Are there any religions in the world of the Wheel of Time?
No. No religions, no churches: that will change in the next set of books, not in this, but where religion becomes in some ways preeminent, but…
[interrupts] Oh, is that a spoiler?? No, no!
No, that’s not for the Wheel of Time at all, and may change somewhat, as these things do. But the reason is this: I’ve always believed that our religious rituals our attendance at temples, or churches, or whatever is, in part, a reaffirmation of our faith, and a reaffirmation of our belief, a strengthening of our belief in something that we cannot see. And we do these things in order to strengthen our belief in what we cannot see. God, Allah, whatever…but, in this world, it is a world that…as if we had…prophets walking around…performing miracles. The One Power can be channeled. Occasionally men show up channeling the One Power; the Aes Sedai have been there for 3000 years.
But the Creator does not interfere!
The Creator does not interfere, but there is clear evidence of the theological doctrine.
Of the unseen.
Of the unseen. As far as it is believed , of the existence of the Creator: Here is the One Power. Here is evidence of everything we believe. There is therefore no need for anyone to undergo rituals to reaffirm or strengthen their belief because it is manifest every day. If we really had prophets walking among us, performing miracles and healing people and raising the dead—and this was a matter of every day that somebody might walk down the street and say ‘In the name of…’ and lay their hand on you. ‘In the name of God be healed,’ and your wounds are healed. Or, ‘In the name of God rise up and walk,’ and your dead brother, just died of cholera or whatever rises up and walks—I believe that organized religion would vanish within a generation, or at least become a fringe within a generation, because there would no longer be a need for most people to reaffirm their belief in God, or to strengthen their belief in God, or Allah, or whatever else their religious belief is. It would be manifest in every day life.
And how about the Whitecloaks? I mean they look like some sort of religious sect.
Which?
(two girls in unison) The Whitecloaks!
The Whitecloaks? Well, they’re meant to look as a religious sect. They began as, an ascetic organization dedicated to preaching against Darkfriends, trying to convince people by example that they should not become Darkfriends. And during the War of the Hundred Years they became a military organization. They are patterned on the Teutonic Knights, a touch of the German SS, and…
[interrupts] And the Spanish Inquisition?
A touch of the Spanish Inquisition. (laughter) They are in short anyone who believes that they know the Truth—the Truth with a capital T. They know the Truth so well, and its so clear to them that if you don’t believe that truth, then it becomes obvious that you are evil.
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