Religion in Asharia

Religion in Asharia:

69.3% Roman Catholicism

11.1% Orthodox Christianity

5.4% Protestantism

0.2% Other Form of Christianity

12.9% No Religion

1.1% Other Religion

The majority religion in the Republic of Asharia is Roman Catholic Christianity, which the Asharians first discovered in 1354 after visiting the Icelanders. It is followed by nearly 70% of the population today. A minority also follows Orthodox Christianity, due to the conversion of Shirn (King) Althis the First in 1875. Around 1 in 20 idenitfy with Protestantism, mostly of the Lutheran, Mersten and Seventh-Day Adventist varieties, mostly in the East of the country. Around 13 percent do not identify with any religion, with most of the remainder of the population following Islam or a number of traditional faiths.

History: Originally, the Ashars followed a variety of shamanistic, animistic and occasionally polytheistic religions. Generally the the hunter-gatherers of prehistoric Asharia were animistic, while the settled farmers were shamanistic, polytheistic or a mix. A common God or spirit worshipped was the spirit of the Water, who lived in snow, water, rivers and/or lakes and was said to be immensely powerful. People from the island of Asharia first came into contact with Christianity in approximately 1354 AD. This was due to their explorative and trade voyages in the seas around the island, which eventually led to them discovering Iceland, and from the Icelanders, Christianity of the Catholic sort. While the tribe which first discovered it did not convert to the religion, many other tribes around it did. By the year 1400, around 5% of the population of the island, nearly entirely on its Eastern side, were Christians. By 1450 this number was 15% and steadily increasing. This caused many inter-tribal wars and let to the formation of theocratic kingdoms (or Shirnels) which had been created through conquest. There were two of these, specifically the Sheston Shirnel and the Benen Shirnel, both in the south-to-central East of the country: they rarely ventured into the north-eat because of the temeprature and sparse population. By 1500, it is estimated 70% of the population was Christian. This led to increased voyages to Iceland, as it was the only way the island could obtain news about the Pope and what the Catholic Church approved of without being learnt of by Mainland Europeans.

In 1553, the island discovered Protestantism (Lutheranism, to be specific), again from the Icelandic people. This appealed to many Asharians as it did not require communion with the Pope. In 1557 Sheston created the Lutheran Church of Sheston and converted to it. This caused them to go to war with the Catholic Benen Shirnel. About this time, the French disovered the island and began increasing its contact with it. They actively supported Benen, causing Benen to soon send aid to Shirnel. Eventually, Benen won yet. Soon, the island was decimated by smallpox leading all of it to become either a French protectorate or vassal state and many French to settle on it. This increased the percentage of Catholics on the island.

In 1783, the country united again with the wake of the French revolution, becoming a Federal Shirnel. It allowed both Catholics and Lutherans, being official secular on a federal level (although mostly, its constitute states had an official religion). However, religious tensions continued for about two decades, being to end when, in 1795, the Church of Asharia (previously the Church of Sheston) issued an official, widely-criticized statement that it was a sin to force or coerce, in any way, non-Lutherans to obey Lutheran laws, convert to Lutheranism or attempt to establish any type of theocracy, and the government outlawed religious discrimination or violence, with harsh punishments for those who did not obey. Evangelism was still allowed, but was to be "respectful". This continued for the better part of a century until the Shirn of Asharia visited Russia and abruptly converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity in 1875, establishing a theocracy of that type until his death in 1901, converting a fairly large percentage of the country to that religion. However, he still allowed other forms of Christianity while discouraging them, which is how they survived.

In 1901, he died. Eventually, the presence of Orthodox started reducing in the country, due to its isolation from other Orthodox countries. However, it has still survived today. During the early twentieth century, many Seventh-Day-Adventist missionaries came to the country, converting around half of one percent of it. This was the also the period of the forming of the Merston Protestant Church, a Church which emphasised study. Around two percent of the population converted to that.

Nowadays, the country is becoming increasingly more secular. Islam is increasing in its numbers, due to immigration, yet is still very small. Neo-paganism is also growing.