I mention this because these three faiths survive into Poul Anderson's Technic civilization:
Master Merchant Nicholas van Rijn is Catholic whereas Adzel, the planetologist in van Rijn's first trade pioneer crew, is a Wodenite convert to Mahayana Buddhism;
Dominic Flandry's mentor, Max Abrams, is a Jew from the planet Dayan whereas Flandry's fiancee, Kossara Vymezal, is an Orthochristian on the planet, Dennitza;
Flandry's daughter, Diana Crowfeather, teams up with another Wodenite, Axor, who is not only a convert to but also ordained in the Jerusalem Catholic Church.
The Technic History also encompasses one man with a Sikh surname and another with a Muslim name.
It is to be hoped that humanity will survive long enough for these faiths to flourish in future.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Strictly speaking, we never see any mention of ANGLICANS in the Technic stories. Old Nick was a Catholic, and you have argued that the Jerusalem Catholic Church is simply what the Catholic Church came to be called after the Papacy relocated to Jerusalem. And the Orthochristians of Dennitza are either eastern rite Catholics or Orthodox.
We do see mention in "The Game of Glory" that many people on Nyzanza might have been Protestant, because Thomas Umbolu's file described his faith as "Christian variant." And one of the states or autonomous cantons of Nyanza, the Emirate of Rossala, was probably mostly Muslim. And one of Flandry's superior officers in A CIRCUS OF HELLS is called "Commander Abdullah" in Chapter I.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
By the three faiths, I meant just Judaism, Christianity and Buddhism.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I know. I was being pedantic! (Smiles)
Ad astra! Sean
The wild diversity of the Terran Empire is probably a product of its size and the fact that communications are relatively slow and relatively low-bandwidth. Dennitza, for example, was founded by cultural separatists/nationalists (Serbs), who wanted a world of their own. Interactions with outsiders are limited.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree and I recall reading somewhere that Anderson believed that some emigrants from Earth would be seeking to preserve a national or ethnic identity that was being swamped and homogenized by an overwhelmingly dominant culture de facto unifying Earth.
Ad astra! Sean
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