The Island

The description of a fictitious religion created by the descendants of people who were shipwrecked on an island: 

Introduction

500 Years have passed since the mythical shipwreck, which those who are presently on the island have forgotten and now consider it as fantasy, however it was true.

Those on the ship came from foreign lands and had a strong belief that Jesus is Lord. However, as time passed and the islanders became more prosperous and self-sufficient they threw out these beliefs and erected new gods. A minority on the island still hold fast to the traditional beliefs, but they are persecuted and dubbed fanatical. The majority of the island has their own religion which will be described below:

 

Beliefs:

Those on the island have 5 gods; they are:

• The god of science, medicine and technology
• The god of sport
• The god of entertainment
• The god of finance
• The god of military.

Sacred Stories:

The greatest of the sacred stories was when the prophet of the island; whose name was president, gained a mystical experience while worshipping the gods. He saw a vision and each of the gods appeared to him giving him the message that once enough sacrifice had been made, the reward of immortality and everlasting happiness would be bestowed upon the islanders. They also said that good devotion would be rewarded with success and detailed a code of ethics that must be followed in order to gain immortality.

 

Religious Ritual:

There were many types of religious rituals to the different gods:

The greatest form of worship to the god of science, medicine and technology is human sacrifice; this can be done by sacrificing the terminally ill or by sacrificing those with foetal defects in order to go closer to achieving the goal of immortality and perfecting the race by eliminating all those who are unclean. Human Embryos are also an applauded sacrifice as it too progresses the goal of eternal life by endeavouring to create disease free humans. These are done at the altars of science which are sometimes called clinics and research facilities. People would make a yearly pilgrimage to give their offerings to the priests (who were called doctors) and appease their god. If too little sacrifice was being done, this god would send its wrath upon the island by means of plagues and disease.

 

A form of worship for the god of sport occurred every Saturday where people would gather for their worship service (commonly titled match) in the temple (which they called stadium). Two faith communities would gather together wearing their sacred vestments on the most solemn of occasions to show allegiance to their god. They would grasp the sacred leather object and vowed to go for glory and place it in the holy of holies, between the two white poles. The two most devout of these faith communities would gather on the yearly feast which they called Final, to determine who would be anointed and blessed with the chalice and the holy medallions. This faith community would be given the title ‘saints’ and would be an inspiration to all the faithful. The creed of the faith community was then joyfully chanted. This victory was achieved by the prayers and chants of the faithful worshippers.

 

The most devout of believers would make a pilgrimage every Saturday to the stadium (temple) wearing their religious colours. For those who could not make it to the temple; the worship service would be transmitted into every home, by the technological advancement which they called the transmission box (TB).

 

The TB was a holy shrine within the living room of every home; it was especially consecrated to the god of entertainment. However, it included sacred transmissions for all the gods.

 

The god of entertainment would be worshipped on Saturday night, by the viewing of inspirational media. All faithful would aspire to be like the sacred people, who appeared in these moving icons (these people were commonly called stars). This devotion of the viewing of moving icons (sometimes called films) would take place at the temple (movie theatre) or would be viewed on the sacred shrine (the TB). Devout faithful would dedicate holy hours in front of the TB in order to hear the wisdom of the gods.

The greatest of these stars would gain a golden statue of the god of entertainment (they called him Oscar).

 

Great sacrifice was given to the god of finance. People would give their money to the high priest; who were in the synagogue that was called bank. If the followers vowed continual sacrifice of funds to the high priests, there would be great graces of interest from the god and their sacrifice would multiply in the eyes of their god. However, if the people were disobedient and withdrew their sacrifice, the financial god, would send his wrath, he would make the people weep as he would freeze the doors of grace and the stored sacrifice would decrease and the people would fall from their prosperity.

 

Worship to the god of military was given when war would be waged against the weak. War would especially be waged against those who followed the Christian God. These people angered the 5 gods of the island and were standing in the way of the goal of immortality. These Christians were against the sacred rituals and worship to the gods of the island and they were to be ethnically cleansed. War would also be waged on weaker islanders (who believed in the same 5 gods) and the reward of the victory would be a boost in natural resources, wealth and also an increase in slaves.

Religious Experience:

People would experience the fullness of their faith by participating in the rituals, devotions and worship services. They would gain gifts of great happiness and pleasure and would gain a great sense of accomplishment and success.

 

Social structures:

 

Deities	Sacred space	Sacred times	Sacred persons
Science, medicine and technology	Clinics Research Facilities	(non-specific)	Doctors and scientists
sport	Stadium Hall of Fame	Saturday Afternoon	Winners
entertainment	Holy Wood Cinema Transmission Box (TB)	Friday and Saturday Night	Actors and stars
finance	Bank	New Financial Year	Bankers
military	Battle Field War memorials	(non-specific)	Warriors

 

Sacred Texts

 

Deities	Sacred Texts
Science, medicine and technology	Life magazine New Scientist
sport	Sport History Tactics of the Game
entertainment	Woman's Weekly That’s Entertainment
finance	Business Review Weekly Financial Report
military	The Peace Maker

 

Religious Ethics:

 

• All were to make a yearly pilgrimage to the altar of science and give their offerings to the priests.

• All were to take part in the rituals, devotions and worship services as frequently as possible.

• The weak and those who do not follow the gods are to be converted, eliminated or be treated as slaves. In this way a more perfect and faithful race can be formed.

• Greed and the exploitation of the weak is admired

• All behaviour including self abuse is permitted as long as it does not conflict with the worship of the gods.

• Mercy and compassion are frowned upon and people showing these tendencies are seen as unethical because they infringe upon the liberty of the strong and governing people.

• It is licit and encouraged that governments do what ever is necessary to achieve their goals including population control by means of mass abortions and eliminating the sick and elderly (including handicapped and disabled people)

Sacred Symbols:

 

Deities	Sacred Symbols
Science, medicine and technology	a pair of open scissors
sport	5 interlaced coloured rings
entertainment	Oscar
finance	An 's' with a dagger going through the centre ($)
military	An eagle and lion