This is the begining of my first TL, so be nice and any help would be appreaciated.
July 15th 1502: The man stood on the deck of Galleon, packed to the brim with Refugees from The Inquisition, in the distance, the storm wracked Spanish coat was a lighted beacon, but no more would his people be hunted and killed by the Agent's of the Inquisition. The Lightbringer had givin them a chance with the discovery of the New World, and purhapse, these 2000 souls, under Lucifers guiding light, could reach the new world, and establish a Kingdom, far from the Spanish, Far from the Italians, and Far from the Catholic Church. He walked below to the lower decks of the ship, where he began to lead his followers in Prayer
Our Father in hell,
let your infernal name be known,
let your kingdom come,
and your will be done,
on earth as in hell.
Give us today the bread that we need,
and help us commit our will,
as we punish those
who have done wrong to us.
Do not lead us into trial,
but save us from light.
After his followers had prayed, the man lay down on his hammock, his thoughts full of the difficult journey ahead, for what might they find in the New World, what people, what culture, what brave new world.
Basic POD is that during the crusades, and witnesing their obvious brutality, some people began to renouce the Catholic church, and they began to worship the so called Enemy of God, Lucifer, these groups later merged with the Gnostics, creating a religion built on these principals.
-Worship of the Opposite to God, Lucifer, who has equal power and maintians a balance with God. But not as the fully evil dark entity of Lucifer, but Lucifer in the since of an opposite to God, giving differnt rewards and a different after life.
-The belief that some people can, by attaining spiritual insight, themselves become akin to gods.
- The belief that selfless acts do not exist. Fulfilling one's desire is seen as a selfish act bringing the person satisfaction from accomplishing what they want. Altruism is seen as a myth created by conventional religions
- An exoteric understanding of concepts such as karma, divine retribution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_retribution, resulting in fluid, rather than strict, codes of morality.
-The belief that the individual self is preeminent, and that all decisions should be made with the goal of cultivating the self .
-The belief that each individual is responsible for his own happiness, and that no external force will provide salvation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvation to reward actions which do not advance one's happiness in this life.
-." If deity(Lucifer) is perceived as having a consciousness, then all relationships with deity (Lucifer) are in the form of a partnership, an alliance which does not require subservience. The prideful deity (Lucifer) likes prideful partners.