Religion in Zwangzug

The government of Zwangzug is officially secular, though religious groups are allowed to petition the government for relaxation of drug laws in special cases when otherwise-illegal drugs are considered integral parts of worship services.

Due to the discrete and distinct nature of the many utopian city-states that preceded the establishment of the state, followers of any given religion frequently live near their fellow believers and members of religious communities remain very unevenly distributed throughout the country. Followers of Judaism and Shinto, for instance, are particularly concentrated in Trink.

Christians are most often found in the east, ranging from the liberal members of the Lutheran Church - Arlington Synod in the northeast (although the synod is based out of Arlington, its jurisdiction extends throughout Zwangzug) to denominations of the southeast. The latter, despite being outnumbered, have become more well-known for their confrontational attitudes towards concepts as far-ranging as the theory of evolution, Harry Potter novels, and same-sex marriage, all of which are commonly accepted throughout the society. Pastor Archibald Hammers, of Bassabook, is the leader of Concerned Citizens for Our God, and is as such more likely to be writing the strongly-worded letter of protest that Bryan Cartwright (a pastor in a Zwischen megachurch) quotes memorable bits out of.

In the southwest, a diverse variety of religions are (relative to the rest of the country) most popular. Hinduism and Islam are the most prevalent, with Sikhism, Jainism, and the Bahá'í Faith having fewer adherents. Nevertheless, the nation's population is very large so even relatively minor faiths may in fact have a fairly large number of followers. Hinduism is the most prevalent religion in the Namiri region. The triquetra has become a popular symbol of the interlocking forces of creation, preservation, and destruction, represented in Hinduism by the trimurti.

Some long-standing religions on Zwangzug are not attested abroad. The traditional religion of the Picksall Islands, in which devotees worship astronomical bodies, is one example. In addition, The Way of Tispac--although not always considered a religion--began in Zwangzug.

Filling the broad range between traditional beliefs and none at all comes what's half-seriously known as "organized atheism". The drastic increase in popularity of many sects is difficult to attribute, but one possibility is that the nature of fluid time means that the increase has not been as fast as it might appear.

Many of these organizations have very complex worship services, hymns, and sermons. It is often difficult to tell whether the practitioners of the "faiths" under discussion actually believe what they profess, or if it is an exceptionally elaborate parody. The nation's sense of humor, if such a concept can be actually said to exist, is so dry as to make such distinction extremely difficult, and it is most likely that the levels of belief vary widely among members of the same group. Pastafarianism and Frisbeetarianism are the best examples of these. The census category "Religious: Other" also includes groups dedicated to the worship of what others see as simple fictional characters: for example, the Jedi religion or more prevalent Ketrianism. The Order of Violet also has a few sparse members.

Followers of Margaret are very few and far between. The Zwangzug branch of Margaretism is barely organized, but is said to value good Works more than faith alone.

Recently, worshippers of Divine Host of Archangels has seen a surge of membership, thanks to immigration from nations where they feel unwelcome and aggressive proselytization. Their insistence that those who do not share their faith are "blaspheming" against possibly-nonexistent entities has created some pushback and resentment. They are generally seen as a more unpopular religion than most, with the possible exception of conservative Christianity, so whether they will be able to gain further adherents is an open question. Although consuming wumfish meat is legal, it is prohibitively expensive for many due to the cost of diving to catch wumfish; the lack of governmental subsidies for this rite is a further cause of grumbling among DHA believers.

Finally, there is the Church of Caissa, the theology of which imitates Christianity in that a supreme deity became incarnate and died in order to atone for the sins of humanity. The chief difference is the lack of a resurrection, prompting more than one scholar to question how the faith ever got off the ground. (Following Erin Splinter's election as Composite Minister, and our attempts to select secularism "243.2]" for the Nth time, someone on the Issues Editing team decided this should enable the religion field after all. So this being listed as our "national religion" is more a statement of Caissa's uniquely Zwangzugian worshipers, rather than it being a state religion per se.)