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@doncish Please don't drop the hashtag! Or nobody else on it will see your response. #WritersCoffeeClub
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@cstross Thanks for the reminder, corrected.
#WritersCoffeeClub PS: note that there are *no* Good Guys in this story (or even in the universe it's set in): just different shades of gray. Which villain to root for is entirely up to the reader!
Because fuck white hat/black hat narratives, that's warmed-over Christian dualism and I'm having no truck with it.
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@cstross The dualism between good and evil is prevalent in many cultures, even ones pre-dating Christianity. You might call it simplistic or even archaic, though.
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@kholerik Christianity stole it, like most of its other beliefs, from the fermenting kettle of religions stewing at the east end of the Med 2000-2500 years ago. See also Zoroastrianism, the Cathars, etc.
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@cstross Yes, exactly. I believe some Native American beliefs also feature this concept. And in ancient Egypt Seth became an embodiment of chaos who had to be fought. It seems to be something that humans sometimes tell themselves to make sense of a chaotic, uncaring world. That's why I wouldn't call it Christian. It'd be too simplistic. 😀
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@kholerik We are communicating in written English, a language that evolved in a country run by a deeply religious monarchy (divine right of kings is baked in) until relatively recently. Christian dogma isn't buried far below the surface, and Christianity did an embrace-and-extend on dualism to come up with Hell in order to keep the rabble in line (after first getting them on board with the promise of Heaven).
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@cstross Oh, it's definitely at the core of Christianity. No argument there. I just have problems calling it Christian, because that makes it sound like the early Christians came up with it or they are the only ones using this dichotomy. I guess I don't want them to *own* it, they have enough.
@ Charlie Stross what religion at the time of the beginning of christianity was promising a kind of heaven??
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@cstross What?!? No Sam Vimes in the story?🥹