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Can the olds gods religion persist?


Nocturne

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So when the story ends, and the human race somehow survives the upcoming zombie apocalypse, do you think the old gods religion will persist? 

Most of the story is inspired by real life events, and in real life no religion that didn't have a book and a church survived over the ages. Do you guys think this will be the same in this universe as well?

When progress finally hits Westeros, i don't see how they can keep practicing the old way.

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Sure it can, pagan religions didn´t just die out because people lost interest in them, they were converted and rooted out violently. I would be shocked if the end of our story would mark the begin of some kind of crusader era.

I don´t think George values one religion over the other, but 500 years later, no one can tell how Westeros will develop, and we´ll never find out I guess.

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It will need to be that the idea of First Man identity in opposition to Andal one persists or that the Old Gods starts to throw some effective magic around because otherwise that's the reason I see for worshipping the Old Gods, given their lack of teachings, morality or anything else to hook people onto them.

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2 hours ago, YOVMO said:

What makes you so sure that this is going to be the case? 

GRRM, he said the ending was bitter sweet, i don't see how that will imply that the human race gets wiped out. Some of the favourite characters will most likely die, but not the whole race.

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8 hours ago, Nocturne said:

So when the story ends, and the human race somehow survives the upcoming zombie apocalypse, do you think the old gods religion will persist? 

Most of the story is inspired by real life events, and in real life no religion that didn't have a book and a church survived over the ages. Do you guys think this will be the same in this universe as well?

When progress finally hits Westeros, i don't see how they can keep practicing the old way.

There are people in real world who still practice the old way, and there are some kinder ways to deal to deal with the problems of humanity.

So I guess it is possible for the Northmen in Westeros to continue to pay their respect to their gods of the forest, stream, and stone, the old gods whose names are secret.

You got an agenda?

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1 hour ago, Nocturne said:

GRRM, he said the ending was bitter sweet, i don't see how that will imply that the human race gets wiped out. Some of the favourite characters will most likely die, but not the whole race.

Why not? 

I can think of nothing more bitter sweet than both ice and fire anhilating each other and a new spring beginning as a reboot of westeros 

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Currently the Children of the Forest and the people living in the North all still follow the Old Gods.  The Starks follow the Old Gods.  I believe that the Stark family will survive the upcoming Long Night and carry on their dynasty in the North, so they will likely continue to pray to the Old Gods just as they have for thousands of years.   If anything, surviving the upcoming Long Night will serve to strengthen peoples belief in the Old Gods.  The original Long Night happened so long ago (eight thousand years?) that people living south of the Neck consider Others and wights to be make-believe characters from legends and no more of a threat than snarks and grumkins.  Anyone who survives the impending Long Night 2 will be far more likely to believe in Others, Old Gods, wights, etc. 

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1 hour ago, White Ravens said:

Currently the Children of the Forest and the people living in the North all still follow the Old Gods.  The Starks follow the Old Gods.  I believe that the Stark family will survive the upcoming Long Night and carry on their dynasty in the North, so they will likely continue to pray to the Old Gods just as they have for thousands of years.   If anything, surviving the upcoming Long Night will serve to strengthen peoples belief in the Old Gods.  The original Long Night happened so long ago (eight thousand years?) that people living south of the Neck consider Others and wights to be make-believe characters from legends and no more of a threat than snarks and grumkins.  Anyone who survives the impending Long Night 2 will be far more likely to believe in Others, Old Gods, wights, etc. 

Problem is that this is also the attitude of most people in the North. To my knowledge they are all focused on the Wildlings as the northern threat and do not seem to talk much about the threat from the Others either.

Also for people to make the connection of Others=I should pray to the Old Gods, there need to be rather strong links in everyone's minds between these as otherwise people are more likely to hug their familiar deities closer to heart. I am more inclined to think that either the Red God will gain a major foothold or that the Seven will continue to dominate the South.

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It seems like the Old Gods are more a factual reality than a religion. They don't require believers to exist - they are actual people-ish in actual places doing things through some sort of magic.

The Seven, on the other hand, don't seem to have any physical reality or exert themselves in reality. Unlike the Old Gods, the "power" of The Seven lies exclusively within the people who believe in them.

So, as long as there are weirwood trees and people/creatures that know how to use them, the Old Gods will persist. Whether other people know about them or think they exist is a different question.

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17 hours ago, Nocturne said:

So when the story ends, and the human race somehow survives the upcoming zombie apocalypse, do you think the old gods religion will persist? 

Most of the story is inspired by real life events, and in real life no religion that didn't have a book and a church survived over the ages. Do you guys think this will be the same in this universe as well?

When progress finally hits Westeros, i don't see how they can keep practicing the old way.

The days of our kind are numbered. The one God comes to drive out the many gods. The spirits of wood and stream grow silent. It's the way of things. Yes... it's a time for men, and their ways.

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Old Gods seems more of a tradition than a full fledged religion. It doesn't have a religious code or teachings. No church and clergy. I wonder how such a religion survived for years. It's original purpose seemed to be their Greenseers guiding them with wisdom. But now they are just weirwoods. They worship them just to follow tradition. I doubt this practice will survive much longer.

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1 hour ago, Lost Melnibonean said:

The days of our kind are numbered. The one God comes to drive out the many gods. The spirits of wood and stream grow silent. It's the way of things. Yes... it's a time for men, and their ways.

Where is this from?

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12 hours ago, Sensenmenn said:

By the end the old gods and the red god will be the most prominent religions in westeros. With the faith of the seven being only a remnant or abandoned entirely.

Odd though that the Lord of Light thinks that the Great Other, which is associated with Bran and the 3EC, is the leader of the Others/WW.  You'd think he would know who his enemy Actually is.  Or maybe he actually does, and we're misunderstanding the WWs.  

However, there is the point that the old gods aren't actually gods... At least not in the traditional sense of the word.  The old gods are just green seers and the spirits held within the weirwood network.  I'm willing to bet that Rhllor is something similar.  

So no gods, per se, and the old gods can persist as long as a single weirwood tree remains. 

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18 hours ago, cgrav said:

It seems like the Old Gods are more a factual reality than a religion. They don't require believers to exist - they are actual people-ish in actual places doing things through some sort of magic.

The Seven, on the other hand, don't seem to have any physical reality or exert themselves in reality. Unlike the Old Gods, the "power" of The Seven lies exclusively within the people who believe in them.

So, as long as there are weirwood trees and people/creatures that know how to use them, the Old Gods will persist. Whether other people know about them or think they exist is a different question.

You hit the post on the head here, good ser. A lot of fans tend to forget that the Old Gods, like the Seven don't exist. Everything we know about the Old Gods comes from the power of the weirwood trees, and we know that the Children of the Forest/greenseers can tap into the weirwood network, so technically those people are misidentified as being "Old Gods".

I agree that, as long as weirwoods and greenseers exist, the religion of the First Men will continue.

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I think your confusing a religion not being worshipped by billions as being extinct.  There are many religions still practiced today that are not written down, just look at native americans, and that doesn't even include South American tribes, aboriginal Australians, or many animalistic African tribes.

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