Well, I meant it's shallow in terms of one looking at the church as an institution. Its knights are basically just its enforcers; they've got very little to do with the church in regards to its main function as a religious institution. It'd be like if I said I admired the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus because it has a strong army - is the army itself representative of the Kingdom at all? Does Faerghus' army shape Faerghus, or is it the other way around?
But you're right - it's Edelgard's methods that have always been the problem, one way or the other. I've said before that I believe she wants what's best for Fodlan in her heart, as much as any of us - it's just how she's going about pursuing that that's the issue.
[He sighs.] I just...wish she'd talked to me about what she wanted to do. Her plans and desires for Fodlan, and how to achieve them. I could understand if she felt like Dimitri might be unwilling to listen, being from a country so intrinsically tied to the church while she thinks the church is the problem...although personally, I think she'd be underselling Dimitri thinking that. I could at least see that as a conclusion she might draw, though. But why not me? The Alliance isn't particularly religious as a whole, and I personally am even less so. Why was she so convinced any diplomacy would be so useless, or even actively detrimental, that she wouldn't even attempt any? Things never should have come to this.
[He shakes his head.] Well...I can brood about it all day, but I can't change the way things are. No point beating a dead horse. But it's like you said - I think there's a lot more room for the church's beliefs and traditions being...if not eliminated, then at least made less central to the very fabric of Fodlan than it is. Scaled back. A lot of people have their issues with Crests these days, and everyone knows that Crests are on their way out. They've been getting rarer and rarer in the blood ever since the days of the first Crest bearers, and now people are desperately angling to catch whatever scraps that are left. But how long can that last? Unless the Goddess suddenly appears again and renews her blessings, humanity's going to hit the point where Crests just vanish on their own sooner or later. Why wait until we reach that point to figure out life without Crests in Fodlan? There's really only one reason: so the current noble Crest-bearing houses can stay in power, unquestioned.
When Crests are gone, and the nobles aren't any different from the commoners they rule over, then suddenly the money and power nobles have...those are the only things separating them from commoners. And those things are transferrable. If people start asking, hey, shouldn't the people in power be the ones who are best for the job, it's going to be hard to argue against. Before, the primary merit of nobles was that they had Crests that made them stronger and more capable than an average person; without merit that's carried in the blood, they'll have to prove their worth, earn their keep, show skill and intellect and moral fiber beyond those of the people below them. And a lot of them, even today, wouldn't be able to rise to that challenge. Much safer to keep an intrinsic bloodline justification for their positions. That's why most noble families cling to Crests with both hands.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2020-12-30 08:47 am (UTC)But you're right - it's Edelgard's methods that have always been the problem, one way or the other. I've said before that I believe she wants what's best for Fodlan in her heart, as much as any of us - it's just how she's going about pursuing that that's the issue.
[He sighs.] I just...wish she'd talked to me about what she wanted to do. Her plans and desires for Fodlan, and how to achieve them. I could understand if she felt like Dimitri might be unwilling to listen, being from a country so intrinsically tied to the church while she thinks the church is the problem...although personally, I think she'd be underselling Dimitri thinking that. I could at least see that as a conclusion she might draw, though. But why not me? The Alliance isn't particularly religious as a whole, and I personally am even less so. Why was she so convinced any diplomacy would be so useless, or even actively detrimental, that she wouldn't even attempt any? Things never should have come to this.
[He shakes his head.] Well...I can brood about it all day, but I can't change the way things are. No point beating a dead horse. But it's like you said - I think there's a lot more room for the church's beliefs and traditions being...if not eliminated, then at least made less central to the very fabric of Fodlan than it is. Scaled back. A lot of people have their issues with Crests these days, and everyone knows that Crests are on their way out. They've been getting rarer and rarer in the blood ever since the days of the first Crest bearers, and now people are desperately angling to catch whatever scraps that are left. But how long can that last? Unless the Goddess suddenly appears again and renews her blessings, humanity's going to hit the point where Crests just vanish on their own sooner or later. Why wait until we reach that point to figure out life without Crests in Fodlan? There's really only one reason: so the current noble Crest-bearing houses can stay in power, unquestioned.
When Crests are gone, and the nobles aren't any different from the commoners they rule over, then suddenly the money and power nobles have...those are the only things separating them from commoners. And those things are transferrable. If people start asking, hey, shouldn't the people in power be the ones who are best for the job, it's going to be hard to argue against. Before, the primary merit of nobles was that they had Crests that made them stronger and more capable than an average person; without merit that's carried in the blood, they'll have to prove their worth, earn their keep, show skill and intellect and moral fiber beyond those of the people below them. And a lot of them, even today, wouldn't be able to rise to that challenge. Much safer to keep an intrinsic bloodline justification for their positions. That's why most noble families cling to Crests with both hands.