Religious Extremism
The Imperium promotes the Imperial Cult, the worship of the Emperor as humankind's only true god and rightful master. He is the savior, the only one who can protect Humanity from the dangers of the cosmos. However, this is contrary to the Imperium's founding principles and a subversion of the Emperor's own wishes. Before the Horus Heresy, the Emperor had imposed and promulgated the secular rationalist Imperial Truth, and set out to free humanity throughout the galaxy from the shackles of superstition and religion, while specifically forbidding worship of himself as divine. It is unclear exactly when and how the worship of the Emperor as god became common practice, however this occurred after he was put on life support.
Just as all human-inhabited worlds must be brought under the Imperium's control, all other religions must be expunged. The state religion, which is the responsibility of the Ecclesiarchy or Adeptus Ministorum (the State Church), preaches that unquestioning obedience and self-sacrifice is the best way to honor the Emperor. It teaches that mutants (with few exceptions) are vile perversions of the holy human form, and thus they are subject to the worst oppression. Rogue psykers ("witches") are harbingers of doom. Heresy is the worst crime of all despite the deliberate vagueness of the official definition, and those judged as heretics are stripped of all rights and punished in the most horrific fashion.
Religion is a central theme in all Warhammer 40,000 fiction. Most human protagonists, from warrior-monk Imperial Space Marines (the Imperium's shock troops, supersoldiers and special forces) to Witch Hunters of the Inquisition, are fanatical worshipers of the God-Emperor.
Read more about this topic: Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)
Famous quotes containing the words religious and/or extremism:
“... the loss of belief in future states is politically, though certainly not spiritually, the most significant distinction between our present period and the centuries before. And this loss is definite. For no matter how religious our world may turn again, or how much authentic faith still exists in it, or how deeply our moral values may be rooted in our religious systems, the fear of hell is no longer among the motives which would prevent or stimulate the actions of a majority.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)
“...Negroes must concern themselves with every single means of struggle: legal, illegal, passive, active, violent and non- violent.... They must harass, debate, petition, boycott, sing hymns, pray on steps—and shoot from their windows when the racists come cruising through their communities.... The acceptance of our condition is the only form of extremism which discredits us before our children [ellipses in source].”
—Lorraine Hansberry (1930–1965)