Intergalactic Summit

Last week, New Kaili event worker Hor Falvegar, who professes to be Sebiestor, requested he take as many as five days off for religious observance, claiming that those days covered a landmark cultural ceremony in his clan. The union governing his workplace rejected him on the grounds that "no other requests were made by other individuals also professing a Sebiestor cultural heritage", additionally asserting that individual rights on matters as "intangible and nebulous" as religion cannot trump the rights of his fellow Elusenian workers, who are going to require maximum participation in an upcoming dinner for foreign dignitaries.

Such incidents have suddenly exploded to the foreground across Gallentean territories following an incident in the Synchelle solar system, where a Minmatar student called Kinhar Elokur has been accused of being responsible for the deaths of three other men when allegedly defending himself from a potentially racially-motivated assault. Media attention has been frantic as outlets scope the width and breadth of the Federation for any crime that may have the hallmarks of being motivated by ethnic hatred. Senior university figures in Elusenia have come forward to challenge the supposed one-sidedness of reports.

"We've already seen non-Elusenian news agencies report on the Falvegar case in an extremely negative light, spinning it as yet another case of racism against those of Minmatar ancestry," said Carra Geenan, doctor of memetic studies at the University of Altens' client campus in New Kaili, "But these news agencies deliberately ignore the nature of the Elusenian corporate republic and its approach to cultural integration. As far as that union was concerned, Hor Falvegar behaved in a completely self-entitled manner and seemed to be ignorant of the sociocratic principles that govern this state. When one joins Elusenia, I have witnessed the expectation or even civic duty if you will to abandon your previous cultural and planetary identity to join the new social unit. A simplified analogy would be joining a new corporation, and then claiming that your previous employer did things differently, and therefore your current boss should govern matters that way. As far as I can tell in the time I've been in Elusenia, that is what it means to be a corporate republic; individuals make decisions on their own free will to migrate here to voluntarily participate and contribute to the social good"

A small bloc of Delegates and Citizens in the Agora, however, have challenged the union's decision to turn down Falvegar's request, asserting that this was not a case of abiding by secularism but "state atheism that is just as tyrannical and close-minded as state religion". In turn, Delegate Lei Retsece, who speaks for 516 Citizens and is a senior immigration officer, responded by saying that "if Falvegar wishes to practice his foreign religion, he is welcome to, but he cannot expect the state to recognize that being Minmatar has supremacy over being Elusenian. There is no such thing as an indigenous Elusenian, one who might be entitled to his, her, or its own rights separate to what we have all outlined thus far; we all came here on our own free will, based on a very rigorous entry program I might add. The first generation has the expectation to cultivate the Elusenian cultural identity for the future. If we do not, then this project will fail like the thousands of other Gallentean settlement endeavors before it. There is at least one Minmatar-majority state on Vale IV where Hor Falvegar and his family can abode if they wish to be Minmatar first. If anyone else in this chamber does not consider themselves Elusenian above all other identities, I would question their motivations for coming here"

Despite Elusenian claims of nation-building combined with cultural integration for the purposes of unity and longevity, reactionary and relatively more tabloid news outlets have nonetheless lumped Elusenia into a growing list of territories accused of institutional discrimination against Minmatar. The universities of Elusenia are locked in debate about the wider matter of the Minmatar in Gallentean space, with students arguing for both sides of the fence. In particular, students of Minmatar origin have accused their counterparts of non-Minmatar origin for "denying the existence of racism against specific groups", something that has been argued against strongly.

"Racism and fear of the unknown is hardcoded into the human brain," said Professor Sun Sinraja, who teaches Political History with Evolutionary Biology at the University of Elusenia, "The whole purpose of education in the Gallentean mindset is to combat ignorance with knowledge. We see something that we do not know about, and our instincts take over, as we begin to feel threatened for our survival. Non-human life is exactly the same. This undeniable facet of human nature is openly acknowledged by legal systems such as the Federation Constitution, which makes very clear the existence of racial discrimination and equally makes it clear that it is unacceptable. For as long as we remain human in this form, we will have to deal with racism. In the meantime, education combined with strict laws will have to offset such baseline and frankly animalistic behaviour"

No statement has been made by or on behalf of Hor Falvegar, and it is currently not known if he will make his thoughts known in the near and coming future.

Franseza Quiniou
News Correspondent
Caerleon Broadcasting Union

Individuals can not take a certain amount of days off whenever they wish in Elusenia, so that this individual would just have to choose them to coincide with his religious observance days ?

Do they have to conform to regular free days that are the same for everyone at the same time (which does not sound very healthy for the economy) ?

Or did he specifically ask for free days more than what he was allowed to, using the excuse of religious observance ?

Right. Presumably, could have asked for five days off to visit a relative, to attend a funeral, or to go surfing on the coast.

If they're going to turn him down, it should be because he's not allowed to request five days off, not because they didn't like the reason for the request.