Interesting note:

In the late nineteenth century, a seris of laws made it increasingly difficlut for Mormons to practice polygamy, with the government not just prosecuting polygamists but barring them from voting or holding public office, and even seizing church property. In 1890, the church leaders had enough and officially renounced polygamy as a Mormon practice. Famously, a number of Mormon fundamentalist splinter groups continue to practice polygamy today.

Divisions and Teachings of Mormonism

Basically, the Mormons are divided into what are called stakes, which usually have about 5,000 members and are run by a stake president. Within each stake are wards; composed of a few hundred members, under a lay clergyman. It is through this structured admininstration that church regulats the livs of its members. At the hig end, presiding over the entire church, is the supreme council of three high priests, called the First Presidency or the presidnet and his counselors. Next are twelve "apostles", who are equal in authority to the First Presidency. Essentially, those officers run the show.

In addition to the semiannual genral conferences, take and ward conferences are held; included in these are, of course, the usual sabbath meetings. It is at these meetings that the consent of the people must be obained before any important actions are taken.

The Mormon Church is supported by tithes - strictly speaking, a donation of one tenth of one's income - and offerings from its members. The money is used to support the church and its missionaries in the field.

There is an emphasis on teaching the philosophy of the faith in sabbath schools an dyoung ladies' mutual improvement associations, which are primarliy religous in nature and offer support for the underprvilieged. A group called The Relief Society is a women's organization that has a special mission for the relief of the destitute and the care of the sick.

The Church of Latter Day Saints is world famous for its genealogy repository, the Family History Library in Salk Lake City. It boasts more thatn two billion names and is considered the finest such repository in the world The church has made available, free to church members and nonmembers alike, over 600 million names for research purposes on its Family Search Web site on the Internet. It encourages its members to trace their ancestors as a religious obligation, since a central Mormon belief is the idea that even the dead can be baptized into the faith even after they have passed away.

Can a Mormon marry outside the temple?

The edict is that unless the young people who do marry outside the teple repent in a hurry, they cut themselves off from exaltation in the celestial Kingdom of God.

So this concludes the basics of Mormonism. If you have more to tell or share about this faith system then don't hesitate to share it with us.

Next up is "Presbyterianism".

Only Scientology can save us from the Draconians

Hi Lee. I hope all is good with you. I am sure you stay quiet busy all day.

There are so many religions! Over 4000 to be exact. I am just touching the many denominations of Christianity now. It is interesting how they all started and for what purposes. Just when you think you know something about a religion, you find out something new. I am primarily just interested in the historical perspective of how and why they started.

What I learned so far is that the many denominations broke up because they either added more to the bible, or they understand its writings differently, or they don't agree on something in the end.

With slight changes in practices of faith a whole new religion evolves by a charismatic preacher at the time.


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Draconians! Help! Everyone run!

In the Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman the Draconians turn to stone if you defeat them. Something you don't want to happen as your weapon will then get stuck inside the stone body of the Draconian making it hard to retrieve it back to fight others who attack you.

You should cover Raëlism. The Raëlian movement, is a UFO religion founded by a former French sports-car journalist and test driver named Claude Vorilhon. Raëlians believe that Vorilhon, who is known by the movement as Raël, received special knowledge and instruction for mankind from the creators of life on Earth, human-like extraterrestrials called Elohim whose technology enabled them to appear as "angels" or "gods" in the eyes of ancient people. Raëlians believe that previous visitation from Elohim sparked the founding of many major religions humanity knows today.

PRESBYTERIANISM

In 1876, the Presbyterian Church of England came about by a merger. Various factions from English and Scottish congreagations came together and adopted the Presbyterian system of church government. Its history is a rocky one, and didn't come close to real stability until 1972 when it merged into the United Reformed Church in England and Wales.

Similarly, in 1983 the American Presbyterian Churches headquarters in New York City and Atlanta merged to end a North-South split that had dated from the Civil War.

Merger seems to have been the historical norm in the Presbyterian Church because it didn't consist of just those mentioned above, but was present through the years iwth the North America Church, the Southern Church and the Synod of Ulster. Perhaps this isn't surprising considering the church was a blend of New England Puritans - the Scottish, Irish, English, and Welsh. Actually, the Cumberland Presbyterian Churches, wich were founded on the American Frontier in the early 1800s have two heritages, one from the 1800s and a new version thac ame about in 1906. It has survived all the upsets, and today is centered in Memphis, Tennessee.

It should come as no surprise to learn that the church avoids highly centralized authority in the government.

more to come....

It seems you know alot about it. Perhaps you can cover the basics of how this belief system started and how many members follow it just out of curiousity.

I have heard of a few alien belief theories or idealogies that people claim are true. It usually starts with a alien race that created the human race for slave purposes to dig gold for their purpose to save their planet of Nibiru or Nibirus, which is suppose to come close to our solar system one day. Yet a problem occurred and the Draconians or these aliens (don't have a name for them at the moment) realize that not enough gold can be produced to save their planet and they left the planet leaving us behind.

The long story short a bad god created the human race and a good god saved us from being eliminated. Therefore we are capable of having both bad and good thought processes.

Then we have the stories of Gray Draconians as of other types of Draconians that live in our Earth and some are disguised as humans herding us humans for consumption later on. Reminds me of a old sci fi series called "V" in the 1980s that was halfway completed, yet discontinued because it created so much controversy amongst the viewers at the time.

So yeah I guess we can add that at the bottom of the list if you like. It is a belief system that some or many believe to be true and go around warning us all day about aliens controlling us.

I will have to check into the one you mentioned. Never heard of this one.

Interesting note:

During the English Civil War (1642-1651), Oliver Cromwell, a Congregationalist, and his army became supreme in England. In 1648, the army purged Parliament of all Presbyterians. The miltary dictatorship under Cromwell terminated the Presbyterian establishment and grandted freedom to all religous groups while giving special privileges to Congregationlists.

I read most of the Dragonlance Novels and played the various games many years ago. Very good stuff. My favorite part of Krynn was Taladas. I liked the Roman Empire type culture of the League of Minotaurs. The Draconians of DragonLance and the Dracononians of Jeanniebean are basically the same except the space Draconians dont turn to stone when they die ,and they have advanced technology.

Foundations of Faith for the Presbyterianism

Presbyterians believe in the Trinity: God the Father and Creator, Jesus Christ his son, and the Holy Spirit. The Bible is considered the foundation of their faith, and they acknowledge the common creeds of the church (Apostles' and Nicene Creeds). They hold that they are saved "by faith alone, by God's grace only, through scripture only."

The sacraments are two" baptism for infants and adults and communion - the Lord's Supper- open to all baptized Christians.


Controversial Issue

In 1997 all members voted on the issue of ordination of homosexuals. The result was to bar any members who wer sexually active outside marriage from teh office of clergy, elder, or deacon. Teh church's Book of Order was specifically amended to address the church's deep division over homosexuality.

In June 2001, a move forward took place that was intended to include lesbians, homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgender people as candidates for ordained ministers, elders, or deacons. A decision was made to change the languate in the Book of Order that would do away with any prohibition of sexual minorities. The subject is a source of ongoing consideration within individual Presbyterian churches and the denomination's overseeing bodies.

This concludes the basics of Presbyterianism. If you are such a member and wish to share your thoughts or have additional information then don't hesitate to post in here.

Next up is "Adventists".

Raëlians believe that all life on Earth, humans included, was created scientifically by human-like extra terrestrials that are more scientifically advanced than us, called the Elohim, using DNA synthesis and genetic engineering and thus believe in intelligent design. Throughout the ages, Elohim sent different prophets: Moses, Jesus, Buddha, and many others to guide humanity and to prepare us for the future. Largely left to progress on our own, until the time of the Apocalypse/Revelation when Elohim would send their final messenger and reveal the truth for all to know. Raëlians desire to spread that message and work towards building an Embassy where we can officially welcome the Elohim back, and for the first time in human history, actually understand them for who they are, instead of worshipping them as gods as our primitive ancestors did.

Raëlians adhere to a universal ethic while emphasizing secular and hedonistic ideas, rather than worshipping a supreme metaphysical deity. The Raëlian Church encourages self acceptance and tolerance while following a UFO religion that favours physicalism - the belief that everything consists only of physical properties. Raëlians accept that extraterrestrials called Elohim created humanity and deny the existence of the ethereal soul and a supernatural god, and believe that the mind is a function of matter alone—a paradigm which William James (1964) would call epiphenomenalist. This ties into their belief that mind transfer, and thus eternal life, is possible and that it will be possible to create an identical human clone in terms of mind and personality, as long as the clone and the original person are not alive at the same time.

These beliefs play a part in Raël's purported project, Valiant Venture Ltd. which he says provides a service called Clonaid for homosexual and infertile couples, who want a child cloned from a partner's DNA. Raëlians believe that other religions throughout history—such as Buddhism, Islam, and Mormonism—have testaments to extraterrestrial creators. The Raëlian book Let's Welcome our Fathers From Space says that new advanced extraterrestrial civilizations will ultimately practice a final religion or "religion of the infinite".

Raëlian activities and seminars encourage healthy food, active lifestyle and sensuality as part of living a long and happy life. Still, they encourage the exploration of other world religions and reading Intelligent Design prior to accepting and joining the Raëlian Movement philosophy.

Imagine a D&D religion based upon Presbyterianism

That's pretty cool but I have come to prefer Eckankar

The major initiation rite in the Raëlian Church is the baptism or transmission of the cellular plan and is enacted by upper-level members in the Raëlian clergy known as guides. Canadian sociologist Susan J. Palmer says that in 1979, Raël introduced the "Act of Apostasy" as an obligation for those preparing for their Raëlian baptism. CTV Television Network states that apostasy from other religions is required for new Raëlian members. Joining the Raëlian Church through transmission of the cellular plan happens only in certain days of the year. There are four such days—marking anniversaries in the Raëlian calendar.

The first ceremonial date is August 6, which marks the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. This is not to be confused with a celebration of the bombing, since Raëlians view events like Hiroshima as events common to socially primitive but intellectually developed societies in the universe. They believe societies that find enough energy to reproduce across star systems, will guarantee their own self-destruction if they become too violent—without ever being able to reach planets in other star systems. The second date is December 13, 1973, the day that Raël says he had his first personal encounter with one of the extraterrestrial Elohim. The third is October 7, 1975, in which the Elohim, Raël says, took him up in a spacecraft and the following day had meals with Jesus Christ, Buddha, and other past religious figures. The last anniversary that Palmer gives is the first Sunday in April, which Raëlians believe is the date when dark-skinned extraterrestrials created Adam and Eve.

The Raëlian baptism is known as transmission of the cellular plan where cellular refers to the organic cells of the body and the plan refers to the genetic makeup of the individual. This Raëlian baptism involves a guide member laying water onto the forehead of the new member. The practice began on "the first Sunday in April" of 1976 when Raël baptised 40 Raëlians. Raëlians believe that their genetic information is recorded by a remote computer and would become recognized during their final hour when they will be judged by the extraterrestrial Elohim.

The movement traces its beginnings to a conference in Paris, France of two thousand people in 1974. From there, the MADECH organization was born. The name MADECH is a double acronym in the French language. The first stands for "Movement for the welcoming of the Elohim, creators of humanity" (Mouvement pour l‘accueil des Elohim, créateurs de humanité) while the second stands for "Moses preceded Elijah and the Christ" (Moise a devancé Élie et le Christ). A news agency said that by 1976, Raël transformed MADECH into the International Raelian Movement. Over the years, various news media have given estimates of the movement's size, and the statistics agree with a long-term trend of past growth. However, despite media efforts to provide accurate information, Raëlian Church membership estimates can vary even within a given year by tens of thousands.

Doesn't sound so bad at all does it. Perhaps this French Sports Journalist is onto something, yet I wonder where he got his information.

Perhaps a good shot of Courvosier cognac or perhaps a few more then the regular amount that day. Or did he actually see a Raelian and had a pleasant conversation.

In the end it is open for some to believe and others to nod their head and say sounds interesting, but need evidence.

but for me personally, I don't see why not. Everything is possible. Who are we to say that we don't evolve from being created by a alien race?

It remains a mystery for many many humans around this world.

Religion and Mythology is great for creating fantasy stories. It gives you many great ideas indeed

The Seekers of Abanasinia on Ansalon are based on a North American Colonial Protestant religion and culture.

You would be surprised how many fantasy or even Science Fiction writers actually use mythology or religion in their writings. I would say most do with a combination of other subjects to make a world seem real.


Professor Joseph Campbell who specialized in Mythology was a great inspiration to George Lukas who you should know is the writer and creator of Star Wars Trilogy.

Joseph Campbells videos use to be free to watch! I regret not downloading them when they were free. I will have to buy some of his videos again one day. He was a great storyteller who can explain world mythologies in a simple way for one to enjoy and at the end have a feeling that you have learned something productive in the area of mythology or even religion.

Primary to the teaching is the belief that human consciousness can leave the body at will (soul travel) and explore the inner planes of creation.

If you know how to this please instruct us.