How do normal species and a religious-fanatic species tolerate each other?

Question

Setting: In this world (i.e. the one in which you’re reading a WBSE post), intelligent life turns out to be fairly common throughout the universe, just it tends to blow itself up somehow before it can colonize a major section of the Universe and find other intelligence, since discovering FTL is extremely difficult. Somewhere across the galaxy from Earth, there is a species that not only discovered FTL, but also discovered it fairly early into their process of space colonization, which lead them to become the dominant species in the galaxy. When they explore the stars, they frequently find the remains of information-age or even space-age civilizations that have long since died of famine or war, be it in the form of remnants of spaceports and stations that are still around after thousands of years or deep-space probes that have been running on Bussard ramjets, eternally waiting for new commands from long-dead masters as their infallible engineering keeps them alive.

There turns out to be a small but nonzero number of other civilizations alive: the dominant species, humanity, and a few others that have largely been confined to only interplanetary colonization. Wherever the dominant species goes, they find no trace of anyone else, humanity or otherwise, having invented FTL at any time.

Issue: The dominant species’ Empire has a state religion, revolving around the Empress, an actual deity-like being who, due to technology long since lost, has become functionally immortal in a perpetual vegetative state, retaining awareness and the power to effect “magic” (see Arthur C. Clarke’s quote) on the world. This state religion is enforced by a government militia group; in fact, it’s enforced to the point that worshiping other gods or even denying the Empress’s goddesshood is considered blasphemy of the highest order and is usually punishable by death.

This creates an issue, because I’d like to be able to have a world where this dominant species and the other non-FTL species can tolerate each other without constant crusades/revolutions. As it currently stands, the most logical result of this setting is that the dominant species either “re-educates” other species on the holiness of their Empress or just straight-up destroys them, which the other species can’t really stop since this dominant species has some of the most advanced technology and by far the largest armies in the galaxy. So, despite their fanatical worship of their God-Empress, why does the dominant species allow other species (who are all technologically and militarily inferior) to worship other gods, or no gods at all, and not constantly ignite crusades against the “unenlightened”?

The goal: a world where other species are allowed to worship whoever they want, if they worship anyone, and aren’t at risk of being annihilated by the Empire for their heresy. It’s fine if native Imperial citizens don’t like other species and incite speciesism, so long as it doesn’t end with a crusade on another species.

The assumptions that I’m making are

• that excluding humanity, there are four surviving space-faring civilizations that are all comparable in technology to us on Earth, and that the Empire directly controls around five million stars while other species only hold sovereignty over their home star; and
• that if the Empire waged war on another one of the surviving species, the Empire would, without question, win the war on account of their warp drives and super-advanced weaponry that can sterilize a planet in a matter of hours.

Answer 1

Your fictional religion differs from real-world ones by having tangible miracles done by this individual goddess, right? Who is a real-world person. The theocracy could just as well be described as a regency for the empress.

So the leadership of your dominant species is not just demanding the allegiance of all members of their own species, they are actively forbidding members of other species to join. Those other species are expected to deferentially acknowledge the goddess, but they must not worship her. That would be aliens cutting into the waiting line for a miracle, which they do not deserve.

Any other religion which puts their deity into an unreachable spiritual sphere is by definition not in competition with the very real empress, and the savages can worship whatever idols they like. As long as they also render unto Caesar. Which is acceptable to many religions exactly because the empress is in the real world. Most religions have found an interpretation which allows their followers to fit into a government structure which does not share their creed.

Answer 2

Because they are animals, not people.

To compare the highly advanced civilization to these primitive species is like comparing chimpanzees to current day humans. Yes we recognize that chimps have an order of intelligence greater than other animals as is shown by their basic tool use and societal structures and we hold them in a level of respect and fascination for it, but very few people would go so far as to say they are "people" or that they have souls that need saving.

In fact, in some ways it is harder to believe that an alien has a soul than a monkey, because if humans have souls and we evolved from monkeys, then maybe they have them too... but aliens from a whole other evolutionary tree, AND they are clearly less intelligent than us as their woefully basic technology demonstrates?

Even if these aliens worship their own gods, it will be no more offensive than watching monkeys fling their poop. It's kinda gross, but heck, that's just nature being nature. We're not going to judge a Chimp for it nearly the same way we would judge another human.

Until the empire runs into another species with FTL technology, a multi-million star system empire, and their very own immortal, miracle-working, tangible deity, the very idea of aliens being more than slightly clever animals will be a very rarely held opinion.

Answer 3

Well... There is a relatively simple answer, from a now-defunct Catholic doctrine:

Only humans go to heaven

Let me explain:

The zeal of religious fanatics in conversion comes from two distinct places - a positive and negative position:

Negative is obviously from a position of power and domination (ooo eeerrr) - but it is a lot harder to motivate the masses on this aspect. Most people aren't psychopaths obsessed with power and are unwilling to do bad things in pursuit if it....

Positive however is much more interesting...

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

C.S.Lewis

If you want otherwise good people to do evil things (slaughtering native populations, burning people at the stake, flying planes into buildings, strapping their kids with C4 etc.) - then convince them that they are doing good. So, if the unconverted are damned to an eternity in Hell, a little bit of mortal suffering to... 'convince' them to reconsider is not only morally justifiable (if sincerely believed) but in fact becomes a duty...

This is the root of religious zeal and conversion.

So, add one simple rule: if only the chosen race can go to heaven, there is no moral compulsion to convert other races - and therefore they can live in peace.

Answer 4

Forced conversion by fear has no value. The dominant species feels they are blessed to have the goddess, and that denying her is an affont to being the chosen people.

However conversion by fear is not true faith - and violence and destruction for her sake does not bring her light to forsaken regions with aliens that didn't know better. The military might is there to protect those who believe from external threats, while the missionary position is to bring folks into the fold by peaceful means and social engineering.

Historically attempts by the empire at crusades ended badly or even when successful, ended up in cults that were more similar to the religions they replaced, with the tags cut off. Peaceful, humanitarian assistance when welcomed, over a longer term tended to field better results, and true conversions.

Answer 5

The God-Empress said not to

It could be as simple as the God-Empress telling humanity not to destroy the aliens. They're inferior; humanity is to demonstrate worthiness by leaving them around; something else; but there's a directive from the top that they're not to be destroyed. Some of the other answers might work in cooperation with this one.

Answer 6

All Things Have Their Place in the Great Wheel Which the Empress, May She Rest Yet Act Eternally, Turns

If your species believes in reincarnation as a step on the road to eventual heaven/spiritual oneness, then you could incorporate a mix of Hindi cast/reincarnation beliefs and Christian "Noble Savage" (not the real term which sadly I've forgotten) spiritual beliefs about people who were never exposed to Christianity.

Any alien species is, by definition, not as spiritually advanced as The Race. Therefor they do not have the spiritually duty to worship the Empress. It is, basically, not a "sin" any more than a duck "sins" when it has nonconsentual sex with another duck. To mandate worship of the Empress is to put them in an impossible situation that would lead aliens to be more prone to failing than succeeding, resulting in more damned/shoved further down the reincarnation road to perfection souls than saved ones.

Even though aliens are all spiritually unadvanced compared to the Race, they should still "Strive for the Right" as the indelible Godhood of the Empress shines through all times and places. Therefor almost ANY "lesser" alien religion (or even no religion at all if the alien's societal norms are roughly similar to the Rules laid down by the Empress) is essentially the best the poor dears can do. By adhering to their native belief system, whatever that might be, they're essentially getting "practice" and doing Good Works that will see them reincarnated as a member of The Race.

Whether your race deems one religion per alien civilization as "correct" for them or allows for multi religious species is up to you! Naturally any species whose belief system is close to The Empress has souls further along the Path of Enlightenment than ones who are further afield. Plus no doubt there are SOME that are so far from The Empress' words that they'd likely be purged/persecuted.

Answer 7

War would destroy their technological superiority.

You said it yourself, Their technological superiority is just leftovers, they can barely maintain it.

Without free thought they suffer from stagnation and fanaticism leads to corruption. They can't replace the most advanced tech if it gets destroyed anymore, so they don't actually have the organization fortitude to actually go to war effectively anymore. They must avoid large scale war at all cost lest they lose that technological superiority as stuff gets damaged. They are slowly regressing but active large scale war will drastically speed it up and enough people in charge know so they avoid war at all costs. They would win the war sure, but they will lose the one that comes after that or the one after that. large scale war is all cost and no gain.

The population at large is gaslit to believe they are still progressing but they are not, but no one can admit that without being killed by their own fanatical government. As a military dictatorship they likely also likely have issues with rebellion, so war invites internal strife which can also damage said assets.

Answer 8

They have casts, but there is no provision for foreigners.

This could be similar to the Indian cast system where all Indians fit, but not foreigners. They are outside the system.

This also means they cannot benefit from the system, they are just ignored on the religious aspect (and on matters related to religion such as marriage)

Answer 9

Human religion is cooperative magic.

Another option.

The God Empress needs human ritual worship to keep her mana batteries fully charged. In return she does miracles for humanity at a much greater rate than she could if she didn't get worshipped, or was worshipped the wrong way. These include systemic infrastructural miracles that every human benefits from - possibly even if they go off and live in the woods, if the Sufficiently Advanced miracles include things like pan-human immunity to disease or protection from Sufficiently Advanced evil spirits.

Apostacy is freeloading. Heresy is tax evasion. Blasphemy is infrastructure sabotage.

Answer 10

The God-Empress needs infidels for religiously motivated, sociopolitical reasons, such as:

-Those Faithful of the Imperial Creed cannot sully themselves with money-lending, banking, usury of any sort etc. Empress so declares: Greed is the source of all Evil, thou shalt not breed money with money. (Imperial Edict 235.11.34) Therefore, only infidel aliens can run banks, which are kinda necessary for interplanetary economy.

• The Faithful cannot do any work on Throneday, which is a day when they are supposed on meditating over the devotion to their Empire. Empress so declares: "Purify thy heart every senight with your mind given to the Throne and your body prostrate." (Imperial Edict 236.23.99)

• The Faithful cannot kill animals, other than in self defense. The Empress demands strict veganism and non-violence towards animals. Empress so declares: "Thou shalt not harm your lesser brethren through violent deeds, except to save thy life." (Im.E. 306.77.01). But planets still need pest control, and even if the control is done by drones/chemicals etc, someone has to push the button and "take responsibility", so infidel aliens are imported to do that.

• finally, the Faithful, being a race with rather poor immune systems, are forbidden from contacting diseased members of their own species, handling dead bodies, or even their own septic waste. Their species was ravaged by enough multiplanetary pandemics to teach them that. The Empress declares: "Thou shalt not touch diseased filth. Rather let thy own ailing family perish than spread the plague that befell them." (Im.E. 677,.92.31) Faithful need alien doctors, nurses, undertakers and sewage workers. Alien Infidels cannot catch the diseases that ravage the Faithful, and are less likely to carry them. Sure, robots could be used instead, but this is a bit "iffy", because strict interpretation of the Edicts means the Faithful who owns the robot kinda "touched filth" by proxy. Hell, the robots themselves could be "sin" ("thou shalt not make a likeness of a sapient mind") because the Empress fears AI/Robot uprising, and prefers the Faithful used living alien servants instead.

The God-Empress set up countless religious rules that decide what is "kosher" for the Faithful to do. All those rules are deeply common sense and rational at their core, they help maintain a peaceful, healthy, and stress free society for the Faithful, but also require Infidel aliens to handle some of the dirty business. The Infidel Aliens MUST be aliens, and MUST remain Infidel to do their jobs, and converting them would be sin against the God-Empress.

Since the God-Empress is both manifestly real, and in vegetative state, the Edicts cannot ever be denied or revised. The Faithful cannot decide to become irreligious and break the Edicts, and the Empress will not update the Edicts; being a veggie she can barely function as is, and cannot be expected to rewrite the whole religion on the whim of her "children".

Answer 11

They don't have a universalist or missionary religion

Strict monotheism that seeks to include everyone is not the norm for religious belief.

Most religions in history didn't really care what other people thought and tolerated neighbours who had different beliefs. They thought their own gods were the best but if someone wants to waste their time with another deity, why stop them? So long as they're not trying turn you into a human sacrifice its not an issue. (Even then, if you're doing the same then it's fair enough).

Your empire is run by zealots because their god is obviously the most powerful and rewards those who please her. She doles out collective punishment when she feels she isn't shown the respect she deserves, thus her followers make sure she feels loved and cherished.

They're not constantly crusading because she only cares about the love and respect of her children. Think of it this way: You wouldn't get into an argument with your next door neighbour because they didn't send your mother flowers on her birthday. She probably thinks its strange you would make such a fuss. On the other hand, you might get into an argument with your cousin or even a close friend. Maybe your mother is flattered enough by your efforts to reward you!

Answer 12

Things are good, while they are good. Everyone is tolerant as long as there is peace and plenty aka societal scale bribery with surplus. Which the empress can provide, thanks to high tech. So a multi-theist society it is and a propaganda poster of multiculturalism on the outside.

But if there are bad times (and religion tends to produce those bad times by overpopulating), things go south fast. And religious fanatics are there own kind of dangerous, as they have been shown to be uncontrollable and anti-complexity at numerous times. Means, once they are on the move, they destroy there own society, sawing the bakery in half, burning the university. All for a go(o)d cause. But the destruction wreaked is still enormous. Authority figures are purged in purity spirals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purity_spiral and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-hunt. Following the decline is easy, the whole process is self-accelerating, but climbing out of this hole, is hard too impossible.

Answer 13

You need to address two things- how do they handle heretics, and why would they avoid conquering other nations?

Other races are seen as ignorant savages

Only people who have been educated in an enlightened theocracy are expected to follow the native religion. Primitives like humans are not expected to follow their religion and there is no heresy in their ignorance. Even tourists are tolerated fine so long as they stay out of sensitive areas as their idiocy is well known.

They don't need other nation's lands

Some special miracles of their goddess have meant they have been able to colonize some quite harsh worlds and they have several major stellar engineering projects like dyson spheres, swarms and ring worlds which will take a huge amount of output for millennia to come.

Re-educating people is expensive, mostly pointless, and risks destructive wars that could damage their extremely expensive stellar productions. No one wants a dyson sphere that took several broken apart planets and three centuries of hard work to build to be nuked. As such, they are diplomatic and seek to lower tensions in the area outside so they can continue to have productive expansion and development.

Their goddess declares crusades, and only does so for violations of her will.

The only time they'll actually go to war, outside being attacked, is when their empress is angered. She's very interested in certain planets and systems and the empire spends enormous amounts of resources developing those places and improving them.

They do of course post signs saying that such locations are off limits, and will strongly deter any ignorant outsiders from getting close.

If you drive a fleet into a dyson sphere system and accidentally or on purpose ruin a key manufacturing facility for the structure, then she is angry, and they come after you.