Kol
A period of unprecedented peace and prosperity in Blaist Blaland has seen your personal approval rate sky-rocket. Recently, a small but growing movement has emerged claiming that these general good times are the result of your divine favour, and are advocating that the people worship you as a god.
The Debate
"All hail the glorious The Blaist Communist Party, giver of safety and wealth!" shouts Anne-Marie Laine, the Prefect of the Cult of Divine Nationalism from atop a wooden crate in Blanaxon Grand Plaza. "Are not the might and benevolence of the holy The Blaist Communist Party manifest for all to see? Should we not respond in humble worship? Proclaim your divinity before all, O Great One, and your people shall listen!"
Accept
"This is heresy!" pontificates Hope Note, a high-ranking clergywoman of a major religion, while proffering a collection plate. "Surely you can't seriously be entertaining delusions of divinity? You would undoubtedly bring divine wrath upon us! I urge you, speak out against these wayward souls and endorse the teachings of our holy writ as the true path to righteousness. Only then can we be assured of continued providence."
Accept
"Let's not be too hasty now, there may be an opportunity in this," muses Maria Trax, one of your shrewdest political advisors. "Of course you're not divine, we both know that, but is there really any harm in letting these whack-jobs think you are? Nothing begets obedience like the command of one's god, after all. Perhaps a carefully constructed public statement is in order, one that gives legitimacy to these people's beliefs while avoiding claiming divinity outright. Let people read into it what they want, and if they flock to this 'religion' in droves, well, would it really be so terrible if a large percentage of Blaist Blalandians became your devoted disciples?"
Accept
"Bah! Ridiculous gobbledygook, all of it!" says Cooper Zhu, controversial atheist author of the book 'Atoms in Space and Relations Between Them - An Exhaustive Account of Existence'. "These cultists are no crazier than any other religious types, and have done far less damage than some I might mention. Take this opportunity to disavow all religion as superstitious nonsense, and throw your support behind reason instead. It's the perfect opportunity to end the tax breaks for people with imaginary friends, and funnel that additional money into the areas it can do some real good, like authors of popular science books!"
This is the position your government is preparing to adopt.
"All hail our glorious The Blaist Communist Party... or face eternal punishment!" shouts a wide-eyed bearded man in sack cloth waving a greasy tract. "Pay no heed to these sectarians, my liege, they have departed from the way of truth! Only we, of the Cult of Nationalist Divinity, have remained faithful in the face of their slanderous impiety. We know you to be an uncompromising and demanding god, intolerant of all false doctrine. We stand ready to convert the masses to your worship, by force if necessary! Starting, of course, with the insufferable heretics of the Cult of Divine Nationalism!"
Accept
20140911 stat:
