Religion has not really played as much as a major role in my civilization that I thought it would play. Reflecting on world history, religion has played a major role in conflicts between nation and even the development of nations. Many wars begun due to different views on which religion is the correct religion. Other empires have approached my empire and proclaimed that I have fallen under a “heathen religion” and encouraged me to convert to their religion. I have declined all these offers and continued practicing Taoism throughout my empire. My relationship status with these nations has declined, but if I just convert to any nation’s religion my empire would fall apart. My first concern is not how other nation’s view me based on my religion, but on how my empire is doing and growth. If I always converted then my nation would seem like a weak, confused nation.
Also, in world history religion has played a major role in the economy of the nation. In Medieval times, the Catholic Church believed that selling products for a profit was a sin and that all products should be sold at the “just price”. (Heilbroner 29) This severely affected the idea of a market in those times. However, as soon as the religious fever changed, and people did not believe that selling for profit was a sin the development markets changed the economy of medieval times.
While playing the game, I wondered if there was an advantage in the game by practicing one religion. I think the game would be much more realistic if religion played more of a role. When I first started playing the game, my empire was split between Taoism and Confucianism. I decided to avoid internal conflicts over religion to convert every city to Taoism and build temples and all that jazz. But would I have succeeded more in the game if I decided to convert to Confucianism or if I left it split? Would that even play a factor in the game? In real life, it would play a huge factor. There are many conflicts currently fighting about which religion is best for their nation, and deciding which religion and how to go about converting (war or peacefully) would most def affect that nation.
3 comments:
Nichole,
Nice analysis. You asked the right question to start a relevant conversation. Your post is pretty congruent with my latest post (www.economicsparty2007.blogspot.com) which regards the six possible victories in Civ IV and the methods of meeting them. Depending on your ultimate goal for victory, religion is either imperative or a non-factor. If your methods are cultural, then you had better hop on the religion band waggon. If, however, you are looking for a military campaign, leave the religion to the stragglers.
Keep up the good work.
You bring up great points about religion. Over the course of time, it seems as though cultures have selected their religions based on how the beliefs of that religion would affect their well being. For example, even though I am a Christian, it would make sense that the first Christian supporters favored the religion because it told its followers to be obedient and civil. I'm not saying I believe this, but religion as a practice may be somewhat questionable when looked at from a historical perspective.
I always opt for free religion. It allows the people to choose between the religions. I build the temples or monasteries (or churches, etc.) for them, and it's pretty much done after that. I don't really like dealing with religion in the game, but I do agree that it would be more realistic if it were more important in terms of the game. So many conflicts today are based on religious differences... It should be a large part of the game. Though, sometimes, other civilizations are displeased with me if they disagree with my religion. They never declare war solely because of religion, but they do get angry.
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