Religions and Cults:
Addison Cola Corporation: This is a corporation that tried to switch its legal status to a religion in order to avoid paying taxes in Issue #695: How To Succeed In Business Without Really Paying Taxes
Atheism: Some folks consider this a religion as "a belief that there is no God", while others argue it's not a religion for that very reason.
Either way, I'm not going to add a list to this as control+f-ing won't be enough, and that divide of opinion will hopefully be a further escape goat.
Barefoot Wanderers: a religion where people go bearfoot for fear of the Sock-Devil. Appears in issue #1238: No Shoes, No Service
Catholicism: Not much to say about this. Catholics are one of the few irl religions to be mentioned in NS, and are featured exclusively in early issues.
The Citizens’ Chapel Cultivation Concept: Specifically based on the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, or "Jonestown", this cult is the main point of focus in issue #836: Don't Drink The Grape Punch, which is also specifically based on the massacre.Church of @@NAME@@: Someone proposes banning all religions except for a new government-run Church of @@NAME@@ in issue #091: Sacramental Tax Time?
This religion no longer exists, and has been replaced with @@FAITH@@.
Conspiritivism: A small sect that wants representation in issue #775: Affirmative Election. May actually be a cult.
Cult of Cyan First appearing in #502: Scientists Declare That @@ANIMAL@@s Are Persons, they apparently are a cult so bizarre that Violetism looks straightforward. The interesting fact is that this also seems to be based off of irl religions.
It is established that a meal consumed by members is rice with saffron and pomegranate. They also hold a feast day called "Festivaqua", and is being pushed by its Grand Kahuna to be renamed to Cyantology.
(The) Cult of the Dammed: Though not really a religious cult, in #951: The Wrath of the Fish King, a terrorist group known as the Cult of the Damned has threatened to kill all the fish if you don't let fishing industries work unregulated.
Cult of the Undead @@ANIMAL@@: In #143: An Archaeological Altercation, Yon-Zhauryg v'Klot claims you've unearthed an ancient temple that belongs to the Goddess "Firefury Amahira". It is believed that the Goddess demands a sacrifice... in hamsters.
Cult of... You? Someone obsessed with you offers to make you the God of your nation in #243: A Question Of Faith, and insists it's simply "love".Cult of Divine Nationalism: Another cult honoring your glory, they wish you to proclaim divinity in your nation in Issue #363: The Apotheosis of @@LEADER@@?
Cult of Nationalist Divinity: A more zealous group to which wishes to persecute anyone who does not follow their ways, including the Cult of Divine Nationalism. They, too, appear in Issue #363, and in fact appear in the followup issue, #1124: Signing Off, Your God
Earth Divinities: Priestess of the Earth Divinities wants to ban prosthesis to encourage natural spiritual connection in issue #709: Armed And Legging It.
Faithology: Whilst you think it'd be a study of faith, it's most certainly another religion! That's about all I know about it, though it could be based on Scientology. Bonus video for Neurotology: Here.
The Flying Suns UFO cult: Probably a non-important cult, found in #648: Confessions Of A Dirty Mind
Frisbeetarianism: Surprisingly, this may have not been named named after Frisbeeteria, as there appears to be an actual
"Church of Frisbeetarianism", which makes sense as it appears next to Pastafarianism, which also seems to be a joke religion irl.
It's referenced as a major religion in its first appearance, but is considered a made-up joke religion in its second appearance.
Fundamentalist Brotherhood: Also dubbed "the Brotherhood", appearing in #943: Big Love, Big Problems?, this is a highly devout polygamist believe system that's believed to have raised women to be marriage slaves. They believe Prophet Hezekiah Obadiah Zachariah @@RANDOMLASTNAME@@ was visited by Angel Cletus.
illegal organ harvesting cult: a smear campaign in issue #529: Attack of the Attack Ads. It doesn't exist, and is only used to degrade your opponent — or so we thought. #1153: Side Effects suggests that this could be referencing an actual cult, practiced by a drug company based in @@NAME@@.
The Holy Order of St. Ilton: Residing in an ancient monastery in a remote part of @@NAME@@, they are famous for their Iltonian cheese loved around your nation. They face threat of totally disappearing in #1582: Our Feta Which Art in Havarti... due to low newcomers and aging monks, taking their cheese with them.
Jeday: A made-up religion (that may have a devout following) appearing on censuses in issue #1457: Use the Farce, @@LEADER@@.
Judaism: Like Christianity and Catholicism, Judaism only exists in the very early issues.
Mendesmetetics: Framed as "a dubious religious organization" in issue #873: Terrified Testimony!, Mendesmetetics might be a potentially life-threatening organization, although it could also be the unjust accusations of a defense attorney. It is based off of Dianetics.
Movementarianism: Based in the United Federation, a group of Movementarians are willing to purchase, for a large sum of money, some land in your nation. However, they are connected to mass-suicides, and are not wanted even in the United Federation for killing upwards of 600 people. This all occurs in issue #939: A Question of Bad Faith.
Neopeganism: While it might appear to be a simple neo + paganism, it appears, in issue #676: Down The Rabbit Hole, to be a belief followed by an escape mental patient who worships the Great Bunny Goddess by wearing a robe and bunny slippers while ingesting rabbit droppings to see images of the future. ... Yeah.
New Age: This is a free-spirituality movement that probably is more of a general trend and not an official religion, but is important in a few issue plotlines.
Order of Divine Retribution: A religious organization featured in #1417: Nun on the Run, a member of which advocates for abolishing religious discrimination of all kinds for any job.
Order of Maxx: In issue #313: Conscientious Objectors Want You... To Let Them Abstain, a devout member of the Order of Maxx refuses to be conscripted on account of being part of a religion that supports peace and pacifism.
The Order of Maxx also holds Maxxmas(a play on Christmas). It is quite possibly the most peaceful religious organization in all of nationstates.
Pastafarianism: Probably based off of the religion of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, this is supposedly a major religion, although it's rarely ever mentioned.
Pizza Cult/Church of Pizza: It's a cult... that worships pizza... specifically "His Immaculate Munchiness", "His Holy Crustiness", and... er...
"the Holy Crustiness of Pizza Margherita". And ... yeah ... got no more to say about this one, aside from the fact that they apparently practice polygamy and hate fasting.
The Sisters of Saint Katherine’s Mercy: A religious organization featured in #1417: Nun on the Run, where a member is running for a vacant parliament seat.
The Society of Love: The main focus of #1131: Practise Safe Sects?, The Society of Love is a cult that ropes in young people and makes them devoted to their society for life. The name "Sunbeam" appears in several other issues, including #1332: We Won’t, We Won’t Rock You, where the "Almighty Agate" is mentioned.
Violetism: Formally known as the "Order of Violet" or the "Curch of Violet", Violetism is a strict and orderly religion which seems to believe in an all-mighty "Violet" God. It is known for having a good deal of extremists, from pressuring their views on others to demanding ritual sacrifice. A frequent issue is whether they should be suppressed for violence or welcome to society as an accepted minority.
Violet is actually referenced a lot in NationStates, quite possibly because of the user [Violet] and the book Jennifer Government. The list in the spoiler only contains mentions of Violetism itself, or Violet the goddess, or the sects/rivals of Violetism.
In issue 58, violent Violetists demand sacrifice.
In Issue 440, a movie is named "A Clockwork Violet".
In Issue 631, in reference to their sacrificial beliefs and/or Violet being a God and/or spiritual realm, death row is also known as "The Violet Mile". As it turns out, it's based on the name of an irl movie, "The Green Mile", which is also about death row.Violet: Violet is most likely the Violetists' version of God. However, if she's mentioned, it's almost always in a non-religious manor, such as in the saying "For the love of Violet!" Violet is also used in the phrase "tax the Violet out of them!" in issues 439 and 466.Trivia: In issue 334, someone paints his/her car violet. Issue #644 also has the Violet Hat Society, which is just full of peaceful retirees. In issue 791, Barry Maxman's poodle is named Violet.
Ultra-Violet: This is an especially dangerous Violetist group, possibly the ones demanding sacrifice. They are so extremist that they resort to terrorism.
They seem to mostly come from Tasmania and Lilliputia.
Shrinking Violet: liberal branch of Violetism.
Trivia: Violet is also the site admin. It's possible that she is "Violet" herself. She is mentioned in issue #430.
Trivia: Violet sometimes replaces "grey", such as in "15 Shades of Violet" in 472 or "Earl Violet tea" in 589.
Trivia: Violetism is considered a "new weird religious cult" in its first appearance, issue #058.
Trivia: Violetine’s Day is evidently a holiday, according to #1079: [i]What’s Love Got to Do With It?. Could it have Violetist origins?
Vive la chèvre: In issue #507: Would A Rochebaron By Any Other Name Smell Just As Sweet?, this new religion has been created to protest the government's ban on dairy products by worshipping cheese.
Church of Weird Gaits: This is a very strange religion, worshipping "The Great Lumberer", or simply "The Lumberer". A minister believes that man was never meant to be one with machine in issue #626: Carbon Copied (and can I just say what a strange issue it is).
Yellowism: The Tranquility of Yellow is a religious group that appears different on various occasions, sometimes being more whimsical and having commercial leanings, while other times being almost the exact same as the Order of Violet, and even go as far as to worship a different God in different issues, making it the least consistent religion in NS. One possible explanation is that, unlike Violetism, there are many different sects and branches of it that all go by the same name, and that they are polytheistic, although this is far from canon. Followers of Yellow are called "(Tranquil) Yellowites", and they celebrate the "Holy Month of the Golden Bloom" by fasting. It is unclear if they fast for the entire month or not, though they only fast from dusk til dawn, so they probably feast at night.
Note: Several issue appearances of Yellow are for nations that have banned Violetism. Said issues will have (ALT) put next to them.
@@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ Unorthodox Church: Probably based off of the irl Orthodox church, someone from this religion testifies that creating meat is wrong in #123: Now, Vat's Food For Thought.
@@NAME@@ First Omnimenical Church: Nothing is known about this, except for the fact that someone in it advocates for homeschooling to teach children their own values in Issue #064: Put The "Board" Back In Board Of Education.
@@RELIGION@@ or @@FAITH@@: Whatever your national religion is. You unlock this with #243: A Question Of Faith.
Trivia: Your faith seems to pretty much be a testament religion(likely Jewish) in the first option of issue #285, yet it supports hallucinogenic drug use in the last option of issue #284.
Unnamed Religions:
#070 is an issue that institutes a national religion, with a vague "our God" being referenced, although "thank God I'm an athiest" also appears.
#077 has a "karma God" or something. Plus God is mentioned (See implied occurances)
In issue #245, unknown gods of a foreign religion are mentioned.
In issue #333, an immigrant priest mentions that it's a custom for the under-fire religion to dance blindfolded around cucumbers while carrying wailing children on their heads.
In issue #451, religious books in general seem to be of great importance, although there's no mention to any specific religion.
In issue #482, your religious grandmother advocates no divorce in the name of faith and keeping families together.
In issue #510, a yoga instructor's a self-proclaimed goddess.
In issue #549, an Archbishop of what's believed to be a crude version of Ramadan(?) tries to enforce children to fast 40 days every year.
#556 features a religious teacher claiming that dragons definitely do not appear in their sacred books, whatever religion they may belong to.
In issue #655, a group of anti-evolution religious fanatics attack a bone museum. The self-declared defender of faith tries to convince you to turn them into museums teaching the "Holy Truth".
In issue #695, a priest of an unknown religion is called in to counter Addison Cola Corporation's claim to religious status.
In issue #702, there's a parody religious text called Scrivenings of the Soaring Squash, although there's no mention of a tied parody religion.
In issue #728, there's a reverend of a religion you've never even heard about complaining to you.
There also seems to be "The (Great) Creator", which may or may not be a reference to God, particularly given its seemingly monotheistic occurrences, though nothing is confirmed on this.
In issue #991, "the Great Callipygian One" is mentioned, although it is unknown what religion this belongs to.
In issue #1128, Santa is considered a religious figure in option 4, along with "Caga Tio" and "the Soul Cake Duck". Dunno what those are? Go google them.
In issue #1206, someone named the Priestess of the Wet God rambles on about dirty water being a gift from His Watery Glory.
In issue #1214, someone rambles about how pricking gay people will make you gay or something.
In issue #1240, a theocratic nation named Sacerdia executes people who do not follow their religion, although it is untold what religion this is.
In issues #1390 and #1405, the President of San Vitenzo mentions an "Almighty Bokonon".
Issue #1422's second speaker is your Minister of Religious Affairs, fiddling with prayer beads and hoping you name the ship after a religious deity.
Issue #1457 features your niece talking about not caring if her friends worship "Yahvo", "R’hllor" or "the Overgoat".
Issue #1481 features a church, but no details are given.
Issue #1483 features a cultural / religious tradition of what's considered (by option 2's speaker) to be FGM (An Adult Topic)
Implied Occurances:
God is referenced in options #029*, #033, #038, #042, #050*, #077, #078, #082, #107, #132, #136, #207*, #209*, #218, #238, #249, #264, #279, #309*, #383*, #440*, #463*, #474, 528*, #574*, #585*.
Reverends, preachers, and priests are also fairly frequent appearances, and usually seem to lean more towards testament ideology.
Fun fact!: Both Christmas (in an easter egg) and Maxxmas(probably a religious holiday for the Order of Maxx) exist as holidays. Santa exists in effect lines of three non-easter egg issues, and is the main focus of #1128: Get Thee Behind Me, Santa
Caught up to Issue: #1623, except for 1570 which was missing at the time of update.
