Have You Been Saved?

Think of it; how many of us were human in days when religion was the driving force behind society ? From ancient times (when some of us were turned), right up until the mid 20th Century, the state was virtually indivisible from organised religion. Religion of whatever kind was an integral part of home and social life.

But how often is it mentioned in Ravenblack ? Even those of us belonging to groups with religious sounding titles (the Church of Blood, the Temple of Lies, or whatever), don’t actually espouse any particular divinity. A good percentage of us pay some kind of lip-service to RavenBlack himself as a local deity, but more as a vague kind of thanks for his creation of the city. I don’t recall anyone ever actually worshipping him !

Nor do I see much mention of more traditional gods or goddesses, other than as occasional passing oaths. The one deity I see missing most of all is the White Christ, who will have been the dominant divine power when most of us were embraced.

I have to ask, why is this ? Are we truly soulless monsters, cast out of any hope of salvation ? Does a semblance of immortality (at least until we tire of this dark life) deny us access to any kind of afterlife forever ? I suppose that begs the question; do we have souls, and if so, what state are they in when you consider the forces that maintain our existence ?

Personally, I believe we do have souls. Tarnished, they may be, but how else can you explain the passion with which we live our unlives ? The depths of love and hate we feel must be fuelled by something, and the sacrifices we make for those we consider our friends and family surely can’t be driven entirely by self-interest, can they ?

So tell me what you believe. Tell me whether you think you have a soul, whether you believe in or worship a higher force. And tell me there’s hope, for I see precious little of it in this city where we tear each other apart so frenziedly over such insignificant matters.