Multireal (72 page)

The creeds were founded with a noble goal in mind: to promulgate the
spread of ethics and responsibility strictly through scientific and
rational means.

Organized religion had largely disappeared into the Pharisee Territories with the chaos and destruction promulgated by the crazed
prophets known as the Three Jesuses in the early years of the Reawakening. Wanton destruction in the name of God by New Alamo and the
subsequent splinter Texan governments contributed to this as well.

But with the rise of Sheldon Surina's science of bio/logics, many
began to fear an intellectual imbalance. The great minds of the day
traded horrified what-if scenarios about a society devoid of any moral
compass. The atmosphere soon became ripe for a return to spirituality.

The cryptic hermit known only as the Bodhisattva filled that gap.
He began wandering through Europe and Asia gathering followers in
the early 100s, much as the Three Jesuses had done throughout the
previous century. But the philosophy he preached about the search for
Objective Truth was nonviolent, nonjudgmental, and extremely personal in nature. He allowed an administrative organization to coalesce
around him almost as an afterthought.

Other organizations quickly took up the model that the Bodhisattva had put in motion. Some, like Creed Elan and Creed Dao,
were old institutions that simply found in creedism a convenient struc ture suitable for modern times; others took inspiration from the Bodhisattva and developed new philosophies that appealed to a wide body
of followers.

The Creeds Coalition was founded in 237 as a means of formalizing the
interaction between the large (and still growing) number of creed
organizations. Most creeds participate in and fund the operations of the
Coalition voluntarily. There are a number of creeds who have refused to
join the Coalition and are thus not bound by its rules and regulations.
But even those creeds that do not officially belong to the Coalition often
recognize its authority because of its long history of good deeds.

The major functions of the Coalition are to keep interactions
between the creeds civil and to act as a lobbying and advocacy group
to the various government bodies. The Coalition also funds a number
of minor creeds and engages in various philanthropic enterprises of
its own.

To a lesser extent, the Coalition is assigned the duty of enforcing
certain creed bylaws (such as the Objectivv truth-telling oath and the
Conscientious pledge of resource preservation). However, considering
how fearful the Coalition is of favoritism, its oversight is little more
than a formality.

Leadership of the Creeds Coalition is an executive committee
selected by all participating members, with membership tending
toward heavy representation by the major seven (listed below). Chairmanship of the executive committee is a two-year commitment and is
currently being held by the bodhisattva of Creed Enlighten.

One important bylaw of the Coalition is that none of its members
are allowed to formally restrict devotees from pledging to multiple
creed organizations. (In practice, however, some creeds do hold such
restrictions.)

While there are literally tens of thousands of accredited creeds in the
Coalition's rolls, the number with any significant amount of influence
is relatively small.

Creed Bushido (founding date unknown) was one of the products of
the Autonomous Revolt. The creed was initially a martial organization
whose aims were to preserve Japanese culture and tradition during a
time of great upheaval. As the Reawakening got into full swing and
the Creeds Coalition came into existence, the creed softened many of
its stances and began incorporating the remnants of many other
Eastern cultures into its rituals and traditions.

Creed Conscientious' (founded 322 YOR) goal is to conserve the
world's computational resources. The creed is among the newest in the
Coalition, and its membership is quite small (around twelve thousand). But increasing concerns about computational resources in recent
years have brought the creed an abundance of favorable press and a disproportionate influence on Data Sea policy.

Creed Dao (founding date unknown), like Creed Bushido, also carries the torch of many of the ancient Eastern religious cultures. Some
have likened its philosophies of peace, tolerance, and introspection to
the teachings of Daoism and Buddhism. The creed tends to be very
insular (if not downright secretive) in its beliefs, however, and therefore its tenets are not well understood by the population at large. The
creed's color is bronze.

Creed Elan (founded as the Elan Society in 39), among the oldest
and most venerable of the creeds, was originally known as one of the
most generous and self-effacing. In recent decades, it has largely
become the creed of the moneyed elite. And while the organization's
critics delight in pointing out the hypocrisy of some of its members,
Creed Elan still devotes far more capital to philanthropic endeavors than any other creed. The creed has no single leader, but is run instead
by a consortium of major and minor bodhisattvas. Its colors are red and
purple.

Creed Objectivv (founded 108) promotes the search for ultimate
truth in the universe. Its members take what is known as the Objective truth-telling oath, where they promise not to lie and to devote
their lives to seeking truth. Founded by a mystical figure known only
as the Bodhisattva-the first creed leader to take that title-the organization continues to be run by a single leader. As of this writing,
Objectivv membership runs in the low hundred millions. A good
percentage of that number consists of "associate" members who are
sympathetic to the creed's aims but do not pledge the truth-telling
oath). The symbol of Creed Objectivv is a black-and-white swirl.

Creed Surina (founded 116) was founded by Prengal Surina and his
companion Ladaru to honor Sheldon Surina's memory. The creed's official purpose is to promote "spiritual discovery and mutual enlightenment through technology," which most observers interpret as humanizing scientific progress. Some critics contend that such a goal might
have been appropriate for the rampant Luddism of the early days of the
Reawakening, but has lost its relevance. The creed has maintained a
large membership (two billion) largely through the charisma (and
money) of the Surinas. Creed Surina's colors are blue and green.

Creed Thassel (founded 268) began as a popular movement dedicated to the "virtues of selfishness" and run by the extreme libertarian
philosopher Kordez Thassel. The creed's rituals were believed to be
dangerous and mystical for many years, until drudge reporting
revealed the mystique as something of a hoax. The Thasselians turned
to a more conventional philosophy of hard-core individualism afterward, and the creed has been operating low-key ever since. Creed
Thassel keeps its membership rolls private, but the drudges estimate
its membership somewhere south of a million. The symbol for Creed
Thassel is three parallel vertical lines.

Other creeds with significant membership rolls and some small
amount of public influence include Creed Autonomous, Creed
Enlighten, Creed Libertas, Creed Sacrificial, and Creed Tzu.

The whole of humanity has never agreed on a single form of government, but with the so-called L-PRACG system of governance, it can
be said that the race has largely agreed on a common framework for government.

After the collapse of the ancient nation-states during the Big Divide,
people turned to locally organized civic groups to provide the basic
services of government. Often these ad hoc groups came together to
solve a particular issue and ended up taking on matters of security,
trade, and justice by default. Basic principles varied wildly from culture to culture and place to place.

Eventually, as civilization built itself back up from the ravages of
the Autonomous Revolt, civic groups began to band together. Larger
groups had greater collective bargaining power and were able to specialize on certain aspects of governance. Thus was born the Local Political Representative Association of Civic Groups, more colloquially
known as the L-PRACG (pronounced ELL [crag).

In modern society, L-PRACGs are responsible for the day-to-day
services of government, as well as security, taxation, and regulation.
Often L-PRACGs are organized around a central tenet (such as governmentalism or libertarianism), culture (Japanese, West African, Texan)
or geographical area (the Shenandoah and Harper L-PRACGs). Other
L-PRACGs use formulas or free-market tenets to determine the blend of services they provide. While some L-PRACGs are localized in one
particular place, the vast majority are not.

Nothing prohibits citizens from joining more than one government at a time. (This freedom was in fact codified into law by the
efforts of High Executive Toradicus in the year 145.) Most people
today hold three or four simultaneous citizenships and rotate to new
governments every few years. Likewise, in a free-market system,
L-PRACGs are constantly shifting their policies and priorities to
attract new members for their tax base.

It's not uncommon to subscribe to a local L-PRACG for basic
neighborhood services; a vocational L-PRACG to streamline one's
work life; and a personal L-PRACG that practices the tenets of one's
particular creed or culture.

Founded in 143 through the tireless lobbying efforts of Prengal Surina
and High Executive Toradicus, the Congress of L-PRACGs was
intended to be an organization that could deal with the Prime Committee as an equal.

The Congress's main function has turned out to be the settling of interL-PRACG conflict. Given that there are tens of thousands of L-PRACGs
spread throughout human space, the administrative aspects of coordinating
laws and dealing with contradictions between them are formidable.

Most of the Congressional representatives are elected directly by
L-PRACG citizens, but some representatives are still appointed by
L-PRACG management. As of this writing, there are over 2,200 representatives on the Congress, headed by a single speaker. Given its
large membership, the Congress tends to be slow to make decisions
and often professes opinions far outside the mainstream of public
opinion. This in turn means that the Congress generally has a difficult
time commanding the drudges' attention.

Since the ascendancy of Len Borda to the head of the Defense and
Wellness Council in 302, the Congress's power has been limited. Governmentalists loyal to Borda controlled the speakership and a slim
majority of seats until very recently. In late 359, the governmentalist
speaker was indicted in an embezzlement scandal and ousted in favor
of radical libertarian Khann Frejohr. Boosted by this scandal, the libertarians recaptured the majority of Congressional seats as well.

The major governing body of the centralized government is the Prime
Committee. However, since so many of the traditional functions of
government have become the province of the L-PRACGs, the Committee is largely a legislative body and an umbrella organization to the
various branches of centralized government.

The Prime Committee is divided into twenty-three voting and six
nonvoting groups known as bailiwicks. Voting members of the Prime
Committee include the bailiwicks of:

Congress of L-PRACGs (12 members)

Meme Cooperative (3)

Creeds Coalition (2)

orbital colonies (2)

Dr. Plugenpatch (1)

GravCo (1)

TeleCo (1)

The Vault (1)

Nonvoting members of the Prime Committee include the bailiwicks of:

Islanders (2 members)

Data Sea networks (1)

Pharisees and other unconnectibles (1)

The Prepared (1)

TubeCo (l)

The number of representatives on the Committee from business
interests has always been a concern of libertarians. They charge that no
government in the history of humanity has ever been so slanted toward
the concerns of its business class; governmentalists counter that this
slant in fact provides for a great degree of stability in what would otherwise be a very rocky system. In 200, High Executive Par Padron took
action on the libertarian complaints by arranging the passage of a resolution decreeing that the Congress of L-PRACGs will always hold a
one-member majority on the Prime Committee.

There is a growing movement by the libertarians for a nonvoting
representative from the various groups of the diss. Many expect that
this will be passed into law within the decade.

The world's largest military and intelligence organization, the Defense
and Wellness Council, was founded in 107 by the newly formed Prime
Committee. Technically it falls under the jurisdiction and oversight of
the Committee. Its single high executive and six lieutenant executives
are appointed directly by the Committee.

In practice, however, the Defense and Wellness Council has been
the dominant voice in governmental affairs for many years. Its research
budget alone far outstrips that of the entire Prime Committee by many
orders of magnitude. Not helping matters is the fact that the Committee has a history of appointing strong-willed, independent thinkers
to the post of high executive.

The Council's peacekeeping officers have a complicated relationship with the tens of thousands of private L-PRACG security forces
throughout human space. In years past, the Council's ubiquitous
troops acted mostly as backup and support for private L-PRACG security; the Council's pledge of neutrality kept its officers distinctly above
the fray of inter-L-PRACG conflict. Under Len Borda's tenure, however, the Council has moved away from its supporting role and become
a force acting on behalf of the central government itself.