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Does holy mean good?

enqenqenqenq Member Posts: 499
in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
A LONG time ago on an RPG forum a guy I considered quite authoritative stated that holy does not mean good or evil, it merely means power granted by a god, whereas unholy means power granted by a demon/devil. And he even spoke from a D&D perspective.

Yet I get the feeling that this is not the case. Reason one, evil clerics get Unholy Blight in place of Holy Smite. Reason two, evil gods seem to hang out in the Abyss, Pandemonium yada yada according to specific flavor of evil, making them quite equitable with demons and devils. So does holy indeed equal good, or at least good/neutral?

Comments

  • MathsorcererMathsorcerer Member Posts: 3,042
    Within the context of this game, yes--"holy" equates to "good" and "unholy" equates to "evil". In the real world, "holy" means "that which is revered or venerated in a religious sense via worship" and could refer to a book, some place, a building, a tree, a rock, a person (or some part or remnant thereof), a work of art, or even a concept.
  • recklessheartrecklessheart Member Posts: 692
    I've always contemplated this. Yes, technically if a God has consecrated it, it is holy. So an altar to Bane is holy, whereas something unholy would be something perverted from Divinity, or sinfully desecrated. To label a spell such as 'unholy blight' is technically a real life moral prejudice.
  • ZalsonZalson Member Posts: 103
    @Mathsorcerer beat me to the punch.
  • ManchildKartManchildKart Member Posts: 208
    The neutral designation should still be considered holy, though
  • SchneidendSchneidend Member Posts: 3,190
    It's important to understand that in Forgotten Realms cultures, the words evil and good don't have quite the same connotations as they do in our world. Good usually just means "compassionate ideals" and evil means "survival of the fittest ideals." Sarevok's "for those of evil intent" letter makes a lot more sense in this context.
  • the_spyderthe_spyder Member Posts: 5,018
    Zalson said:

    @Mathsorcerer beat me to the punch.

    * punches @Zalson. (joke)
  • MortppMortpp Member Posts: 2
    AFAIR In DnD words 'Holy' and 'Unholy' refer to positve/negative energy i.e. healing spells are 'holy' and 'cause wounds' spells are 'unholy'. So yes, holy will be associated with good alignment and vice versa.
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