skeptical-materialism

The belief held by the ruling class that all phenomena, including religious experiences, can be explained through mechanical and material causes.

1 chapter across 1 book

This Immortal (1966)Roger Zelazny

1. The followers of the Fourteen Sages, whose Book was the Orange Catholic Bible, and whose views are expressed in the Commentaries and other literature produced by the Commission of Ecumenical Translators. (C.E.T.);

This chapter outlines three distinct religious and philosophical groups within the story's universe: the followers of the Fourteen Sages who adhere to the Orange Catholic Bible and its interpretive literature; the Bene Gesserit, a secretive order cloaked in ritual mysticism despite denying religious identity; and the agnostic ruling class, including the Guild, who view religion as a manipulative tool to control the masses and reduce all phenomena to mechanical explanations. These groups represent varying attitudes toward religion, from devout faith to skepticism and manipulation.