My Activity as God . . . or, Creating Relgions for Science Fiction Worlds

I have been a moderately busy God. I've created two major religions. Neither of them worship me, but they certainly keep my interest. Here they are are.

Worship of the Goddess Robinna. 

This religion is strong on the many Barzalian colony planets and is regaining its foothold in the Barzalian Prime system, where it was displaced by Christianity brought there by missionaries from Earth.

It worships Robinna, an ancient goddess who originally seems to have been a deity of the mountains. "Robinna of the Mountain" is a title for her, though in current worship she has no connection to mountains and no one knows the source of the title. Her images are seen in temples; some are carved into the sides of mountains; always painted; a kind-faced young woman with a light blue dress, hair free, barefoot.

Priestesses serve her (the religion has no male clergy). Most priestesses are celibate, though three of every ten novices are married off and serve as married priestesses, mostly in rural areas. All priestesses of Robinna are assigned to temple service and do not work at other vocations (for instance, as nurses or teachers). The religion requires a code of behavior. Those who live well receive the goddess's favor in the afterlife; those who are evil see her disapproving frown after they die and flee into darkness, though not forever. They might slowly work their way back to her if they repent.

The Religion of the Holy Light.

The Mervogian prime planets lie near the Besrid Nebula, which fills the sky with golden light. The Mervogians worship it in a very simple but deeply felt religion. Doing good is "living in the light"; doing evil is "living in darkness." Their houses of worship, operated by male and female clergy,

gather daily for a ceremony in which the celebrant says, "Light of Besrid, holy light." The worshipers repeat the phrase. There is a time of silence, and then the service ends. The phrase, Light of Besrid, holy light, is the prayer said at table grace, at funerals--on every occasion of worship. It is the Mervogian religion's only prayer and a central tenet of their belief system. To be a proper prayer, it must be recited and someone must then repeat it.



These religions shape the characters who come from those particular worlds. As such, they are vital in the task of world-building, which is always vital to any science-fiction story.

There are other faiths as well.

Many Barzalians were converted to Roman Catholicism by missionaries from Earth.

The Golorian race also converted to Roman Catholicism. Unlike the Barzalians, though, the Golorians practice a religion similar that the Spanish conquistadors. They tolerate no other sects in their empire, conquer and forcibly convert inhabitants of other worlds, destroy heretics, and are willing to use violence to propagate their faith. 

The Omrites, who inhabit desert plants, worship Spirits of Wind. Their religion demands asceticism and extreme self-denial from their clergy.

Religion is the mark of any race of beings, however technologically advanced. Try your hand at being God. Create a religion for the science fiction world you are building.

One of my sci-fi tales in
which religion was an
important element:
Antigone