I kind of want to create one, but I’m held back by the thought of being considered holy or religious. I kind of enjoy not being affiliated with anything. I’d just like to use the powers of the light to help others out without being considered religious. Like, is it possible for humans to wield such powers without being religious? Are there any such characters in the lore? Obviously blood elves, but humans?
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Well, i’d say it’s hard to wield the holy light if you don’t have any faith in it.
Same thing as being a Priestess of the Moon and not believing in Elune, doesn’t quite work.
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I read somewhere that the light is with you because you believe what you do is right and I think that is quite a different concept. And, I mean, the light in game isn’t actually religion as it’s visible and real. I guess, I wonder, is it associated with religiousness like we would associate templars in real life for example.
All Paladins are faith-based “magic knights”. They don’t just have faith but also become an avatar of that faith, channeling its power within them. It’s the reason why all races, including the Forsaken and Void Elves, can be priests but not all races can be Paladins.
Not all races have that “societal disposition” to be a “Warrior of the Faith”.
Although uniform in their abilities and visuals, not all Paladins have the same faith. Some have different takes on the same diety, others have completely different sources for their holy powers.
Humans, Dwarves and Draenei worship the Light. Dark Iron Dwarves and Blood Elves also worship the Light but have more of a “mixed” form of worship due to lingering effects from Ragnaros and the Sunwell respectively. Tauren worship the Sun, though some believe this to be another form of the Light rather than a separate primal diety (which is rather BS considering that the Night Elves get to worship Elune without the imperialist Humans trying to do the whole Christian missionary malarky). Zandalari do not so much “worship” as “gain powers” from a patron Loa. They show reverence and, fair enough, in some regards will worship the Loa but it may not be the exact same as the other races.
For a human, it’ll be faith in the Light that empowers you as a Paladin. You need to believe to be able to throw glowing hammers at people.
Fun note; due to the conflicting nature between Fel, Void, Scourge and Holy magic, certain races that can be priests are actually subjected to pain every time they use their faith-based spells. A Forsaken or Void Elf priest that casts Heal will feel pain while doing so. Yet they persist, for that is their will in their beliefs.
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Paladin irl were very definitely religious, but in WoW its hard to say as we never see what the day-to-day is like for our characters. Do they start and end the day with a prayer to the light? And worship once a week? Dunno, probably… but not necessarily? I for one imagine my Pally is devout, but I play a Paladin because deep down I want to be a nice, God-fearing Christian boy, but cannot believe in that kind of thing and, being honest, am not always as nice a person as I would like to be!
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obviously blood elves, but humans
funny, when tbc launched the reason behind blood elf paladin was the fact they used the light without being adherent to the principles and laws, it just as a tool they twisted and bent to their desire. guess thats gone now…
and no, alliance side paladins have always been fanatics
still no idea how taurens made it there though
The Scarlet Crusade were pretty wicked, yet they were able to wield the light. You don’t have to be a good faith boy to wield the light. You only need the conviction to do so. Another example: The zealous lightforged draenei purging the Mag’har orcs in the Mag’har recruitment storyline. Be a wicked human paladin.
Blizzard should have doubled down on the edgy Blood Elves of TBC rather than “redeeming” them. Hell, if they had gone that path Belves could have been made distinct enough to add High Elves as a race, without them feeling like just an Alliance version of Belves.
They are basically just sun druids, using the Light rather than Arcane or Nature magic like traditional druids. In game they are represented as paladins. But they have nothing in common with Alliance Paladins besides using the Light.
Interesting insights, I’m just thinking thematically a warrior is closer to what I’m looking for. I mean, a paladin that does not devote to anything but their own sense of judgment; a warrior that is able to use the light, but I guess that’s not possible?
However, I was thinking, a paladin does sound a lot like Thor with the lightning? Strong skilled fighter who’s able to manipulate magical powers to their advantage
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Tbh i don’t consider it the same. The light does not require faith cause it is real in WoW. It manifests physically.
I would say it’s more devotion. I see Paladins as guardians/champions of the light and enforcing it’s view of justice.
Yes, without moderation it can be seen as zealotry.
Even priests i don’t see as religious in WoW, but representatives of the light.
Religion requires belief in a higher being without evidence. That is why it’s called a faith.
When the being/beings are verifiable real, it’s not a religion, but a cult.
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Religion and faith are different things. Being a religious paladin in WoW (RP perspective) means to belong to an order for example, to participate in various social religious activities (a mass in the Church in SW), go to sunday services, be an elite guard of high-standing Bishops, etc… But wielding the Light means to have faith in the Light and this is enough. So I don’t see a problem to make a human pala who is faithful to the Light but not religious.
*Templars were in fact an own separate order which gradually fell out of mercy from the Church.
No. This is not a paladin. Own sense of judgement may be anything. A paladin is an instrument of judgement of the Light.
Belf paladins lorewise are blood knights who follow an order, a morally neutral cult of sorts, but they do believe in the Light - they are fanatics but not twisted zealots like the Scarlet Crusade.
Only the Scarlets are (or were), unless we’re talking certain Ret paladins. I think Tirion falls under this, mostly.
So anyways, most if not all paladins are believers lorewise, but I don’t much care about it (not a religious person IRL). I play pally and priest mainly for the visuals, and because I like the zealots who dare use the Light to harm and the Shadow to heal. Interesting duality I know 
A warrior can have a great sense of justice. You do not need to be a Paladin to fight for what is right. Just pure blunt righteousness. No using some silly faith-based magic.
You just gotta see Paladins like your computer. The computer won’t work if it doesn’t have power. Paladins can’t be paladins without their own power, which is faith.
Warriors are like books. They don’t need power, and they smell better when you find them in a bookstore.
If you are thinking of Thor, remember that he only gets his powers as long as he is worthy of wielding Mjolnir, the hammer. Same would apply with Paladins and being “worthy” of gaining their faith’s power.
If you want lightning and hammers, try Enhancement Shaman? They don’t wear plate, can’t be humans and tend to dual wield rather than just a single 2H, but they are pretty cool!
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Worship of the Light has no god, deity or similar being to venerate so it isn’t really religious in that way. So human priests and paladins aren’t really religious I would say, in a way we would recognise in the real world.
You say you wish to wield the Light to help people, well this is what Priests and Paladins do. They train in their groups in how to do this.
Night Elf priests do have Elune has a being to personify their Light source.
Tauren priest or druids have their own version of Elune I believe.
All i know is my tauren paladin has been kicked out of the paladin churche (order hall legion) 
I can’t find it anymore, but I read somewhere that the light is not with you because you do what is right, but what you believe is right. If that is the case, then isn’t it only your own sense of judgement that matters?
yes im a holy zealot and i kill void elves when i can when they exit the sw embassy
I’m a diehard Hitchensian Atheist IRL, but I still love playing Paladin and Crusader archetypes.
You gotta keep in mind that while the Holy Light is obviously inspired by Christianity and the Holy Trinity IRL, they’re not the same.
In Azeroth, the Light is a real physical and measurable force, not explained entirely in detail but still way more tangible than “something something God did it”.
Serving the Light the way the Paladins of Stormwind and Lordaeron do is objectively a good thing, not some shady missionary thing where you’re just seeking to grow your organisation.
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According to the lore the holy light is with you as long as you strongly believe in that your cause is just. That doesn’t mean you have to be religious or even to be a good person lr even your goal be a morally good one. Just look at the Scarlet Crusade for example!
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This is what I was thinking about, and in my opinion this is what makes it way more interesting than just being a religious knight committed to protecting the church and spreading it’s word