I did grow up and adopt responsibility. That’s why I’ve become a reformer, why I’ve spoken out, why I wrote this. I used to care only about myself. I wanted to be praised, loved, accepted, to rise out of the mud I was born in and become someone worthy. And I had it all. Freedom, wealth, membership in PIE and their highest honors, marriage offers from True Amarr noble families, the respect and adoration of the Amarr capsuleer community and thousands of Amarrian citizens. And all I had to do for that, was keep my head down, preach the party line, suck up to my lords, and ignore the evil that I knew was happening.
I threw it away. I threw it away because there were real problems that I was hiding from, a coward, instead of doing my duty to God and confronting them. I grew up. I took the blinders off. I stopped believing the lies and gave up the fantasy and accepted reality. I saw the corruption and the abuse and chose to take a stand, despite knowing that I would lose everything I had worked for.
I took responsibility. I am doing my duty to God.
How dare you. Where is this ridiculous nonsense of ‘the real problem is yourself’ coming from? Distraction from what? Excuses for what? What the ■■■■ are you on about? Explain to me how anything I changed about myself could stop the evil and corruption that was happening. What could I have changed about myself that would have stopped Nauplius, and the Holders who supply him with slaves for his butchery? What should I have changed to stop Kahah? What should I have changed to stop the Empire from admitting a Sani Sabik into the Succession Trials? What about the appeasement towards the Khanid Kingdom? What about the TCMC and slave abuse cases the Theology Council dismissed? What about the breeding facilities? What about the systemic True Amarrism which you yourself oppose?
I did change things. I stopped being a coward, covering my eyes from the wrongs I knew were there, and stepped up to do what’s right.
And this is where you’re going to pull some philosophical tripe about how the answer is let go of that and be free?
I am bitter and resentful because of what my home is doing. Because of how we are failing God. Whether or not I felt that way, would not change the evils that are happening, and the need to fix them.
I believe it is worth taking into consideration the practical effects of Miss Kernher’s views. Before Kahah, indeed before Thebeka, perhaps even before Miss Kernher took responsibility for an attack on then-Sa-Baron Chakaid’s Holding in the Khanid Kingdom, many of her words and opinions divided the cohort of Amarrian loyalist capsuleers. As has been expressed in this thread, there are many things that Miss Kernher observes that ring with some truth even after her actions as a terrorist and enemy of the Empire.
But the strength of heresy is measured not in word count nor in debating prowess but in the number and quality of converts. To this day, almost one year after slave revolts crisscrossed the Khanid Kingdom and the Greater Empire, I have yet to see a single convert to Kernherism from among any longstanding members of the “Amarr loyalist bloc.” In fact, Miss Kernher’s most vocal supporters on the IGS are foreign and/or atheist capsuleers.
Granted, the loyalist bloc is a small sample of the Empire and with the prevalence of Holders and non-titled nobility among our ranks, is also not “representative” as a Gallente academic would argue. Yet, none among her former compatriots have stood publicly on a hilltop in support of Miss Kernher’s manifesto. Even if they should express her views privately, it is painfully obvious that her heresy is so weak that it cannot ignite public support among loyalist capsuleers.
Moving on from capsuleers, there is the baseliner population of commoners and slaves that Miss Kernher seeks to advocate for, but even here support for her heresy is thin. Even the uprising on her own place of birth barely grasped her heretical views. Lord Arim Ardishapur himself ordered the rebel city of Dabara on Thebeka III retaken to send a message that the “loyal will not be abandoned.” Would Lord Ardishapur have been so magnanimous if the city was lost to Kernherism? He could have just as easily ordered the entire city flattened by orbital bombardment. If Miss Kernher wishes the Empire to be a “beacon,” perhaps she should look for inspiration in the besieged of Dabara who held fast to orthodoxy in a sea of chaos exacerbated by her own hand.
Let us not give outsized importance to a heresy simply because it is laid out on the IGS. Miss Kernher, to my knowledge, is not backed by a capsuleer fleet, which puts her in the same league as Nauplius when it comes to presence in space. That she is a recognized capsuleer is her only capital.
Indulge me in a thought experiment for a moment, given Miss Kernher’s lack of imperial supporters. Imagine that instead of Miss Kernher laying out this heresy on the IGS, it was another voice fresh out of the University of Caille or Hedion University; the prose, the citations of Scripture, and observations of corruption within the Empire are all the same in this “parallel manifesto.” Would we even bother to engage with them?
Let us be honest with ourselves. Kernherism has only gotten this far and received this much attention because Samira Kernher promulgates it.
There may be some educational value in the ongoing debates here from theological and philosophical perspectives. But for all practical purposes, save for the dead in shallow graves in Thebeka and the few dozen who frequent the IGS, Kernherism has had little impact.
EDIT: And I may not be of the “Amarr loyalist bloc”, but I would fly by Samira Kernher’s side if she would have me. I may not own the banner of Cail Avetatu, but flying flags has never been necessary for capsuleers to align in goals. I know others who would as well.
Wow. This is some passive-aggression right here, ain’t it? ‘If the Empire has truly strayed, if God himself is demanding an uprising… then it’s your fault if someone gets hurt!’
So either you’ll be obedient to God, and blameless for all of the continued suffering that causes… or Samira will be to blame for what God demands. I don’t know if this is shamelessly manipulative, or just transparent and weak.
Why would I, if you are able to come up with that idea all by yourself?
Would it change what and how things are? No, certainly not. But resent and bitterness are not acute observers but biased spectators. As this is the case, if they are given the reigns, righteous indignation gets quickly blown out of proportion. So, some detatchment might not hurt. Not for the sake of what is, but what will be - for example whether your doings will be actions, rather than reactions.
I had not been pushing a coherent message back during Thebeka and Kahah. Most of the last year has been setting up. You can call this manifesto the actual beginning of the movement.
I don’t have a solution to the problem and if I did what could someone like myself do, then the fight is among higher seated people.
And now there is someone of more power and faith than me that insists for much needed change to a system that have allowed horrors like Kahah or Thebeka to happen. So unto someone comes with a better offer I’m ready to see where this goes.
History has tought us, that chances are high that by replacing people and institutions like Kernher suggests, problems aren’t solved, but aggreviated. Those that are put in place are oftentimes worse in terms of corruption or at least turn out similarly corrupt. But then, you exchange the known threat with the unknown. People have a glimpse of how to navigate the flows of the current system and people that embody it. Their suffering won’t be ameliorated by a time in which they need to adapt to the new dynamics.
If you want to restructure something on such a grand scale, you better know where you want to end up and how exactly to achieve that goal. Kernher knows what she opposes, but little about where she wants to end up and nothing about how to get there.
She has no answers to questions like these:
“How do you ensure that those people that replace e.g. the Theology Council are in sum less corrupt than the current people filling that role?”
“How do you ensure, that a new compilation of scriptures will be more truthful to the original message than what we have now?”
“How exactly will your measures prevent the occurence of misguided people like Nauplius?”
and last, but not least,
“How exactly will you achieve that without starting off a civial war that will bring much more devastation and suffering than any of the things you pointed out?”
So far, I haven’t seen her coming up with any answers to those questions and frankly, in such a situation, taking up no offer at all is better than taking up hers.
Alternatively, one could just get up and try to change the world where everyone certainly can: Oneself. Every single one of us has plenty of flaws that need to be rectified.
It’s the best place to start.
You say that change can bring disaster, but without change we stagnate and let things stay the same old.
I’m am the last to say I’m am not flawed, I ran away instead of trying to do something when my faith faltered. But standing on the sideline I can now see the rot that have taken root in my home, and I want to at least try to remove it, so my nieces can grow up in a place that again is worthy of Gods light.
I say: Stagnation is better then charging headlessly into disaster, which, in my most humble opinion, is exactly what Cpt. Kernher is suggesting.
And while I stand by that, my suggestion is actaully not stagnation, but that if you want to change things for the better, then start at you home: Your literal home. Bring yourself in order, before you venture out to change the world and others.
If you do so first, your judgement of others witll be much less vicously resentful than what Kernher displays, because being good is hard and there are many ways to fail. And the measures you will aim for will be much less radical. But then, they will probably be much better and much more likely to move the world in the right direction.
All of these were already addressed in the original document.
Combating corruption requires enforcing accountability. Modern Amarrian systems are woefully void of accountability. Holders are not accountable to their subjects, and are gifted supreme power over their demesnes. They are accountable to their liege lords, but in such cases are only likely to actually be held to task if they do something that directly antagonizes or insults the reputation of their liege, rather than for actions that are actually morally and criminally wrong. They are theoretically accountable to the Theology Council, but the Theology Council is a conservative body that almost universally votes to uphold Holder rights, and so will only charge a Holder in cases that involve two Holders.
There is also the Speakers of Truth, which is a body I respect, as it is politically independent. Too bad they almost never take up cases.
Combating corruption requires:
A system of laws that does not distinguish between social statuses, where all people are held to the same laws and the same punishments, rather than one for the ruled and another for the ruler.
Separating the judiciary from the Holder – the legal system in a Holder’s demesne should be independent of that Holder, rather than an arm of him. The Speakers of Truth are an example to work towards.
Including the common people in the political process. The ruled must have a say in the policies that will govern their lives.
Returning the emperor to a position as an elected speaker of a Council of Apostles, rather than a can-do-no-wrong supreme figure claiming to speak with God’s voice. Likewise, Holders should be a part of a local ruling council, rather than having supreme power invested in their individual.
Ending slavery.
Ensuring that a new compilation of Scriptures will be more truthful to the original message requires returning altered early Scripture to its original form (a duty to be undertaken by historians, and likely making use of the Order of Saint Tetrimon’s unaltered collection of Scripture), and establishing the understanding that most Scripture following the departure of the sefrim and the loss of the Avetat is only our attempt at understanding the truth, without full clarity into God’s will. Such understanding necessitates recognizing that the emperor does not speak with ‘the voice of God’. We must establish a difference between that which is divinely sourced, which should never be altered and should be the core of our faith, and that which is divinely inspired, which is important but open to doubt and change. Entirely open Scripture opens the way to corruption under bad actors. Some Scripture needs to be absolute and unchanging. That which is open to change, must be understood as being capable of being altered by bad actors, and subjected always to review.
Preventing the occurrence of people like Nauplius is already answered in the first question. Stop giving unlimited power to individuals!Hold people accountable! Holder rights are flawed. Capsuleers have too much freedom. Slavery only ever opens the way to bad actors abusing it to do evil. The emperor is too powerful. The Beast lives in all of us, not just the least of us, and we must acknowledge that. The chains we bind to slaves must be bound to all people. The highest person in the land should have no more freedom to act on their evil impulses than the lowest. Laws, and fierce adherence to those laws, are needed to stop bad actors.
As for the question of civil war… that will be dependent on whether or not the rulers will listen to the protests of the people. I would prefer that these changes can happen peacefully, I pray that it will be so, but I am not Lord Consort Newelle and I have no delusions as to expect that things can be done so smoothly. War might happen. But we are Amarr. The Amarr Empire was founded in righteous war, and if war is necessary to do what is just then we must not shy away from it. Sin must be cut out. As in the time of Amash-Akura, the corrupt must swept away so that a righteous and pure empire can arise in its place.
Only through many hardships Is a man stripped to his very foundations And in such a state Devoid of distractions Is his soul free to soar And in this He is closest to God
-Missions 42:5
Obviously there is more to it than what I have written, but these are the foundations of what I feel is necessary to work towards. The specifics are something that will of course require people of expertise, as well as time, deliberation, and prayer.