Intergalactic Summit

I keep hearing that capsuleers will never do anything good for creation. I keep hearing that we are animals who are driven solely by greed, by lust, by the will to destruction. I keep hearing that Amarrian capsuleers, especially, are driven by these things.

I do not believe this for a second. I have opened the Majest Theological Institute to prove them wrong.

If you are a believer in the faith, and you feel the same calling that I do to making creation a better place, we have just opened our doors.

Our mission is as follows:

1) Teach, and debate a capsuleer-centric theology based on the scripture, service to God and the Emperess.

2) To go out into creation and spread the word of God in a respectful, helpful way.

3) To follow the dictates laid out for us by the Prophet St. Juria, when she called on the Amarr to be worthy, to make creation a thing to be proud of.

I will use this thread to post updates on MAJTH and our activities.

Fly safe, Summit.

Sir,
I appreciate you indulging my questions tonight on the Summit. If non-Amarrians use decorum and respect, are we allowed to pose questions on this thread on topics pertaining to Amarrian theology?

I wish you the best of luck. To convince me of the point you're trying to, you will surely need it.

I think we need to keep this on topic. Thank you Andreus and Lyris for your support, grudging though it might be in cases.

On the inadequacy of language

Last night I had a fascinating discussion with a Caldari pilot who wished to understand the purpose of this venture. After working through the inevitable questions about profit and whether or not I was altruistic in my aims, we came to the topic of God and my belief therein.

Of course, here, the topic broke down. I did not have the words to properly explain to this pilot why I had faith, and why to my mind it was entirely logical to have faith. Of course she would believe me to be ruled by emotion and illogical thinking! I am sure Mr. Ixiris would say the same thing.

Those in the cluster who do not have faith have trouble understanding us and what exactly it means when an Amarrian pilot says that we 'believe in God'; Intellectually, they understand that we believe in some sort of supreme being, many of them may have even read portions of the scripture and so, intellectually, they may have an idea of what we believe God to be like.

This is still not understanding, and this is our challenge as proponents and spreaders of the faith.

There is something else to the belief in God, something that goes beyond lowly intellectual understanding. Trying to explain your faith using the inadequate terms afforded to us by language and translators is trying to explain your faith through grunts, whistles and hand gestures when you need poetry to properly convey the concept.

In the past, this issue was solved with slavery. Slavery as a method to reclaiming is no longer possible, and I shall go into why this is (for my more conservative Amarrian brothers and sisters) and what the benefits it was meant to convey other than cheap labour (for my non-Amarrian readers) at another time.

It is our duty, in the Majesty Theological Institute, to find a new way of expressing the necessary poetry.

Students who wish to study further on this should look closely to the Book of Speaker Lamia, which is one of several scriptural texts with a large portion of its teachings presented in mathematical formula.

Language, as a barrier, must be overcome when dealing with people who do not yet share your faith. Patience is the primary virtue that should be adopted here.

I thought that was your main job these days.


Good luck with your endeavor Tiberious

Brother Merdaneth, I have no need to be careful, as I am not disloyal. Should anyone come to that conclusion I will be sorely vexxed!

Captain Numenor, as I said last night, different authors have dealt with these concepts in different ways. Some have chosen to forgo language entirely. Others use metaphorical concepts to explain something parallel, and some have chosen to put the truths they wish to explain in the form of the writing rather than in the words themselves.

Still others have simply decided not to care, and just assume that the reader will be able to follow along.

My apologies, Brother Blake. Posting while distracted.

On Hardship

Those who have read and understood Scripture will know of the importance the Amarr place on Hardship. Those who have read scripture but not understood it will only know of the extant place for suffering.

Suffering makes us stronger. As a woman who taught me much was fond of saying, 'Endure; in enduring, grow strong'. The True Amarr suffered when we wandered the deserts of Athra for millenia. Suffering serves as the scourge, violently ripping away weakness and sin.

However, it is not all there is. If all there was was suffering, and if only suffering were part of God's plan for us, humanity would have never developed as a species to the point where we are the only life-form that has become capable of surviving the death of our star and planet, whatever those may be. We would not be farming, let alone plying our trade amongst the stars.

No, it is more fair to say that God wants us to suffer hardship, not suffering. Hardship implies a challenge, a test. Something we can overcome. Hardship is exercise. Suffering is just the application of the principle of 'That which does not kill us only makes us stronger'.

This is why MAJTH, the other day, shipped some Wheat into the Republic through Matari channels, when we learned that certain areas of the republic are suffering through a famine. We have provided those areas with some temporary relief of their suffering, so that they can work towards solving the ultimate causes of their hunter themselves.

It is my belief that men with empty bellies will not spend time contemplating God, unless that hunger is the result of a direct and concious choice.

Related, MAJTH is also sponsering the 'Majesty Theological Institute endowment for theoretical and practical sciences'. 5 million ISK has been converted to baseliner currency and set aside as a scholarship for Amarrian doctoral students. Each year, for five years, fifty promising up-and-coming scientists will be awarded the equivalent of 20,000 ISK to fund their work in theoretical and practical science development in the fields of physics, chemistry, and biology.

If these numbers sound low to you, then you should begin to understand the massive wealth held by capsuleers. 5 million ISK, an hours work for even a modest capsuleer, can fund scientific advancement at an incredible rate.

And there are those who would have you believe that all you can do is blow things up.

Brother Blake was talking about the fact that I managed to mistake him for Merdaneth, Lyn.

As to the rest of your post, that is possible. I am inadequate to the task set before me, as we all are. Still, have to give it a shot, right?

However, I believe that the issue is one of not having the correct tools with your average layperson not of the faith. I'll get into this further in a future posting, specifically the one where I talk about slavery and what it got right, and where it goes horrifically wrong.

May I ask what your stance is on those who do not wish to believe in your God and your Faith?