Editing The Machine (section)

===Religious Views / Machine Cults===
If any sensible or knowledgeable Christian thought that the machine was hell then they would have a damn GOOD reason to keep the machine in proper working order. Granted this means that "You are going to have to put all those parts back heretical scum! Are you trying to release the daemons from their cage!" 

One the other hand Masons will likely have a heyday with this machine as some kind of allegory of...well everything ... unless they knew about it already?

Gnostics will definitely try to break the shit out of it as the obvious handiwork of the Demiurge and a possible soul anchor or sustainer of the material evils.

The religious impact of the machine cannot be overstated. Once it was discovered, it was a major blow to everything we thought we knew.

The Christians quickly had to take a stance on whether the machine was made by God, was God itself, or simply was a way of tempting mankind. The same went for all other major religions, since a giant machine at the center of the Earth, which might or might not power something really important, was kind of hard to reconcile with most traditional beliefs.

As hard as it was for religion, it might have been even harder for science. Suddenly, most of what we thought we knew about the universe was invalidated. Goodbye gravity. Goodbye tectonic shifts. Goodbye big bang. Of course, science quickly recuperated, but it's just not been the same ever since, since nobody can even begin to explain the biggest piece of the puzzle.

How about a cult of machinists who have found their way into the gears to be closer to their 'god'. They even believe they have to become part of the machine to be closer to god, so have begun experimenting with the gears and surgically implanting them into their own bodies. Meaning they wont be destroyed by the engineers, as it will see them as part of the machine. Might even upgrade a few of them if they get enough surgery.