Theocracies

I've yet to see a theocracy done well in any setting, they never truly capture the complexity real-life theocracies had.

>>55288076
I always quite like the Ancient Egyptian system where the spirit of a deity (horus in their case) was believed to enter the body of the Pharoah during the coronation. In general I quite like the idea of the monarch as a living god in a fantasy setting.

It provides some excellent oppertunities for cuteness as well if another character becomes close friends with an extremely sheltered 'living god' and becomes the only person in their life who treats them like a human being.

If you wanted to lift a religion from my setting:
>Piety is the state religion of most nations and kingdoms in [Continent], officially centered in the Pontiffric of [Country]. The Grand Cathedral of [City] is the seat of the High Pontiff and his Cardinals, who issue formal decrees that carry Divine Authority of the Lord-On-High. Pious people of all walks of life are taught to venerate hundreds of Saints, and strive to emulate their example.
>Alignment: Lawful Good
>Symbol: Crossed Keys Of Heaven and Earth
>Holy Reference: The Concordat Of the Lives of the Saints
>An exhaustive and illuminated manual containing biographies and legends of The Saints. Pious believers are instructed to study, quote, and invoke the teachings of these saints in their daily lives and when dealing it adversity. Clerics of the Church must adventure across the land to discover and record the lives of potential saints whom they encounter, and preparing and publishing a Saintly Almanac is a requirement for promotion in priestly ranks.

>The Pious Trine
>Lawful Good: The Lord-on-High
>A stern, guiding father figure who offers afterlife to the worthy.
>Neutral: The Prodigal Son
>Represents the failings and redemption of penitent men.
>Chaotic Evil: The Winnower
>Tempts mortals to give in to selfish urges prove their unworthyness

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Thanks for the replies so far. I'll give the rough outline of my Theocracy's nuts & bolts so far too. I'd love any critiques.
>rooted in the Boethian ideal of the Rota Fortuna/wheel of fortune
>theocracy takes hold after a fickle prince of the realm tries to get rid of the religion in favor of his own (ie atenism).
>main thrust revolution is highly religious, and in the end they sey up the new regime
>divide government into Nine ministries; Defense (war), Charity, Wisdom, Justice, Penance/Redemption, Treasury, Works, State/Diplomacy, & Ritual
>Each of the nine ministries act as a seperate religious order, headed by a single Palatine. Some are elected, others appointed, some others chosen by augury, but all are clerics.
>The nine palatine lords (called The Nine, creatively) are the top officials, and are answered to the Governors & Magesterium that runs the day-to-day.
>in keeping with the religious veneration of time and the fickleness of God, each year the 'first among equals' role of Exarch rotates in a set pattern between the Nine
>when raised to the Exarchate, the palatine is adressed as the 'Lord (Blank)' based on their order (Lord Mendicant for welfare, Lord Militant for Defense, etc).

The central focus of devotion is simply Heaven/Celestus, the personification of time and the unmoved mover.

>>55288468
What traits and values does Atenism desire most in its practitioners? What separates it from being a generic Christian expy?

>>55288582
Meant more in that it was a pet project of the monarch, sorry about the confusion.
Haven't decided what it's tenets were, but there's still some hangers on who bought in before the revolution.

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Theocracies do not necessarily mean stable or permanently conservative, just because the Luddites are in charge right now doesn't mean that the more heavily armed usurpers that will inevitably replace them and if necessary the religious head of state with a ranking member who wants to keep his head.
The ancient Maya were pretty religious which led to their downfall (multiple times and places too), but if they had had their own Scientific Renaissance I'm sure they would not have shunned any of the technological advances.
Anachronism is totally fine, but don't expect it to be like that everywhere.
It sounds like the pendulum has dipped pretty far to the right in regards to the religious zeal and willingness to follow authoritarian commands in this region of your setting, but is this a dark age or one that leads to enlightenment?

>>55288468
Wait so they took over purely for religious purposes? You need to come up with more reasons. How did the church do it? Was the prince bad at his job?
Did the church have the military in their pocket already? How long ago was this takeover? (If it was a long time ago it's likely that the theocracy is on the verge of collapsing)

>>55288668
The theocracy doesn't sound particularly Luddite. I think the setting has just not had an industrial revolution. In fact using the term Luddite without an industrial revolution doesn't even make sense.

>>55288468
What do commoners and low clerics do?

>>55288668
So, in my case it's not necessarily the case that the ruling clerical caste are 'luddites'. It's more that the system is skeptical of advancement and of 'progress' since their religion views such as a slow build of successive cycles rather than a straight line.
There's a lot of tension caused by a few of the neighboring powers advancing up the 'tech tree' as it were. Basically my Theocracy started with a solid tech lead, but their slower rate of progress has led to others catching up. One major issue is the printing press, which is forbidden in the Theocracy for 'denying the scribe his field'. Of course it just so happens that some more reactionary elements in gov't/the faith can use the lack of widespread books to quell dissent.

Also, there's a heresy run amok among the intellectuals sort-of parallel to Christian Gnosticism that argues that god lost interest in humanity long ago and that we need to do great things to be noticed or else be denied the reincarnation/eventual paradise the theocrats preach.

Whether this is a prelude to an enlightenment I can't say yet, but they're definitely in an awkward place.

>>55288928
>revolution purely religious
Not the case. It's a little closer to how the Iranian revolution went down. Basically the Prince was an ivory-tower dandy who had grand designs but shit execution. His lack of attention to micromanagement/delegating ensured that he'd piss off pretty much all the major keys to his power. Think Medieval Commodus.
When the powder keg finally blew the two most organized resistance bands - the church and the army, came to the forefront. In time the other factions realized one of these two would end up on top so most bet on the church as the better option. There was even subsequent infighting among the army whether to support their leading captains in a coup, but the effort fizzled since much of the army were devout followers of the faith. A 'grand conclave' of the clerics and notables was called to set up a sort of magna carta and plan forward.

It's been about a century since the church took over, and the regime is struggling to keep its feet. Two major factions have emerged in the church, the Conclavists (who are demanding a second conclave to address the issues in the current system/esp abuses of power and decadence) and the Anchorites, who are calling for a more puritan/reactionary move to stamp out social advancement in the name of peace & moral purity.
There's also a growing resistance to the regime made up of students, disenfranchised guilds, nobles, and elements in the pocket of competing powers. These resistance elements are increasingly demanding that the theocracy be done away with entirely, much to the worry of the Nine.
Basically I'm setting it up that the regime's biggest issue is actually the fact that they're so moderate. I feel like both an authoritarian state or a more 'liberal'/easygoing state would both be having less problems a hundred years on.

Whether or not the theocracy makes it another decade is a serious legitimate question, as is what sort of regime would replace it.

>>55288964
>Commoners
They mostly live as commoners do. Work, pay the tithe, honor the gods, don't lose your house etc. The very poor have a strong charitable safety net to fall back on, but for the devout commoner life comes down to perfecting their 'life's art' (theologically whatever it is that god wants from them in this lifetime, changes with every reincarnation). For the less devout, it's just trying to get by.
For a lot of families the ideal is obviously getting a child into one of the Nine orders. The process ignores blood purity, but is very rigorous and involves much suffering/training/endurance of hardship. More 'intellectual' ministries such as Wisdom/Justice/& the Treasury only admit the best minds as well.
Literacy is shockingly common, since the House of Wisdom is obsessive about it. They even send itinerant scholars to the countryside to teach rural areas their letters. Only the devout and the smartest (and unofficially the well-connected) can gain admittance the grand university (only surefire way in is to be a cleric), so for most education ends early.
There isn't any sort of secret police or anything, but engaging in heathen activities will totally fuck your social standing. Certain sins (major heresy, abuse of the poor/lowly, murder, major theft, arson, fraud, usury, fortune-telling, magic, kidnapping/slavery, rape, etc etc) are 100% punished just like secular crimes would be though. Most punishments are 'wheel-themed', so as to fit with the faith's fetish for such things as a teaching tool.
Honestly the biggest thing is that the Faith isn't keen on the idea of blood nobility or wealth as a thing to be honored. Since in their faith all earthy things pass and people can be reborn into a number of walks of life before earning liberation, 'commoners' have it pretty damn good relative to neighboring states. There's still nepotism and aloofness among the old purebloods, but it's technically illegal (think the castes in India).
(1/2)

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>>55288964
>>55288964
>low clerics
As for junior clerics, experiences differ wildly based on which order they join. For a novice in the House of Wisdom, it will consist of long nights copying books and days of lecture, debate, & theology.
For the initiates of the House of Charity, it will consist of basically looking after the poor and caring for/staffing soup kitchens and things like that.
For the Mendicants of the Treasury, life revolves around balancing budgets and collecting theoretically-voluntary tithes (see lads? no more taxes!) to keep the state running.
In addition, some clerics may be offered the chance to pursue priesthood, which involves years of study in the rites, saints, lesser gods (divines) and scriptures of the faith. Detailed charting of time/seasons and the stars (considered 'the eyes of God') is also a huge deal. These priests start out mostly the same as the clerics who aren't actually priests save for ministering to the laity/running temples wherever they're stationed, but in time can reach positions of influence in their order - even appointment/election as a Palatine. It is very rare in practice for members of the Nine to not be priests of some sort.
>Gender
Worth mentioning since this isn't quite christianity or anything. Some orders are monogendered (Houses of Defense, Justice, & Works are male, Houses of Penance & Ritual are exclusively female). All the others have members of either sex, but most have more of one than the other.

>>55288171
What would you like to see, anon? Curious.

>>55288076
Honestly best thing to do is look at Islam and the states/sects that came from it. Islam, unlike many other religions doesn't have a "last word". The Quran is not end all be all, there are many different texts, that are either truth or heresy depending on the sect, written far after Muhammad's death. This obviously causes problems. Whenever you have a theocracy take note that it is rare that everyone believes in the ruling religion. In fact often the only people who practice are the ruling class and their soldiers. This creates an interesting tension as some laws would be seen as unfair ("why should I have to keep my hair covered?")

It sounds weird but I also suggest you take a look at communist countries under personality cults like Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot. The person who was the first to stop clapping was executed, Mangoes that were gifted to villages or factories were worshiped and revered, and Pot's personal crusade killed a third of the country. You see similar stuff in Fascist countries.

>>55290371
On that note, I was looking at more offbeat religions like the mormons or even sects like calvanism.
And I think applying the 'cult of personality' concept to the 'Saints of the Revolution' makes sense doesn't it? Like each of the Nine being considered vicars of these Nine Saints.