Catalog of the Weird Parallels

[Flyndaran]

I'm waffling on the two interpretations. I think that most leaders delude themselves into believing that their personal desires are also the best for everyone.
If these kings simply can't do that, then they're forced to face the facts of what's best for their nation may not be what they want. I think that would turn them into rather tragic figures. Even a limited form of self-delusion is a very important aspect of self esteem, IMO.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Michele

Thank you. I'd have to ask what objective morality is, however. Naturally, there might be a morality as conceived by whatever force makes it possible for the premise to work on Dominion, but that would still be that force's subjective morality.

By objective morality, I mean a singular unchanging set of moral rules that are true in that world. Their origin - a god, a nonsapient entity, or simply the way that universe works - is inconsequential.

Of course, it has occurred to me that this needn’t be the case. A different set of moral rules, possibly changing over time to reflect the views of the nation’s inhabitants, for each nation could be interesting. Perhaps there are various instances of Dominion - Dominion-1 has objective morality, Dominion-2 has morality dictated by the views of each nation’s populace, Dominion-3 uses the morality of the king himself.

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

Alt-Romero

This Earth is in the year 2000. It alarmed the experts when the first headline they saw talked about "the ongoing Zombie Apocalypse".

Then they did the research.

There is a plague sweeping the world that has the effect of preventing the dead from coming back to life. Infectees do not spontaneously come back from the dead.

Unable to pay their Death Taxes with the animated bodies of their loved ones, families have started to hide the inert corpses. Some have even begun sneaking into cemetaries to bury dead people under their own memorials, a disgusting offense that scandalizes much of the population.

This plague has brought the world economy to a crisis, as the cheap grunt labor pool provided by walking corpses has begun to shrink. Without zombies to work in factories industrial output has begun to shrink. Without zombies to walk endlessly on treadmills, electrical production has begun to suffer. The security of nations with large numbers of zombie troops has been called into question.

The medical community has worked tirelessly to stem this nightmarish plague without success. Urban areas have started to exhibit unrest at the absence of the walking dead.

Civilization may collapse without the rising of the undead.

Infinity researchers have noted this as both an example of an alternate technological base and a serious case of "WTF?".

[Flyndaran]

Imagine just how radically different their religions would have to be. And how much havoc such a disaster would cause to their beliefs.

Funny to think they may consider this a punishment from a death god who no longer blesses them with the undead.

[Pomphis]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Imagine just how radically different their religions would have to be.

Not much. The souls of our loved ones go to to heaven or hell or purgatory as before, and the working corpses are a gift from our God to help us. Most religions could adapt quite easily. Not that different from using organs from the dead for transplantation into the living as we do every day with little religious protests.

[Flyndaran]

A lot of religions and the non-religious have trouble with using certain organs. My own nominally religious mother doesn't "believe" in using hearts.
I still think an entire world that had no trouble with watching the corpses of their loved ones shamble around requires a quite different inherent mindset to any real world culture.
Of course that just helps the weird aspect.

[Culture20]

Originally Posted by Pomphis

Not much. The souls of our loved ones go to to heaven or hell or purgatory as before, and the working corpses are a gift from our God to help us. Most religions could adapt quite easily. Not that different from using organs from the dead for transplantation into the living as we do every day with little religious protests.

I would imagine Christianity wouldn’t be as widespread.
“We saw Jesus on the road to Aramais!”
“How’s his corpse holding up with all the puncture wounds?”
“He talked to us!”
“Pull the other one!”

BTW, for a movie version of Alt-Romero, check out “Fido”

[Flyndaran]

I don't see how something that seems supernatural to us but is normal to them would negate the effect of something that would be outright supernatural to them like a proper resurrection.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Culture20

I would imagine Christianity wouldn’t be as widespread.
“We saw Jesus on the road to Aramais!”
“How’s his corpse holding up with all the puncture wounds?”
“He talked to us!”
“Pull the other one!”

BTW, for a movie version of Alt-Romero, check out “Fido”

In a world were Zombies are the labor pool, wouldn't execution styles change so as not to reduce the economic value of the corpse? Crucifixion would seriously mess up the corpse, as would beheading. Poison would be a more popular means of execution. Especially any poison that aided in preservation of the corpse.

[Flyndaran]

Unless it was a major insulting form of execution. You aren't even worth zombie labor.
Or if there's some kind of culturally mandated payment to relatives for zombie use.
That said, crucifixion generally kills slowly over many days not really damaging the structure of the body.