Religion In The Rich Port
A special report,
as prepared via information by the Theotokos Council
The Rich Port, as the nation type might suggest, is an assimilated super-state, a creation of the moral ideas and rules of the many cultures that inhabit it's borders, of countries that it absorbed beforehand. More significantly now than ever before, the ethnicities and religious demographic groups have asserted their desire for representation in the nation as, after all, the groups rarely shift out of their equal distribution. The social identities of other cultures have eventually fleshed the Rich Portian identity. Being a Rich Portian means to be a multiculturalist, an internationalist, and a universalist, an individual tossed salad of differing ideals organized along the Rich Portian tenets of equality, democracy, and checks and balances. Being Rich Portian means being Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindi, Buddhist, all at the same time. As such, the sects of The Rich Port, more often than not, identify with The Rich Port as their benefactors, both because of the physical and ideological distances to their original theological and ideological masters and the benefits autonomic religious authority brings. Rich Portian institutions, set up by Rich Portians, are usually the main authority of the worshippers, regardless of the practices of other nations.
Rich Portian Christians
†
~30%, or 2,190,000,000
A broad category, covering Roman Catholics, the many Protestant sects, the Rastafaris, the Unitarians, the Universalists, and so on. However, the Catholics and Protestants are pursuing representation via their own organized political coalition, that of
The Crusader's Mansion. These are grouped in the same, equally proportioned size as due the many beliefs that they share: the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Messiah, the similar rites of Mass, and their holy book, the Bible.
While it can be argued that Early Christianity was the second religion of The Rich Port (after the pagan beliefs of the First King), it truly didn't gain weight in The Rich Port until First Contact with Spanish Catholics in the 16th century. Up until the 20th, Christianity was the main religion of The Rich Port, with 90% of the population identifying as such. With the Mass Exodus, however, the majority evaporated, eventually becoming only one of the many religions represented in The Rich Port.
The Crusader's Mansion is particularly vehement in it's beliefs, and faces competition from the Rastafari mansions and the Organization Of Reformatory Churches, united in their opposition of the Catholic Church's "intrusion" on Rich Portian soil.As the largest denomination, Christians suffer from the largest exodus of followers, known as the "Catholic's Guilt". Around 2,000 Christians convert away from the religion every year to either one of the other denominations or out of religion altogether.
Rich Portian Orthodox Christians
☦
~20%, or 1,460,000,000
While very similar to their Christian brethren, the Orthodox sect is nevertheless large enough and distinct enough to warrant it's own classification. These differences include: the different rites, the language used in these rites (Greek and Russian as opposed to Latin or local languages), differences in creed, differences in Biblical composition, theological differences, and sectional differences.
The Orthodox Christians believe that their movement is the original Church, as established by Jesus Christ when he entrusted the Keys To Heaven to Peter, one of his disciples. Orthodoxy was initially the religion of the very rich nobility, direct descendants of the Byzantines, as transporting Orthodox icons and supplies to establish churches was very expensive, and was almost mystical to other Christians. Eventually, though, it spread to the population as The Rich Port entered modernity in the early 1900's. Each and every denomination is run independently of the others, meaning that one Bishop does not have power over another. As such, Orthodox Christians benefit the most from The Rich Port's physical and ideological distances, and as such endorse differences much more often when compared to other Orthodox churches.
However, the Greek majority remains conservative, and it's patriarchs rarely support new changes. Violence amidst Orthodox sects has continued to this day, often in waves that come and then go with any innovation, which seems to occur every couple of years, but more commonly amidst ethnic lines; that is, Greeks attack Greeks more than they attack Russians.
Rich Portian Muslims
ﷲ
~20% or 1,460,000,000
While there exist a few Shi'a and Sunni muslims in The Rich Port, the main denomination is New Mecca Islam. New Mecca is the capital of
Ishema Refugees, and was established in order to create a waypoint between Muslims and God. It is said in the Qu'ran of the New Meccans that an angel appeared to a woman named Said, and gave unto her the suhra that includes the tale, called
Mercy. The suhra castigates the Shi'a and Sunni, saying that they have corrupted the words of Allah, and have killed many in his name, having been taken by the Devil and made to perform devilish acts, slaughtering many that Allah did not intend to die. To punish them, he wishes for Said to found a new place of pilgrimage, where true, peaceful Muslims can assemble, free of the violence and the evils of the older sects.
New Meccans follow the "Recitation of Peace", generally called the New Meccan Qu'ran. This version removes many of the references to violence, shame, and sin, focusing instead on the New Meccan Muslim's devotion to Allah and to good actions in Allah's honor, and that no matter what, Allah is merciful, and his children must follow this example. As such, homosexuals, converts, and non-humans are accepted into the religion more commonly, violence except in individual self-defense is prohibited, and that the only word that is "law" is the Qur'an. This also facilitates the
Hajj, or pilgrimage, as the site is New Mecca, which is regionally closer than Mecca, which means more often than not there are hundreds of millions of pilgrims making the journey, a much larger number than those that go to Mecca. Otherwise, Ishema Refugees elect a caliphate, and both men and women can become Imams, who are treated more as central religious figures, New Mecca Islam therefore paralleling both Shi'a and Sunni.
Awrah, what is considered respectable to show in public, varies according to what part of The Rich Port you are looking at. Most commonly (that is, in urban or suburban areas), as opposed to the wearing of niqāb in order to hide their heads, women use it to accentuate it. Rather than it being wrapped around the head, the New Meccan khimār (cloth that covers the head, but not the face) is traditionally worn loosely, so that a woman's hair can still flow and be seen, along with her neck,
similar to the way the Virgin Mary wore her veil. In other communities, both men and women wear burka or full-body niqāb while in public. In beach-front communities, Imams demand that bathing be performed nude, in order to truly cleanse the body, "rather than hide your cleanliness with clothing and perfume. These are the bodies of Allah, made by him; do not make them dirty and impure" (101.23).
Rich Portian Hindus and Buddhists
☸ 卐 ॐ
~10%, or 365,000,000
Rich Portian Hindus and Buddhists have been living in The Rich Port in peace and harmony since the 1800's, when a large number of immigrant Hindus and Buddhists arrived in the country looking for work. Their parish, Shangri-La, houses 90% of the population. They are included in this same category together for this very reason. They have been living together in this community, and thus can easily fit into the category together as well.
Sun worshippers
☼
~10%, or 365,000,000
"Sun worship" is defined as the deification and the reverence of the sun as God, or as the central or primary god. Most of Rich Portian pre-history is teeming with sun worshippers, and as such is considered the first religion practiced in The Rich Port, and the original religion. Rich Portian natives are 99% sun worshippers. It is believed by the archeological community that it was introduced, along with most of pre-historic Rich Portian peoples, by Aztec colonists, who then integrated into an Olmec community that then allowed the balooning of the population along with the spread of both peoples and beliefs across the Rich Portian isles.
The prosperity of these early times preceeded the arrival of the the two "Chichimec" peoples, the Guachilil and the Zacatecas (
chichimeca means "mud people" in the Aztec language, a racial slur referring to the darker coloration of the Chichimecs when compared to their Mesoamerican-descended counterparts), which caused racial upheaval in the isles, which led to the Wars Of Preservation, which ended in a stalemate that eventually led to the combination of the 4 peoples into an alliance: the Aztecs, Olmecs (also the most numerous), Guachilil, and Zacateca.
This historical amalgamated society is known as the "Great Many Peoples", or the "Olmeca empire", and it's chieftain during the arrival of white Rich Portians was a member of the Kury tribe, which would have also made it the "chieftain tribe".
Tribal religions
Ω
~5%, or 365,000,000
Another broad category, covering a smaller number of people in different religions. Tribal religions are defined as the religions of Native Rich Portians, a religion unique to an ethnic group or a nationality, or any other religion that does not fall under a certain kinds of monotheism. These religions include Voodoo, Santeria, Greek paganism, African animism, Polynesian Royalism (that is, worship of Polynesian gods), Shinto, Star worship, Great Spirit Observance (the philosophy/religion of the Theologian's Academy), and Egyptian paganism.
Voodoo, in particular, seems to be prevalent amidst a lot of locally elected officials, specifically congressmen and Senators. Great Spirit Observance is seen by some as a New Religious Movement, even though some pre-historic tribes worshipped a similar figure. GSO focuses on the bare bones of theology, modified to be as general as possible, and almost any religion could fall into it's category if stripped down enough. This is intentional as to it's design.
Agnostics and Atheists
A
~5%, or 365,000,000
Unlike other denominations, "The A's" aren't formally or loosely organized for the most part. The exception to the rule is the Theistic Opposition Group, a group that sees religion as destructive and manipulative, but are opposed to militant action against it, despite their confrontational group name.