1) The Asut Theocracy is listed in the Cyradon Gazeteer as having been lead astray by an evil dragon. This being the case, they would no longer be channeling spells from Memra any more. My best guess is that they would be channeling from a darker source of power. In this case, they should detect as "evil", which any diviner would be able to see in seconds. Why hasn't anyone called their bluff?
Actually, Skirahl is not a dragon. He is a powerful mage who has learned some sort of powerful, vampiric magics to allow him to extend his life far longer than any may have thought.
His reasons for leading the church to hating mages and gryx are quite personal to him. He doesn't want mages who can oppose him. And there is something about the Gryx that is a problem for him (i.e. he cannot drain them like he can humans, because of their own past (but he doesn't know that, he only sees them as a threat))
And yes, while the priesthood has been led astray, they STILL worship Memra, just more martial, more violent aspects of him. This transition happened over the course of centuries as well.
Evil is subjective. What may be evil to one person or group, may not be evil to another. For example, ancient egyptians practiced a form of necromancy through their mummification practices. To them it was good and just. To another people, it might have been considered evil.
In Shadow World, in addition to the small, subjective evil that everybody is capable of, there is also the Evil (with the capital E) that is a semi-sentient force of death and corruption and destruction. It is called the Unlife.
Gryphon Wolrd doesn't have that sort of ultimate Evil.
2) The Lightbringers of Memra, supposedly being more orthodox in their worship, should still be channeling spells from their Divine Patron. Shouldn't they be able to tell that their Orsai brethren are "evil"? The desctiption of this religion in the Cyradon book makes it seem like finding hidden evil is the specialty of this branch of the faith.
It depends on what is considered evil. It is more likely that the Lightbringers think that the Theocracy is misguided and self-deluded than they think of them as evil.
The thing about the two very different churches of Memra was to illustrate how 2 groups could worship different aspects of the same god and have that cause a major rift between the sects.
I hope the above helps...
