Editing TROS in the Hammer:Setting Religion

 

==The Way of Yesukrishna==

The Way of Yesukrishna is the religion of those that follow Yesukrishna.  It is the religion of the vast majority of the People, but can also be found among other cultures to the North and South of the Gezag.  It was also once a common religion among people to the West, including the Valongo, but has since almost dissappeared there and been replaced by the Informatio.  Followers of the Way of Yesukrishna are called Yesukrishnans.

The only rational goal of humanity, therefore, is to strive to become one again with God, and purge all elements of the Enemy away.  The Enemy stands between humanity and God.  But, sadly, we cannot, on our own, purge out the Enemy's thoughts from ourselves.  We are simply too weak.

So, long, long, ago, before recorded history, God came into the World, into its own thoughts as it were, and merged with matter to become a human being.  This human being was born from a woman in a distant place called Virginia.  He was called Yesukrishna.  As Yesukrishna, God was able to experience life locked within a form of matter, and in the process create a method by which humanity could free their thoughts from the grip of the Enemy.  Yesukrishna taught many people this method, and the Enemy was furious.  The Enemy caused its agents amoung humanity, the Pharisists, the Saduccists, and the Communists, to take Yesukrishna and kill him by crucifying him on a cross.  Little did the Enemy know, however, that this was exactly as God intended; freed again from the form of matter, God was all thought again, and implanted in every human the Holy Fire, which burns there, and which gives all humans the strength, should they choose it, to purge themselves of the Enemy.

==Kapitalism==

Kapitalism is the religion of the Niarchs, and is pretty much unique to that culture, for historical and cultural reasons.  The religion does not offer much to non-Niarch persons.  However, there are some converts among the People, and high ranking arbeiders in the Gezag power structure will often act like they are converts when dealing with their superiors.

In the time before the Sky Fire, people lived much as they do now.  However, as time went on, people turned more and more away from the true knowledge of God, called kapitalism.  God became very angry about this, and decided to destroy all human kind.  However, one group of people still pleased God with their ways; the Amerks.  God sent them some warning as to what was about to happen, and the Amerks hid themselves deep in the Earth.

Then, from deep within the Earth, the Amerks returned.  These people were different from the other humans; they wielded great magics, such as chariots that would travel under their own power, and staves which could shoot fire.  But they were very weak; a horrible, disfiguring disease had taken many of them, and scarred many others (it is from this that the practice of wearing masks among the Niarch is derived).  The Amerks believed that this disease was the last weapon used against them by their God-hating enemies.  The Amerks took women and men from among the locals, the Niarch, and bred with them, and taught them many of their secrets.  More importantly, the Amerks brought the philosophy of kapitalism with them.  In time, the original Amerks all passed away, but their blood still flows in the Niarch, the Amerks' heirs.

As stated above, the point of existence is to both amass power and wealth, and also to enjoy it.  Only the descendants of the Amerks (the Niarch) are capable of true ownership, and only the kapitalistisch are the beneficiaries of a place in the Persoonlijkheidopslag.   

 

 

 

 

 

The Pastor's prudentia (insight) into the reason for the world's existence was two-fold.  First, all living things evolve and change.  Second, living things evolve into higher and higher levels of complexity.  This is because the entire universe is permeated with the Instigo, the urge, to become something more.  This does not come from any God; the Pastor did not allow for anything supernatural to exist in the world.  Rather, it is a kind of constant striving to achieve bigger and better things that is written into the fabric of exisitence as deeply as the law of gravity.  The Instigo operates at all levels of life, from the smallest insect, to the largest animal, and even operates at the level of groups of individuals and society itself.  This urge to become "higher" (i.e. more complex, more efficient, more impressive) is simply a force of nature.  Humanity, then, is the highest expression of life, its best and brightest product so far.  And it is the intellect, above all else, that demonstrates this superiority. 

 

The Informatio teaches that much of what SEEMS like bad stuff really isn't.  It raises the idea of "what does not kill you, makes you stronger" to the level of a virtue.  The Pastor taught that all matter and nature is like a blacksmith's anvil and hammer.  It batters a piece of metal over and over again, but not for the purpose of destruction; rather, the battering is to mold the metal into something new and better.

 

The Pastor also taught that much of what we call "evil" is really just people working and living contrary to the Instigo, the drive to become "higher".  However, there is another virtue in the Informatio called veneratio (reverence), which is probably its highest virtue.  To practice veneratio is to revere those things that are "high", and especially those things (i.e. people) that are "higher" than you are.  Thus, those that rule society, if they properly demonstrate their superiority to do so, are worthy of veneratio, and provide laws and customs that order society for optimum efficiency, in harmony with the Instigo.  To go contrary to these laws is to be contrary with the instigo, and show a lack of veneratio.  Thus, submission to proper (i.e. superior) authority is considered a good thing for the most part, EXCEPT when the authorities have proven their incompetence and lack of superiority.  Also, as all of humanity is considered the pinacle of nature, respect for one's fellow humans, their wishes and needs, is considered essential to a proper understanding of veneratio.  Things such as murder, rape, theft, etc., are not viewed as "evil" so much as showing a lack of respect for both the individual and for the society as a whole.

 

 

While your own individual consciousness may not exactly persist beyond death, your memory does; all of those things you did that people remember you for contribute to creating a recordatio (recollection, memory, a difficult word to translate) of yourself in the minds of others and in the fabric of nature itself.  The recordatii (what the People call shades) are what are contacted by what the People call "witchcraft", and what the Informatii call the ars memoria.  The Pastor did not teach that the recordatii were the actual spirits or souls of the dead; the Pastor repudiated such concepts as being irrational.  But they were, nevertheless, important tokens, reminders, and presences of the dead in our lives, and worthy of veneratio.

 

* Competition - the Pastor taught that competition and adversity are the fires that purify the mind and body.  Therefore, competitions of various sorts are common in the Pastorate.  Public positions are given out by competetive examination, for example, and leaders are often chosen in the same fashion.  All kinds of games and sports are also considered to be worthwhile activities, and are pursued with great passion.

* Denegration of spirits - the spirits are considered to be inferior beings in the Pastor's writings; inferior because they do not strive with the force of the Instigo.  They are not supernatural, per se, but they are unnatural, to some extent.  Spirits are used by the Informatii, but only as servants or slaves, never as friends or, worse yet, gods. 

* the Officium - The best purpose for all human kind is to press forward and progress.  The Informatio is self-evidently a new system, more progressed than any other ethical tradition or religion in the World.  The officium is therefore the obligation or duty placed on the Informatii by reason itself (and encouraged by its leaders) to export and push forward its adoption.  Therefore, the Informatii are highly evangelical, with Disciples commonly seen preaching its worth to the World.

* Rebellion and conquest - Submission to superior authority is only right and proper; submission to inferior authority is absurd.  Therefore, rebellion can be an expression of the officium, as can the conquest of a neighboring nation or culture.

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