and even someone who isn't fanatically religious could in a moment of panic and desperation turn to the available faiths.

And, when you mix religion with desperation, seldom is the result of any merit or have any redeeming qualities.

Newly formed werewolf packs might form their own religion. Some would probably be fairly mainstream--Christians who decide that it's a gift from God. I can easily see Therian Wicca taking off as a hypothetical new movement. But, there would also be the "kill all the humans" people. We've had a few pop in here, and we run into them on the other therian sites a lot more. Some tone down to reason, but others remain introverted. Give them actual lycanthropy, and you throw gasoline on a fire. I can see a number of cult leaders popping up, and at least one terrorist group of a new sort surfacing, randomly infecting people with lycanthropy to increase its numbers, with the goal of wiping out humanity.

Transhumanism might get a boost once all this settles down--assuming it settles down. It could indeed wipe out humanity if the timeline unfolded badly enough. It would be a voice of reason that could give science a boost upwards. Right now reason and logic is hurting badly among lay people in surprising places. In the United States, there is an inordinate number of people who refuse to believe in the biology of evolution. They don't even want to hear the science that explains it, as they're firmly convinced it goes against the teachings of their religion. In Japan, arguably the most technologically advanced nation in the world, women are still frequently abused and treated like second class citizens. And, there's huge civilization gaps, where education and basic living standards are still terribly substandard, particularly in Africa and the Middle East. Nearly one third of the world's population is infected with tuberculosis, and one sixth with malaria. That's two and one billion people, respectively. When you don't have running water and your average life expectancy is in the thirties, it's hard for transhumanist philosophy even to come up in a conversation.