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>From: Lesley Grant <lgrant@maths.tcd.ie>
>Subject: cherryhlist
>Date: Thu, 6 May 93 9:48:00 BST

> >From: nancy ott <ott@ansoft.com>
 
> I don't get the feeling that religion is completely absent from the
> Union/Alliance series, just that it's not very important.  After all,
> there are references to helldeck preachers handing out religious
> tracts in "Heavy Time" and religious cults springing up over the
> discovery of aliens (the Downers) in "Downbelow Station."  But
> religion certainly doesn't seem to affect the lives of the characters
> in her novels.  

	And this is what strikes me as odd -- not one of the characters
shown appears religious in any way, whether a major, minor or barely
on-screen character. All (human) characters who think about religion seem
to have a picture of nutcases and pathetic do-gooders. This could well
be Cherryh's own opinion of course. She does acknowledge that religion
pops up in the srangest places by having a few religions on the (ex-)
Union colony of Merovin, _Angel with the Sword_ being a rare example of
her characters actually having a religious basis for some actions (the
Adventist who plans on dying helping Altair, so the karma-debt his family
owes her will be wiped out; Altair worrying the Angel is reproaching her
for delying the Retribution). It just seems strange to me that all of
Union/Alliance that aren't cut off should be at most agnostic.

 
> BTW, I like the idea of Mahen missionaries coming to Earth.  But what
> would really be interesting is Earth missionaries coming to the
> Compact.  Just imagine how difficult it would be to explain, say, 
> christianity to a Stsho or a Kif.  

	The mind boggles. I suspect a Kifish communion service could get
quite...literal. And loving your enemies and turning the other cheek just
doesn't garner a lot of sfik. The Stsho, on the other hand, might go for
it. They'd like the idea of everyone being good to each other (makes the
Compact a lot less dangerous for merchants).

 
 [on relative tech levels] 
 
> I'd give the Hani a zero instead of a 1.  They didn't develop advanced
> technology on their own; they obtained it from the Mahendosat and
> haven't really advanced much from there.

	I agree. The scenes of planet life are of nice country estates
with few gadgets, motorised vehicles or phones. Guns, spaceships, stations,
etc all are more advanced, presumably because they were bought directly from
the Mahendo'sat. 


				Lesley