Battery City Headcanons- Religion
Being the rather totalitarian society it is, I don’t think that BLI would allow for a belief in a God of any sort. It would be a generally atheist society, although no one would be outright jailed for their religion. See, I think that BLI would encourage this sort of system of peer regulation. In BC, your family would be seriously connected to you, in a social sense. I’ve seen someone (can’t remember who, sorry!) with a headcanon that there are military academies and reform “schools” that some kids would go to, and they would be seen as opposites. If your kid was going to the military academy, that would make you very well received in society- it would show others that you had taught your kid morals (i’ll get to that in a bit), respect, etc, and that they were smart. But if your kid was sent to a reform/re-education school, it would be a very shameful thing that you would want to keep quiet- it would reflect on you as a parent. In this way, I think BLI would have their own sort of peer enforced religion.
This religion wouldn’t technically be an actual religion, but it would be referred to as such. Instead of focusing on (a) deity(s), it would focus on citizenship and the director. Almost every citizen would go to “Church” every Sunday, which would be a time to study the philosophy of BLI, and create communities in a structured environment. It would also be used by BLI to ensure that there was little mixing between neighbourhoods, as Church would be the centre of most people’s lives and activities, finding its way into everything from work and school to free time. Religious leaders would be a BLI controlled job, and churches would be a BLI organization. Church would, again, not be enforced, but it would be encouraged though peer policing and propaganda. If you don’t go to church, you’re ostracized from the community, and on all tv shows, especially children's shows, the characters will go to church, not as a central focus but just as a background point.
BLI’s “religious” teachings would be the foundations of the societal expectations for people. Their version of scripture would be a BLI written book documenting (in a biased light, of course) the achievements and greatness of BLI. It would value things such as conformity, respect, family, and faith (mostly in BLI to be the best leader). Some of the morals taught would be
to respect your elders, and more importantly, BLI officials
To be hardworking and punctual
To present yourself well (knowing and following dress codes for every situation, i.e. there would dress codes for Official Business (BLI owned and operated, such as workers in governments, factories, large stores, hospitals, military, teachers etc.)(all black and white); Formal situations (Schools, Visiting hospitals, small business owners, etc.) (black, white, neutral colours); and other situations, set up in a hierarchy. They would teach this in schools
To be a productive member of society (have a job, have a family, support BLI, support the economy)
There would also be several made up or butchered holidays, largely based off of Christian ones, to promote consumerism and to give citizens something to look forward to. Christmas would be just “Xmas”, all references to Jesus and God would be removed. Families would get fake trees and buy presents, and would celebrate the formation of BLI rather than the birth of Christ. Thanksgiving would exist, but it would become more of a BLI worshiping session than anything else. It would be a time where families gave to charity and encouraged patriotism, there would be tv and radio specials documenting various BLI victories and historic events, and people would be encouraged to “pray” for BLI to abolish the Killjoys. Easter would exist, and be about community and consumerism. Churches in each neighbourhood would hold a day of events where kids would come and could purchase a ticket to do an easter egg hunt and other activities, and parents would socialize.
There would also be a day in the summer where children would dress up as Dracs and churches would do skits and activities to show the danger of the “terrorists”. BLI shops would sell fake Killjoy masks that people would either symbolically burn or destroy, and people would buy fake “Killjoy food”, seasonal prepackaged meals featuring things like fried cactus, rabbit stew or curry, rice, pop, and a rustic style individual cake, known as “zones cake”, or other stereotypical desert foods. Most citizens would actually believe that this is what Killjoys ate, helping to enforce the idea that they were well off and just greedy radicals. It would also serve as a remembrance day for those who had died at the hands of Killjoys. It would be the one day a year where 'dress up’ was encouraged, and would actually be very effective at keeping citizens scared of and against Killjoys.
People over 18 would be able to be expelled from their churches for not following the teachings, which would be a huge consequence due to the loss of community and respect. If an adult was considered a deviant, the church leader might request for only their children, if they have any, to attend, in order to not remove them from society. If a child or teenager was a deviant, the parents would likely have the church higher ups intervene, and in extreme cases they may be sent to a reform school before being allowed to continue attending the church. If you are removed from your church, you wouldn’t be able to join another one, as churches are linked to neighbourhoods.
