At 06:57 AM 5/21/98 -0700, Colin Steele wrote: >Hi everyone! > > The question is: Exactly WHAT does the Liberated Land allegorize? I >can come up with two possibilities, but both of them *MIGHT* send a >mixed signal to players. POSSIBILITY #1: The LL allegorizes the >believer's position in Christ. Now, in the game, the LL is a land with >literally no sin in it. Everyone behaves exactly how Christians are >supposed to, and no one falls into sin. The problem with this (as I see >it) is that this gives the idea that a Christian cannot sin, nor can >they even be tempted (how many Sin-Enchantments do we see floating >around the ol' Academy?). POSSIBILITY #2: The LL allegorizes the Church. >The people in the LL act like the community that the church is called to >be (look at the book of Acts). The problem with this possibility is that >it gives the idea that there are no problems in the church, when this is >quite the opposite (I'm not church-bashing, just being realistic). We bandied this about a bit before you joined the team -- you've done a good job of capsulizing a couple of the major options we talked about then. Based on that discussion, let me respond... First, it's not necessary that everything in a allegory have a one-to-one relationship with real world things or ideas. While the analogy should teach or illustrate a truth, it's sometimes better able to do so without getting hung up about (for example) whether or not the birds in the parable of the sower represent demons. The same is true in DragonRaid. Thus we say the dragons are representative of Satan and the demons; Dark Creatures are like sins, and battles are kinda like spiritual warfare. Let's not split hairs over the symbolism of being told to destroy orcs on sight or what Battle Prayer means. The second point is tied to the first. The Liberated Lands are kinda like Church -- but not really. They can be best described as an _idealized_ Church; what we're supposed to be but, as you mentioned, seldom are. But, even there, the analogy breaks down; we've had little insight into prophets, teachers and apostles, while focusing on warrior roles not strictly Scripturally based. Does that make sense? Jeff and Belinda Smith - WilderLands Hold <>< Beaverton, OR <http://www.teleport.com/~thehold> ===================================================== "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world... "Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has!" ===================================================== Fight spam! Join C.A.U.C.E. <http://www.cauce.org>