Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-24810427-20140401014505/@comment-24590102-20140402041043

TheBEARDEDcanuck wrote: @Smoking.Chimp Indeed, but isn't it easier just to say the reachmen who follow this ideology are the Forsworn, and the forsworn are indeed bad people for accepting everything that comes with that ideology? I would describe the Forsworn, in this sense, as a bad movement. If I'm in the mood for slaughtering a sacred cow or several, I'd describe the Forsworn as a bad community. But generalising individual character and behaviour leads us onto treacherous ground. Some individuals living within a bad society consistently refuse to do the bad things their society asks of them and often at considerable personal expense. I think the reason ideology becomes institutionalised into a formal religion is to pre-emptively undermine empathy or conscience before it can prevent individuals from complying with the evil demands of the group. Moreover, formal religion can be used to justify the persecution of those individuals who dare to put their personal integrity ahead of the demands of the group.

So, I like to treat the Forsworn like I treat the Thalmor - no, wait, I bait the Thalmor so I can teach them a lesson in equity while the city guard cheers me on - instead of arresting me. Who else is there? Oh, I know! I like to treat the Forsworn just like I treat the Vigilants of Stendarr. I leave them be as long as they leave me be. Only, while the Vigilants are prone to give a little cheek, they don't attack me for wandering down the road - something which certain Forsworn have done, and paid for.

And, while we're on the subject of good and bad individuals, let us not forget who rescued the Dragonborn from the Headsman of Helgen. :^)