

Occasionally, especially when talking about human transmutations, Amestrians
mention God, mainly with the idea of human transmutations being a
transgression against God. An example of this is when Olivier Armstrong is
talking about the three tenets for state alchemists and is answering the
question of why human transmutations are forbidden.

It doesn't seem to me like this is a reference to "Truth", seeing as very few
people seem to know about "Truth", who is essentially the God within the gate.
Is there some specific religion's God that this is reference to, or it is a
sort of generic God=nature? Is there a stated religion within Amestris?


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question
fullmetal-alchemist-series
Is there a religion in Amestris?


There appear to be a few religions in Amestris (or potentially a few views or
denominations belonging to a single religion), and we can see actions from
several people that denote a religious following.

# Truth and God

[![Truth and
God](https://i.stack.imgur.com/t7firm.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/t7fir.png)

Ironically, the being who is canonically referred to God seems to have little
to no religion based around it (the same for Truth). They are essentially all-
powerful beings of nature, but garner little attention from those outside
alchemy (who are generally atheists).

# Letoism

[![Father Cornello in front of his
subjects](https://i.stack.imgur.com/AI33Om.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/AI33O.jpg)

In the town of Lior, a priest, Father Cornello, has been given a Philosopher's
Stone by an at-the-time undisclosed party. Leaving his fellow Lior citizens
unaware of this, he manages to garner a lot of attention through miracles
(smaller ones in _Brotherhood_ , though much more effective and large ones in
the 2003 anime). These miracles, according to Cornello, are from the Sun God,
Leto, around whom the religion is based.

In _Brotherhood_ , after Cornello is debunked, Letoism disappears. The 2003
anime handles it differently, and one could say that the religion lingers on.

# Ishvala

[![An Ishvalan monk, and Scar's
master](https://i.stack.imgur.com/w9ZSCm.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/w9ZSC.jpg)

Among the Ishvalans (those who remain, and their society prior to the war),
there is a common belief in the Earth God Ishvala, who is said to be the one
true creator, much like you could consider a typical god in a monotheistic
religion. His teachings prohibit the use of alchemy, though some of his
followers have stepped around this teaching and, in some cases, broken it
entirely.

A note: The Ishvalan religion borrows many traits from
[Judaism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism), but I won't go into detail
here.

# Other religions

[![Clara in her nun
uniform](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fwA5Um.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fwA5U.jpg)
[![Clara's
church](https://i.stack.imgur.com/xSVxMm.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/xSVxM.jpg)

In the 2003 anime, Ed and Al end up in Aquroya, where they meet a woman named
Clara. There are signs later that she is not fully committed to this religion
(though her churchgoers are), and not much is said about it, except that
(according to Clara) Ed and Al's bickering "goes against God's will."

There appear to be few mentions of religion outside of Letoism, Ishvala, and
this small religion in Aquroya; I would wager a guess that any other mentions
of "God" (by non-alchemists) belong to this same unnamed religion. It appears
to borrow traits from [Catholicism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholicism)
(or Christianity as a whole), which would line up with early 1900s in Germany,
if I recall correctly.

The Eastern Sage and the Sage of the West are also regarded somewhat as
religious figures, the latter described as being a man of gold (his hair and
eyes, and also a reference to alchemy's properties with regard to gold).

In Xing, a religion similar to Buddhism has developed, it would seem, which
talks about chi and the flow of energy in the earth (referred to as the
Dragon's Pulse). Likely, being a monarchy, there is also a god atop their
structure, though I don't believe he is ever mentioned.


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