Civilization IV: Freedom of Religion

A friend of mine can’t attend a party he really wants to go to because of his ‘religion’, but our country says ‘Hey, freedom of religion is practiced here in Malaysia!‘.

I don’t know about you guys, but I believe ‘Freedom Of Religion‘ means that you can choose your faith without restrictions, and have the ability to actually profess your faith as you wish, also without restrictions… but hey, every nation has their own definition of ‘freedom of religion’. In Malaysia, they define it.. well.. you know, i know…

Ironically, when I do play the game Civilization IV, and somewhat ‘founded’ a certain religion (It’s possible in this game!), I always tend to choose Theocracy for my religion administration in which I would be able to keep other religions which I did not support from spreading into my cities, and hence enabling me to rule without any objection from my subjects. This keeps things simple, and I would have total authority as I am considered ‘God’s messenger’ by my subjects.

The game does evolve further towards ‘freedom of religion’, and I’d always make it a point to choose that as my country’s religious choice. The options however does come at a cost as I would loose my influence over my people which can over throw me, their leader, and pledge their allegiance towards neighboring countries which do practice the religion their preference, in which these country of choice also has a greater influence than mine.  That’s why, I always make it a point to make sure my own civilization/country has enough influence to push off such incidents.

With that said, I think those in power in M’sia are not only playing ‘Good Cop, Bad Cop’ in religious isues, but most probably learning how to rule with Civilization IV.

Hey, I can’t blame them.. the game is addictive! Do try it out, and while I am speaking about it, My #swkwish is for total religious freedom in Sarawak!