Stroomism

Stroomism (, Ecoral: stroomdom, sometimes also Streamism) is a major with tens of millions of followers, known as Stroomists. The religion's origins come from spiritual customs practiced since around 230BCE at the Gaal River estuary and Onse Bay in modern day Ecoralia. The main school of Stroomism, the First Stream, adhere to the permissive but structured practices of the Eerste Stroom governing body based in Heiligedam; however, two major extant branches of the religion are the Naturalist School and the Isolates who practice adapted forms.

Stroomists believe that the world, in its ideal state, exists in a realm of balance. This balance exists in its perfect form in the natural world as water. This balance is the constant work of two complementary, Warmth and Frost, first known in their Ecoral names, Warmte and Vorst, in lines with the cold and warm seasons of the area. These deities continue to provide a world of balance for humanity, and in turn, Stroomists believe that humans should live their lives in similar balance as a form of devotion. Many of the foundational rituals of worship for Stroomists involve swimming and bathing in water, and many of Stroomist houses of worship resemble the modern day.

Stroomism first expanded from the Gaal River estuary to the surrounding areas and became one of the pillars of Ecoralian. Stroomism remains the state religion of Ecoralia, and the religion was a foundational driver in the Ecoralian colonial project. As such, much of the religion's extent across the world mirrors the colonial claims of Ecoralia.

Worldview
The term Stroomism comes from a phonetic translation of stroom, from the Ecoral word for stream. Streams represent the balanced flow of progress over a physical terrain and offer a frequent analogy for Stroomists in their pursuit of the ideal life.

The Stream
The stream (also roughly translated as "the way") is a fundamental allegory in Stroomist texts. The stream's importance is manifested in its representation of water, which is considered the perfect point of balance between the two gods of Stroomism: Warmth and Frost. Only through both of their energies does water circulate in the natural environment. As such, streams offer both a model of perfection for Stroomists to follow and a physical manifestation of the natural balance in the world. Stroomists are taught to follow the stream but also to revere streams found in the natural world.

Balance and duality
Stroomism is comparatively unique for its orientation and the central role this duality plays in Stroomist philosophy. As with the stream finding its freedom to flow in its balance, followers of Stroomism are encouraged to find balance in their lives as points of individual progress. There are elements of both gods within each individual. An over-reliance on one or the other is thought to inhibit personal growth and to lead the individual astray. As such, people commonly ask one another about their balance and use this expression of "in" or "out" of balance to describe good and bad health.

Life and death
Stroomists do not believe in life after death. With death, Stroomists believe that people return to the natural world in broken down parts through physical decomposition. A person in good balance upon their death contributes that balance forward into the natural world and creates a better world for the next generation. Ritualistic behaviours of burial, by land or by sea, are considered forms of accelerating the return of this person's balance back into the natural world and maximising that person's legacy into the future world.

Conformity and social balancing
Much of early Stroomism enforced a particular vision of "the stream" and a specific vision of how an individual should find balance in their life. Many dissidents have long argued that this approach too strongly enforces a sense of conformity and creates a social imbalance. This dilemma between perfection in the individual form and social diversity has been a core philosophical debate at the centre of much of Stroomism's history.

Mainstream Stroomists gradually adopted greater and greater tenets of social balancing and a wider, more inclusive definition of "the stream" over the course of the Ecoral Enlightenment period, where urbanisation and industrialisation were also leading to greater technological and economic diversity in modern society. This transition has also been responsible for much of the shift in social attitudes in the country around minority groups and social marginalisation generally. The Isolates broke from the mainstream here, focusing on the path of a pure, individual route to perfected balance and rejected social balancing as a religious value. Isolate Stroomists tend to be more conservative in their outlook and increasingly withdraw from the more social elements of mainstream Stroomism.

Common Stroomist practices

 * Swimming and bathing as prayer.
 * Dual function: reverence to the stream, and also balance.
 * Temperature as a form of representation: warmte and vorst.
 * Balance personal temperature or mood.
 * Can be done socially or alone.
 * Sociality of "way-finding".
 * conversations about balance and checking in on others.
 * worship together
 * Isolates disagree, but most find their way with others
 * Beschermers as pool guardians
 * chemical balance and pastoral care
 * give advice on treatments
 * facility maintenance, usually to young ones

Major texts

 * De Stroomweg: foundational text, focused on finding the stream
 * five leading thinkers at the time: foundation of Zoas Univ.
 * chapter on: each deity (2), the stream (1), spiritual analogy and steps to finding your own way (1), and oral history from Ecoraland (1)
 * Een Wereld, Een Stroom: global expansion, colonial era philosophy (soft power goes brrr)
 * Streams are the basis of human civilisation
 * Expanded reverence for them across the globe
 * Demand for new missionaries; starting new streams, thus springs "of the word"
 * influential in the Colonial Era



Bødehuisen

 * Public bathing houses and swimming pools basically as religious sites.
 * Types: open, closed (groups, congregants' : van gemeenteleden).

History

 * Pre-history: water worship. High seasonal function.
 * Formalisation into a religion, Eduran schism.
 * Expansion and Ecoralian identity.
 * Modern society and continued relevance? (Balance of life)

Movements

 * First Stream
 * Missionaries: Bronnen van het Woord
 * Aid: Wereldstroom
 * School: Naturalists; anti-pools and human interventions
 * School: Isolates; anti-social

Cultural Impact
Stroomism has had a deep impact on Ecoralian culture. Public swimming and bathing facilities are available year-round and for little to no cost in many parts of the country. As a percentage of national population, Ecoralians have one of the world's highest rates of people who say they can swim confidently. Stroomism has also been credited as one of the reasons for Ecoralia's developed social care system, with a advanced theories on social inclusion as care and mental health.

Physical Health
The commonality of swimming in Stroomist societies has been connected with better physical health. Given the regularity of recommended worship on a daily or near-daily basis and the frequency of swimming as a form of worship, Stroomists benefit from the regular exercise of as a consequence of their religious habits. Indeed, a number of modern, open bødehuisen have added group worship programmes targeted at older populations.

Stroomism & Gender Equality
Stroomism, as a faith system, has been generally welcoming towards women's rights and women's participation in social life. Men and women together have been encouraged to find their balance and argued to be each other's balances of energy in society, and both men and women have historically held the role of beschermers and risen in the faith's leadership structures.

In particular, women have been foundational in the maintenance of sex-segregated facilities. Monberg Women's Baths, near Monberg Castle, is the longest-running bødehuis exclusive to women and has long held favour among the women of the Ecoralian royal family.

Stroomism & Homosexuality
Stroomist cultures have historically been tolerant but dismissive of homosexuality. Homosexuality was considered an imbalance of an individual's energies: so while not dangerous in its own right, queer people were often pressured into religious educational programmes and to pursue a healthier balance. However, much of society's opinions changed in the late stages of the Ecoral Enlightenment, as the concept of social balancing, with a greater orientation towards multicultural inclusion, opened up religious grounds for the equal treatment of people. Today, the religion is fully accepting of homosexuality and a number of congregants' bødehuisen specifically for the LGBT community operate in urban cores around the world.

Greetings in Ecoral
Achieving and maintaining a personal balance is an essential pursuit in Stroomist life. As such, the question Hoe is uw evenwicht? (lit. How is your balance?) has continued in everyday Ecoralian life. Totaal evenwicht (lit. totally balanced) is used as a common expression to explain when a situation is going well. While some of these expressions are losing their prominence in a multicultural and globalised world, many Ecoralians still use them to this day.