You have had a secular epiphany at some point in your life. You write a book about the glimpse of enlightenment which you have had hoping that you can help others. It gets published. You croak. You have made arrangements with the profits of your book to have yourself cryogenically frozen awaiting a future date when medical science can fix whatever has croaked you. Centuries pass. Medical science does finally catch up with your malady. Your are defrosted, cured, good as new. Shave and a haircut, two bits. In the intervening years, your book has become the core text to a religion that has sprung up from your secular enlightenment. You never meant for this to happen, but such are the vagaries of man. You see that thousands world wide look to your writings for hope and comfort and there are temples erected in your name. You have become a scion. Do you let the people worship you knowing that you are just a man/woman who wrote a book of your thoughts, or do you tell them to stop this at once. Do you take away their faith, or do you let them have it?
They should be worshipping me! I'm the Grand Emperor of Earth Seriously though, I'm not sure. On the one hand, being worshipped would not sit well with me. But on the other, destroying people's faith can cause massive chaos, and could potentially be worse than remaining a god/prophet/whatever. So I'd probably go for a plan of gradual normality-resumption, but massively abuse my authority while I have it (And this reminds me of the TNG episode where Klingon scientists clone Kahless, and try to pass him off as the prophesied reincarnation, in order to restore the Empire's glory)
I'd probably let them have it - so long as it didn't have nutty priests and fundamental headcases batting around trying to twist my words into something they were never intended to be. If I made public appearances, I'd make sure that there wasn't anyone trying to interpret my words for the masses to understand. The first thing I'd say to them would be 'Oi, berk: shut it,' which is pretty obvious in its interpretation. Otherwise, I'd just go into the mountains and become a hermit. Who formed a union of hermits, who met up once every ten years for a good chin-wag and to compare notes on herding sheep.
That's a toughie XD. On one hand, you get to be the envy of the world, which pretty much means you can rule it with a Titanium Fist :evil: But on the other hand, you're living a lie... I call a toss up I like that plan. Lets do it
I always wanted to start a religion where the only scripture is the words "There is only one thing." Any attempts to elaborate upon it, interpret it, or explain it would be quashed with an iron fist. The sentence is the religion in its totality. But then you'd have schismatic sects sprout up saying, "Yes, there is only one thing, and that thing is God, and it is also the Self..." which would begin to gain momentum despite my loudest protestations. Then you'd have some troublemaker come along saying that it's a matter of interpreting the Scripture correctly, and that there are, in fact, two things... It would probably get messy real quick. That's why I haven't gotten around to it yet.
I would introduce the following Ten Commandments: 1. Thou shalt not wear grillz 2. Thou shall always "keep it real" 3. Thou shalt not party with powders 4. Thou shall party with bongs and beer towers 5. Thou shalt not discriminate 6. Thou shalt not ever bitch and complain 7. Thou shall fornicate freely 8. Thou shall also get tested regularly 9. Thou shalt not worship American Idol 10. Thou shall accept Les Stroud as King of Survival
At which point I would form a splinter sect which accepts Bear Grylls as King of Survival. Wars shall be fought over this small matter of doctrine. Families torn asunder. Kingdoms raised to the ground.
First thing I would do is completely rid the world of all other religions. Either by outlawing, or killing off, without bias, any believers. Once the world is united by my religion, I would attempt to steer humanity on a course that I believe would be beneficial to its long-term survival. I would then organise to sacrifice my life for that cause so as to endear it into the hearts of mankind for generations to come (worked for Jesus). My envisaged future would be a united world, working solely for the betterment, and spread, of humanity.
Picky, picky. I guess I grabbed the term from the Christian concept of the last scion. Perhaps Messiah would have been a better choice, no?
Nah, Messiah actually sounds religious. When I saw 'Scion' I immediately thought: 'Cylon'. BLATENT ASSOCIATION! I'd probably rule over the world, with one commandment. 1. OBEY THE WAYS OF THE TIME LORD. Let the sacred ways of the Whovian stand above all!
I'm surprised you didn't see the little Doctor Who reference in my response re the hermits, actually.
LOL, well, I just cant leave them hanging, can I? In all seriousness though, while religion or faith at all, really, does not blend with me very well, I've never wanted to take away anyone's hope or beliefs. I'd let them have it, but there is no way I'd let them 'worship' me. I'd explain it in a very Buddhist-type of way --this is not something I have created and therefore I'd ask you please not to worship me but what the meaning has for you. I'd explain my thought process as well and how it resulted in this seemingly sacred text. If that scares people off from the belief, so be it. I've always thought that understanding brings about hope, not the other way around.. So, basically, I'd make no move to take away anyone's faith, but I'd make sure the people know exactly what they are getting, as well. I'd consider it a great honor to have my text appreciated in such a way, although "messiah" is a title I would most emphatically reject. I am a person.
I will assume that even though I had this revelation that caused me to write the book, that I still have the same values and beliefs in my previous religion. In that case, I feel you should not hold false idols, and I would have to tell the people the truth in order to fulfill myself and stick to my beliefs.
There are 2 things I could see me doing. 1) Leaving them up to their faith and try and disappear. 2) Use my new power to better the world further. Depending on how extreme they have become with this religion of sorts, I may have to edit it and take out what I do not like about it. I would then take my full power and try and influence what I can as to make a better world. Also I would probably become paranoid. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some leaders within this religion who do not like what I am trying to do. They will try and have me killed. If they do it secretly, they could effectivly take control over it and use it for their own goals, claiming that I approve of these actions... so yeah. But I definitely won't steal their faith away from them. No matter what I do, I would let them go on believing what they want.
Whoops. Well, not worship, exactly. But it is like my heroin. "Sing for my amusement, people! Do it!" Honestly, that show has every aspect exactly right. Good singers, bad singers, great judges and host, exciting and entertaining episodes. Whoever comes up with this stuff is pure genius. But, on the original topic, the idea of being worshipped appeals to me, and if cryogenics actually works, I could stay alive for a good long time. Actually, being worshipped seems like one of those things that would be great for only a few days/weeks/whatever time period. I'd make people carry me around on a litter, like they did in the old days, but I would hate having people do everything for me. Eventually I would become a hermit, as mentioned above.
I appoint myself as the king of the religion, and use my newfound power over the unwashed masses to take control of the world. Being frozen for a century or two puts things in perspective. They can clean up after me when I'm dead. Or I'd just use it to get chicks and meet cool future celebrities who don't understand my book, while helping out people who want to understand it more.
