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"If men were angels, no government would be necessary."
-James Madison, 4th American president |
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This week we are going back to government systems. So wrap up your red tape and grab a holy text, because today we're going to talk about a theocracy.
Theocracy (literally meaning "rule by god") is a term used to describe the form of government where religion has a dominant role and where the religious leaders are the political leaders as well. (A more correct term would be ecclesiocracy, meaning rule by religious leader or body.)
This type of government can be difficult to manage on a large scale; many of the historical models of theocracies are small sects who separate themselves from the main portion of society, and strive to follow their religion without the intrusion of the outside world. The Puritans and the Pilgrims, sects that branched off from a segment of the Church of England, demonstrated this type of theocracy when they settled in the New England parts of the United States in the 1600s.
As a fantasy writer you are in a unique position if you want to use a theocracy as your government. Earthly theocracies rely on human representatives of whatever deity is being worshipped. Perhaps in your fantasy world, however, the god or goddess actually lives among the people. How would that affect their lives? How would the rhythm of life revolve around this?
Just to be clear, a theocracy is not a government in which the head of state claims to have authority from the local deity. Neither is it a government with a state-established religion. A theocracy may have an administrative hierarchy that is no different from the religions (i.e. a priest would be the Head of State), or it may be separate, but overseeing the government administration. A government that has influence from a church or religion is not a theocracy, only when the state has no independence from religion do you have a true theocracy or ecclesiocracy.
A theocracy, barring the presence of the actual deity, would have a leader who is believed to have a direct, personal connection to the deity and thus everything they say is considered divine revelation. An ecclesiocracy, however, is where the religious leaders have a leading role in the state, but do no actually claim to be instruments of divine instruction. For that matter, religious communities such as monasteries or convents cannot be called theocracies because the state is not involved.
Historical theocracies
The Papal States (technically, it walks a fine line between theocracy and ecclesiocracy, but it’s close enough to be counted as one when the subject is mentioned), Pharaohnic Egypt, the period when the Dalai Lamas ruled Tibet (though the nature of Tibetan Buddhism makes the term a bit complicated), and Mecca was established a theocracy in 630 by Muhammad. |
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From: Strange Wulf  
Oy. I only have a couple characters that could be defined as superheroes, though they're better defined as as anti-heroes. They're definitely not the cape and tights kind, and their morals aren't quite "Super" in any way.
One is immune to anything except magic, and has various powers over death and sin. He's forced to kill every so often or the mark on his skin begins to itch, and sometimes burn. The twist is they have to be evil or wicked people, and he gets more time to himself the more he tortures them. =P Yeah, he's not getting a spot with the Justice League anytime soon.
The other can simply disappear and reappear anywhere at will, provided no one is looking at either place when he does (no, cameras don't count). He doesn't so much fight crime as harass the people he believes ruined his life. Again, no JLA candidate here.
Guess I won't be getting a deal with DC anytime soon.
From: Joy 
Wonderful take on the superheroes, Erin.
Come to think of it, writers can use the same principles on any character. Sometimes thinking of a story's everyday characters as superheroes (batman or penguin) may help a writer. |
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Fantasy: August 23, 2006 Issue [#1221]
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