Help me name my religion

Dantai · Mar 16, 2015

That title's somewhat of a lie. What I want naming is a concept in my fictional religion. Let me explain.

Imagine that Mars One, after some initial success, fails. People die. Humanity is on a downer, but is inspired by a new sense of adventure that reaching a new frontier is possible, if not without challenges. A charismatic personality seizes on this and encourages humanity to continue to push forward into space, but with caution. What we want, he says, is steady, but unstoppable progress. We take a step back, curb our ambition, and build bases on the moon from which to explore the solar system with more security - a launching pad for our eventual colonization of Mars. A religious movement forms around this new zeitgeist, with one of their core tenants being...

...cautious ambition?

The name just doesn't really sell it. You know when you read a sci-fi novel and something just had a cool, unusual name, with archaic or futuristic words. Like just about everything that is ever conceptualized in The Hyperion Cantos and Revelation Space. Yeah, I want that. Help me out, guys!

Teinz · Mar 16, 2015

Incrementalism

Lenticular Psaloid · Mar 16, 2015

Dantai said:
That title's somewhat of a lie. What I want naming is a concept in my fictional religion. Let me explain.

Imagine that Mars One, after some initial success, fails. People die. Humanity is on a downer, but is inspired by a new sense of adventure that reaching a new frontier is possible, if not without challenges. A charismatic personality seizes on this and encourages humanity to continue to push forward into space, but with caution. What we want, he says, is steady, but unstoppable progress. We take a step back, curb our ambition, and build bases on the moon from which to explore the solar system with more security - a launching pad for our eventual colonization of Mars. A religious movement forms around this new zeitgeist, with one of their core tenants being...

...cautious ambition?

The name just doesn't really sell it. You know when you read a sci-fi novel and something just had a cool, unusual name, with archaic or futuristic words. Like just about everything that is ever conceptualized in The Hyperion Cantos and Revelation Space. Yeah, I want that. Help me out, guys!

What you ask is not difficult.
You can try out you beginning concept words with different latin roots, or roots from another culture.

Like say, German root like, haus: which means house.
Maus, which I have seen used to indicate mouse-like attributes.

You can google archaic word roots, including prefixes and suffixes and add them to current English sounding religious words.

As an example: atheist - mausistic.
Add an older root to the word somnulence, which means slumber.
Combine maus and gothic to make, mausothic.
Can you combine the German volk, which means people, with something religious?
Volkan? Volkanist?

I don't know if that will help.

Michele AKA Twig · Mar 16, 2015

If what Lenticular has offered doesn't work for you, use the guys name. A lot of inventions, both scientific and otherwise, use a persons name. And if he's creating it or at least spearheading the movement, what better way to be immortalized?

King Neptune · Mar 16, 2015

Call it: The Truth

JalexM · Mar 16, 2015

For something like this I would find a central meaning for the religion and paste that meaning into google translate and just go through each language until I find something cool looking.

Smiling Ted · Mar 16, 2015

Translate "Manifest Destiny" into Latin...

jjdebenedictis · Mar 16, 2015

There's a Finnish word, sisu, that describes a state of stubborn strength, toughness, or resilience, i.e. the sort of grit you need to endure long winters and adversity. Might that work for what you're describing? My understanding is the word already has a bit of quasi-mythic cache in Finland.

AnnieColleen · Mar 16, 2015

Something centered around stairs, ladder, path, stepping stones, bridge...? Some of those have religious connotations you could build from. I love the image of stepping stones for this, but as-is it doesn't quite have the cool factor you want.

A twist on 'terra firma' somehow?

snafu1056 · Mar 17, 2015

Neocapitalism maybe? Capitalism with a mystical component to it. I'm thinking of Neo Confucianism, which was a Confucianist movement that had a much more mystical side to it (ordinary Confucianism being more of an ethical and moral code). Not so crazy to assume one day people might take economic systems and weld religious aspects onto them.

Helix · Mar 17, 2015

Ad Astraism.

Rufus Coppertop · Mar 18, 2015

Embraceyanity?

King Neptune · Mar 18, 2015

snafu1056 said:
Neocapitalism maybe? Capitalism with a mystical component to it. I'm thinking of Neo Confucianism, which was a Confucianist movement that had a much more mystical side to it (ordinary Confucianism being more of an ethical and moral code). Not so crazy to assume one day people might take economic systems and weld religious aspects onto them.

That's a great idea, but neo-Marxism would be even better.

snafu1056 · Mar 19, 2015

King Neptune said:
That's a great idea, but ner-Marxism would be even better.

Sure. You could apply a layer of mysticism to anything.

neandermagnon · Mar 19, 2015

Why not just name it after the founder? Someone mentioned Marxism - well wasn't that named after Karl Marx? There are many ideologies and religions that follow this format. That seems to me just as common and believable as naming it after a concept. Maybe even more common.

Take the founder's name and stick "ism" on the end of it. (or "ianity" or whatever suffix sounds best)

King Neptune · Mar 19, 2015

snafu1056 said:
Sure. You could apply a layer of mysticism to anything.

Sure, a bit of mysticism fits anywhere, and Marxism could use it.

sohalt · Mar 21, 2015

"Festina lente" means "Make haste slowly" in Latin.

BabySealWriter · Mar 21, 2015

this sounds a lot like "Manifest Destiny." To inspire future progress within people, leaders often fall back on concepts of old, many times warping them. If your story takes place in a possible future of current Earth, a "New" Manifest Destiny would not only be an acceptable term, but more than likely the plausible one.

Godyth · Mar 21, 2015

Smiling Ted said:
Translate "Manifest Destiny" into Latin...

Ah, you beat me to it. Manifest Destiny immediately leapt to mind.

Salaris · Mar 24, 2015

Well, who is naming the religion? Is it being named by the founder? If so, naming it after whatever he or she considers a core precept would probably make sense.

If it's being named by someone else after the fact, it would depend on their opinion(s) about the movement. As others have mentioned, naming it after the founder could make sense.

Helix · Mar 24, 2015

BabySealWriter said:
this sounds a lot like "Manifest Destiny." To inspire future progress within people, leaders often fall back on concepts of old, many times warping them. If your story takes place in a possible future of current Earth, a "New" Manifest Destiny would not only be an acceptable term, but more than likely the plausible one.

If they were American.

Weirdmage · Mar 25, 2015

Helix said:
If they were American.

Yeah... Even making a religious belief out of something that isn't initially religious feels very USAian to me as an European.

Seriously, I have followed this thread from the start, and I do not see at all why what is originally posted would lead to any sort of religion at all. At least if it is an international effort, if it is wholly USAian it would be different. But it would still require quite a bit of worldbuilding* for me to accept that something like that would turn religious.

* In this case worldbuilding means explenation as to how society has gotten to that point.

BabySealWriter · Mar 26, 2015

Weirdmage said:
Yeah... Even making a religious belief out of something that isn't initially religious feels very USAian to me as an European.

Seriously, I have followed this thread from the start, and I do not see at all why what is originally posted would lead to any sort of religion at all. At least if it is an international effort, if it is wholly USAian it would be different. But it would still require quite a bit of worldbuilding* for me to accept that something like that would turn religious.

* In this case worldbuilding means explenation as to how society has gotten to that point.

Absolutism?

Help me name my religion

Dantai

Teinz

Back at it again.

Lenticular Psaloid

Michele AKA Twig

Lurking In The Corner...

King Neptune

JalexM

Smiling Ted

Ah-HA!

jjdebenedictis

is watching you via her avatar

AnnieColleen

Invisible Writer

snafu1056

Helix

socially distancing

Rufus Coppertop

King Neptune

snafu1056

neandermagnon

Nolite timere, consilium callidum habeo!

King Neptune

sohalt

BabySealWriter

Often misses his target

Godyth

Crusader Rabbit is my hero.

Salaris

Fantasy Writer and Game Designer

Helix

socially distancing

Weirdmage

BabySealWriter

Often misses his target