Well, I wouldn’t completely write off the need to combat evil. But it must be done with due diligence and consideration for when it is actually right and necessary, and not for vain glory and material greed. And when war is carried out, it must be done with proper dignity and respect showed to our foes, as established in the proper rules of war set forth by Amash-Akura.
The Throne is the State.
Local governments who are branches of the faith. Holders who are ordained priests, and their appointed clerics.
The ones that are already in place as established by the local rulers.
A government not acting under spiritual leadership is not a government that will govern justly.
Oh, rot. It’s going to happen again, isn’t it? It’s happening right this second. I see the typing. Like the long days that dry everything out, and no one sensible wants to be out in them.
Nonsense. At every level of that, you end up baking into your faith the need to compromise, the need to set one principle aside in the moment in order to allow for others. You fall prey to the limits of human understanding and awareness, to incomplete information, to the vagaries of ‘crap happens’.
And when that builds up, layer upon layer, a dozen layers deep… invariably, it begins to look somewhat incoherent, unjust… add generations of precedent and tradition… and the complexity and incoherence only increases, until the precedents themselves take on a patina of arbitrariness… of corruption.
Then we have to learn from our mistakes and correct it next time. But that correction does not entail some… half-assing of the faith where people think they can set it aside in one moment and only take it up in private places at scheduled times. God is everywhere, and His teachings guide us in all aspects of our lives.
And presumably, that would mean that when local laws and tax policy are made, they would be made with the principles of faith in mind. But conflating the two only leads to the corruption of your faith.
At the very least, my people shall forge a reformed Mandate.
I look forward to taking you up on that offer. I have yet to see what the faith looks like within the Republic.
Miss Kernher, the only way for that conversation to take place in the Ammatar Mandate is if the Ammatar Mandate is allowed full self-governance. If the Empress and Royal Heirs refuse to initiate reform, indeed, to use their power and authority to stamp out the seeds of reform instead, then the initiative for reform within the Mandate rests with those who reside there.
I advocate for a free Ammatar state, guided by a reformed Ammatar Church, allowed to make its own laws with its own leaders, defended by its own fleet. You may conflate this push for independence with the hubris and evil of the Khanid succession, but the only way to see the true heart of the Ammatar is to let that heart beat free.
Anyone can practice the faith while bound in chains, but to see what truths they harbor in their soul, give that person freedom.
It’s been done, at least three times that I can see.
The problem with theocracy is exactly the one Samira is trying to fight right now: course correction. Theocracy hinges upon the infallible executive. After all, if the leaders don’t know God’s Will better than you do, why should you follow them?
But of course, if they are infallible… why do they screw up?
This is why spiritual leadership is best retained as a set of guiding principles, and the implementation of those principles better left to groups that can acknowledge the possibility of error without bringing the system down. When it’s just people, doing their best, then those people can admit error. They can even be replaced. And the only kerfuffle has to be exactly what Samira’s already said:
“Ok, we’ll learn from that mistake and try to do better.”
But that doesn’t work when the temporal authority is held to be absolute and infallible. And inevitably, absolute authority will eventually declare itself infallible, lest someone stand up and say ‘screw you, I could do better’, with an army at their back.
Why? It is exactly the same conversation that we must be having in the Empire. The Mandate is not unique in this. If the rulers are Amarr are not allowing it, then they must be convinced to allow it. In the Mandate, and in the Empire.
Mr. Darkar, you are going to forge dead brothers and sisters–they are mine too–and when they are gone I will not see them in Paradise where they should have gone.
I know you have probably considered this and found it worthwhile. It is a mistake and a cruel thing.
I know this was to Samira, however I would like to give my answer.
God Chose the True Amarr because they were righteous. When one stops being righteous, one stops being Chosen. It’s a simple thing.
To this end, the True Amarr, and most of the Amarr Empire have managed to disregard God’s Will for their own. The ‘Sacred’ Throne has been perverted and is no longer sacred. Heirs clone, Empresses clone, Kings clone. There is no spiritual leadership to be found in the Empire.
As Garion said, “nothing is impossible for God.” Now, maybe the Empire can change. Even then, I still would not suppose that the True Amarr would regain their spiritual authority.
Pray tell, how can I be the one forging “dead brothers and sisters” by calling for a nonviolent general strike? If those who decide to stand are struck down, it will be because of the blind assuredness that resistance equates to death—a philosophy propagated by Amarr Empire and Khanid Kingdom supporters like you.
Miss Kernher, is it not obvious that the only way to convince rulers of the Empire is through action? God has given the Mandate another chance at self-determination, with the MIO overstretched and overtaxed, with the Order of Saint Tetrimon burdened with MIO duties. The chance to breathe free is here.
What incentive do the rulers of Amarr have to change their ways if they continue to reap the benefits of Ammatar fields and mines? Only by letting the fields lay fallow, by letting goods pile up in docks, by freezing the Ammatar Consulate bureaucracy in a unified act of Ammatar identity and independence, will the rulers of Holy Amarr take reform seriously.
Miss Kernher, you were the one who shared with me that the corruption you fight against has become the heart of Holy Amarr. Other parts of the body share the symptoms but none are so far gone as the rulers of the Empire and the Khanid Kingdom. Only severing of the corrupted limbs can save the spark of faith kindled within the Mandate.
Free from the oversight of House Ardishapur and the “Sacred Throne,” the Ammatar Mandate will achieve true renewal.
Of course I’m a hypocrite-- a killer trying to cling to what’s left of her soul. Maybe even patch it together into something … ragged but presentable, I guess?
And still be useful in the same ways.
The world’s complex.
But that’s enough out of us. Let’s leave the discussion to those whose fight this really is, yes?
As an update: The Ghosts of Kahah remain committed to succeeding where the MIO has failed and as such has deployed observation posts in the system of Anath. I call upon those ethnic Ammatar and those born in the Mandate who serve as personnel in the Amarr 7th Fleet “Saracens” to look into their hearts and examine their consciences.
God will not punish you for bringing Orlon Zashev to justice, for swift justice can take many forms. Help us locate Orlon Zashev and transfer him to RJD custody. If not for yourselves, then for your families, for your people.
The Royal Khanid Navy and Sa-Baron Alar Chakaid will do nothing but exacerbate the suffering of the people of Anath. The Order of Saint Tetrimon is not but a puppet of the corrupt. The MIO is the embodiment of decadent servitude. All of these have failed and no longer serve the true path.
But you need not follow them and their wicked ways. The channels are open, encrypted, and secure. Follow your conscience, for as the Book of Missions says:
“To know the true path, but yet, to never follow it. That is possibly the gravest sin”
Follow the true path, listen to your hearts. For you are Ammatar, born of the Mandate. You see firsthand the corruption that festers in Holy Amarr, every day seeping into our livelihoods—robbing us of our labor and shrinking the Ammatar Church. Take this first step to sever the tendrils that wrap around Tanoo and Jarizza, to resist the puppet in Sandruez. Fear not the temporal tools of mortal men, for God will know of your sacrifice.
You know and see the truth. Orlon Zashev will never face justice in the Empire, but in the custody of the RJD, may he face the light of the faith that is carried by the Nefantar and Starkmanir tribes.
You can be the instrument of God’s justice. Simply make the call. We shall do the rest.