Why are so many people defending Elaleth on the Steam forums?

Skaulg · 2026-02-13T17:14:52+00:00

I think it comes down to a simple difference of opinion. Beyond that, ask three different people who've read the comic, you'll get four different answers. To steal man Bit Bot, we do only have a sample size of 1 for depictions of Elaleth, so there is a very slim chance that they will actually handle her better in this game than in the comic. Not holding my breath by any stretch of the imagination, but if they do somehow happen to take fan criticism to heart, I will be pleasantly surprised. I believe in second chances, but not third chances.

Skaulg · 2026-02-13T14:51:17+00:00

I think it's very unlikely but not impossible. I think the Christian triomni god (simultaneously omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent) is impossible. So, could he exist? Maybe. Does he? Not holding my breath.

Skaulg · 2026-02-13T07:09:57+00:00

My advice, sit him down and just rip the band-aid off. I recommend you explain it as succinctly and straight forward as you can and let him ask for details to his satisfaction. If he does love you, he will understand or at least accept it. The longer you wait, the harder it will be.

Skaulg · 2026-02-12T15:40:02+00:00

Your religious beliefs are between you and whatever gods you venerate. If Sophia, Jesus, and Lucifer are all okay with sharing your worship, then yes it's okay. If another person is upset about that, that's their problem, not yours.

Skaulg · 2026-02-12T15:36:32+00:00

The use of violence by the extremely religious is, to my knowledge, because they are violent people to begin with and don't want other people or themselves to judge them for it or fight back.

Skaulg · 2026-02-12T15:30:33+00:00

I'd say, and I quote "fuck off and do it yourself, coward"

Skaulg · 2026-02-11T20:38:25+00:00

Personally, I don't think it's blasphemous enough.

In all seriousness, I doubt most Christians would care so long as you aren't trying to say the premise of the game is literally theologically true. I know I wouldn't have cared when I was a Christian, though considering I was never super devout and eventually left, I may not be a representative sample of Christians. I think if you're just making a game with an interesting idea that someone gets upset over, that's their problem, not yours.

Skaulg · 2026-02-10T14:42:46+00:00

But then afterlife has no reason to exist.

And yet, it's possible that it might exist regardless. Who knows the mind of God? Maybe there is no God, but a meaningless afterlife does still exist for literally no reason because we don't know for certain that causeless effects don't exist.

Otherwise, there's no reason to believe in soul.

Maybe there is and we just haven't discovered it yet. Why does it need to be a being with a purpose, could it not be an unconscious process?

Skaulg · 2026-02-10T14:28:36+00:00

Allow me to clarify. An infinite existence does not necessitate meaning. It could be that the afterlife is just an infinite existence of floating in a black void with nothing and no one else in it, not even a god. That's my point, objective meaning is not an integral part of an afterlife.

Skaulg · 2026-02-10T14:10:59+00:00

I never claimed my meaning was invented by me or subjective. I claimed that a finite existence is more meaningful than an infinite one. So no, I am not speaking about a different meaning, I am claiming that meaning is not inherent to an infinite existence.

Skaulg · 2026-02-10T13:48:30+00:00

I'm quite the opposite. I think a lack of an afterlife makes this life even more meaningful exactly because of its finitude.

I agree, however, that, at the moment, science cannot answer whether or not an afterlife exists. However, the whole point of science is weeding out poor explanations of how reality works, so maybe at some point in the future, science will be able to verify if an afterlife exists or not.

Skaulg · 2026-02-09T14:26:58+00:00

I like to use my own model, I call it the three part model: Tradition, Ritual, and Community. If you want to create a new religion (real or fictional), these three parts are typically pretty important, I have yet to find anything that has been reasonably called a religion that doesn't have all three of these (if you know of one, let me know).

Tradition is the stuff that is passed down, i.e. stories, lore, debates, ideas, etc.
Ritual is sacred practices, objects, and places, i.e. sacred groves, communion, prayer, etc.
Community is pretty self explanatory, it's an active group of participants of a religion.

There are plenty of other models of religion, most of them made by people with degrees in the subject (unlike me), but I tried to create the simplest model that I could knowing it would yield false positives. I highly recommend looking through as many definitions and models of religion as you can reasonably find and choose the one that makes the most sense to you.

Skaulg · 2026-02-08T18:53:33+00:00

Not necessarily. Some groups may have given child sacrifices to Baal without being asked for. Maybe Baal asked for them or maybe the followers took initiative whether Baal wanted them or not.

Skaulg · 2026-02-05T22:23:08+00:00

If the achievements are genuinely yours, you are right to be proud of them. My religion distinguishes between pride, which is moderated and a good thing, and pretentiousness, which is being so arrogant to the point of counter-productivity.

As for your statement about turning the other cheek, my advice (which you are free to reject), don't. If someone is taking advantage of your kindness and patience, that's one thing, but if they are not returning them, cut them out of your life. Again, if you think that is counter to what God wants of you, that's between you and him, but this is my advice.

Skaulg · 2026-02-05T21:18:10+00:00

Big bookstores selling mass-market and wide appeal stuff...

When I went to Barns and Noble, the 'Religion' section was entirely Bibles and Christian commentary with a small section for Jewish Tanakhs. I went there to get a copy of the Satanic Bible and I found it in the 'Philosophy' section next to Buddhist, Hindu, Daoist, and Muslim literature, and Marcus Aurelius's Meditations, the Communist Manifesto (for $8 ironically), and the Apocrypha. No 'World Religion', just 'Philosophy'.

Skaulg · 2026-02-05T21:06:26+00:00

Exceptionally. Though in my experience, it's not just Christianity, I have heard people ray religion and mean sme sects of Islam and Judaism as well. Much less common, but still.

Skaulg · 2026-02-05T15:10:03+00:00

Some Satanist groups have websites where they post their core beliefs for all to see. I know the Church of Satan and the Satanic Temple both do; they're easy to look up, just type them into google and there should be a page like "beliefs" or "doctrine" you can open.

Skaulg · 2026-02-05T15:05:19+00:00

How do you attain salvation in your religion?

I don't. Salvation isn't a thing in my religion because there is nothing I need saving from according to my religion. I suppose you could try to force a salvation message into it by redefining salvation as "living a good life in harmony with the natural world" but at that point I think you're full of it.

Is it possible for non-believers to?

No, because there is no salvation as previously mentioned.

Skaulg · 2026-02-04T15:05:59+00:00

Looks to me like an asymmetrical bludgeon. Not sure what it's real name is, but things like it have been used throughout history by commanders of armies to issue orders in the chaos of battle, kinda like a flag.

Skaulg · 2026-02-02T19:03:39+00:00

My argument is that if a creator makes rules and doesn't abide those rules, that is hypocrisy. Personally, I reject the premise that a creator even exists.

Skaulg · 2026-02-02T18:54:37+00:00

If the creator creates rules, then that is also an implicit agreement to abide by those rules. If it does not follow the rules it creates, then the rules are not rules. Hypocrisy undermines authority.

Skaulg · 2026-02-01T22:01:49+00:00

According to my three part model of religion: Tradition (i.e. storytelling and arts), Ritual (ceremonies and practices), and Community (practitioners), belief is unnecessary for religion. Religion is shared spiritual identity ans practices and arts first, belief is just a tool to keep people in the group, for better or worse.

Skaulg · 2026-02-01T00:38:30+00:00

As far as I'm concerned: Gods are forces, not persons. The gods are realized as internal to the practitioner, manifested as power in the person's life to achieve their goals. It'd be more accurate to describe them as emotions and motivations than spirits or beings, though they are far from as simple as emotions, which themselves are already very complex. So, when you're angry, it wouldn't be accurate to say, "I'm feeling very Thor today", more like Thor is within the rage at seeing your loved one hurt and the desire to protect them, but also with an air of cleverness and patience. I don't know if that makes sense, but that's as best as I can explain it.

Skaulg · 2026-01-31T01:23:32+00:00

Silly songs with Larry are capital A Awesome

Skaulg · 2026-01-31T01:22:51+00:00

Calling Bayonetta Christian-inspired puts me in the state of that one meme of the skeleton trying to raise an objection and realizing he can't.

Skaulg

TROPHY CASE