Intergalactic Summit

Why is that?

Apologies Mr. Sariah,


Mr. Zateki should be involving himself in his work, not on a public debate.

Unless God is hiring researchers?

*Nervously steps towards the camera*

"if I might interject for a moment? My apologies for saying so, but there seems to be some confusion as to what a Heretic is, and why 'conversion' through Marriage is a contradiction in terms. It is like a square circle, a dry moisture, or a frigid heat. It is a logical impossibility.

Heretics do not need conversion. They are already intimately familiar with our scriptures, rituals, festivals and taboos. In fact, they are so familiar with the scriptures that they seek to twist the words and meanings around on themselves, to dissuade and confuse those of the true faith.

In capsuleer terms, a Heretic would be an enemy saboteur who knew your ship type, has the ability to fly it, knows how to disable it, and through careful study of blueprints and ship design, could target and disable specific systems to cause maximum damage. The Heretic knows the security codes and channels to fool your fleetmates into jumping into a hot zone, or getting the enemy to warp in on them.

So, in continuance of this analogy, let us consider a ship to represent our own life. Let the fleet represent our religion. 'Marriage' is the screening procedure of deciding who you want as a crew mate, or in your fleet or corporation.

'Heathens', or non-believers, are potential crew that have not yet been interviewed, nor have they yet passed the security check. We do not know if they are good or bad, we simply know that they come to us looking for guidance and friendship. Should they wish to join the crew of another ship, that is fine. If they choose to fly in the fleets of the enemy, that is still their choice.

'Apostates', or those that left the faith, are essentially deserters. They have cheated on their contract and left the crew before their term has finished. Certainly there is shame and dishonor in such an action, however we do not generally consider these people as a threat to our holy faith.

'Heretics' on the other hand, are 'known AWOXers' of the faith. They make the pretense of being one of the faithful, but adhere to doctrine and codes of conduct that are theirs alone.

If you let a Heretic into your metaphorical ship's crew, fleet or corporation, you are essentially knowingly introducing a poison pill. Heretics know the faith well enough to cleverly distort and manipulate the scriptures from their true meaning. They will turn your corp mates against you, use secure codes and channels to communicate positions with the enemy, loot your storage lockers and your corporate wallet, and then, with enough shares in your corporation, kick you out as CEO and take over your corporation. Now, you watch in horror as your own corporation declares war on your own friends and fleetmates as you are powerless to stop them.

Those non-believer 'heathens' in the Tribal Republic Fleet that worship the spirits of their ancestors and so forth are far less contemptible than known heretics. We do not consider them as good or evil, we consider them as lost souls, and in need of guidance. In many cases, those of the Matari fleet fight with great honor and skill. You might compare them to disobedient children in need of correction.

Heretics on the other hand, are more like an abusive spouse. They have access to all of your bank accounts and property, know who all of your family and friends are, know where you work, live in the same house as you, how you cook your meals and so on. They will insert themselves between you and the outside world to try and control your communications between friends and family.

So why would a Bishop allow one of the faithful to marry a known Heretic? Would you allow a friend to marry a known spousal abuser? Would you allow a known saboteur to become a part of your ship's crew? Would you allow your recruitment officer to admit a known AWOXer into your corporation, or a known spy into your fleet?

As we say in our scriptures. "To know the path but not to follow it, that is the greatest sin."

P.S. Please pardon the mixed metaphors. There are those within my congregation that are baseliners as well as capsuleers.

My thanks to you, Cadet Sariah. I often feel that words fail me at times. I am after all, a simple Ni-Kunni, once of the Merchants. During a time of great need, our family were called to help the Empire to deliver medicines, food and supplies to the more remote and inaccessible regions on my planet. Our animal drawn carts may have seemed crude, but they proved helpful in reaching areas where the Imperial Hover trucks could not reach.

In fact, as our own unique way of delivering the truth of the scripture to the mostly illiterate farmers of those communities, our family would often have, well, puppet shows, morality plays, from the back of our supplies wagon. It sounds very silly I know, to have puppet shows based on the lives of the Saints. However, it did bring great comfort and delight to those at a time when they most needed it.

There were some, particularly the Amarrian faithful, who regarded our puppet shows with a measure of disdain. We were, after all, simple uneducated Ni-Kunni merchants only recently freed from slavery. Yet, we were now playing out the lives of the Saints using hand puppets we crafted ourselves from whatever we could find. Sack cloth, Bardo beans, twigs and fur and so on. I can certainly see how some of the faithful might interpret that as mockery instead of devotion.

This is why I often started our puppet shows with the story of the statue of Saint Junip and the Juggler.



Statue of Saint Junip

That was always my son's favorite story as a child, as it was my favorite story as a child. You see, even those counted as the least among us, whether we are slaves, peasants, merchants or jugglers, have our contributions noted and appreciated by God and all the Saints.

Why, sometimes in my darkest hours when I question God's divine plan for me, I simply remind myself that God has a sense of humor, and likes to play jokes on me sometimes.

*Sob*

My son!

*His hand reaches to the flask around his neck that contains a human tongue. He turns away from the camera for a moment, then gasps and sobs.*

*Wipes away his tears as he looks towards the screen. He seems to be crying tears of joy.*

My thanks to you Sir, for your kind words and your donation of ISK to help those most in need.