I may actually just skip this, as we have lots of themes.
For Semati and Miriam, I should have semati's follower, Isaiah, talk to her more about what it means that Miriam isn't looking ofr a new husband, in Aramite cultural context.
comments:
Storyseed --zebediah,
One of the mountain tribes sees Agalma, begin worshiping him as a direct intercessor to (mountain, God). Akakios gets kiddenapped and enshrined. Agalma's followers start latching onto everything he says, may do bad things because of A) their own misinterpretations, or 
his limited understanding of organics.
Legalists vs. Incarnates (aka "You can take this book and . . .") --rigel,
"People are people so why should it be / you and I should get along so awfully" - Depeche Mode
Everyone's got their little quirks. Hopes. Dreams. Fears. Beliefs. Some people found religious sects based on them. Sometimes these sects become popular. They draw more people with the same quirks. And so it goes, and so it grows.
There are other things that bind people together, however. Friendship, for example, or family. Blood thicker than water and all that.
But what happens when the bloodline and the belief come into conflict? I don't know, but it's certainly what's going on with Ada, our Incarnate, and Semati, our Legalist.
Are peoples' beliefs colored by the religious orientation they follow, or do they choose their religious orientation based on their beliefs? That particular chicken and egg is hard to sort through, but the order doesn't really matter. What matters is how belief colors communication, which colors perception, perpetuating belief.
Ada has managed to offend Semati deeply, and for good reason. "Oh, you can take that book and shove it." Not a good thing to say to a Legalist. So what could have driven her to say something so inflammatory? To Ada, at least, only something equally wounding. And Semati has managed, through her wording, to injure Ada as much as Ada has now offended Semati. For an Incarnate, Self and Belief are the same. An insult to one is an insult to the other.
So when Semati makes oblique comments to the effect of, "I realize you seem to follow this crazy faith, but does it mean you have to do (insert unwise / crazy / ill-informed act) too?" While she may not realize it, Semati has managed to wound her sister through a thousand paper cuts of the heart. When Semati criticizes her, it is as though she is saying to her, "While I love you, I do not respect you. I do not honor you." And for someone whose sense of self and sense of the divine are so tied, it is as though she insults Heaven, Earth and Self in one blow.
Not a very gracious act, thinks Ada, at least not in the God-given meaning of grace.
And for someone who seems so very preoccupied with the WWGD argument, citing what Ada sees as pages upon pages of policy or civic ordinances to find the Right answer, she appears to be missing the point. At least to Ada. She doesn't believe in judging. She doesn't believe in tearing down others' beliefs.
She does, however, believe in telling someone she considers judgmental that they can take a long walk off a very short pier.
Sadly, that person was her sister.
This could get ugly.
Legalists vs. Incarnates (aka "You can take this book and . . .") --
- From Semati's perspective:
She's always had a little trouble understanding Incarnates, although she knows intellectually that they're just as much seekers after God as she is. The Revelatory path, at least, is trying to hear God's voice; the Incarnates, though, seem to be focused on hearing their own voice. Sure, there are some interesting theological reasons that one could use the portion of oneself made in God's image and reflecting God's intent to gain understanding, but it still seems, well, weird.
The problems started to show up when we faced down Jariel. Semati, Miriam, and Izakar all saw the mockery that he was trying to make of God, and the deep sin he'd fallen into. Certainly, it was good to understand some of what drove him to that sin, but there was no question in anyone 's mind that what he was doing was Wrong..... except Ada's. She defended him. The indefensible. The Fallen One. She very clearly was drawn to him. Which made trusting her instincts... hard. Up until then, for all that her Incarnate path was hard to understand, Sameti believed it was a good and correct thing for Ada, and to be respected and learned from. But clearly, something was wrong, whether it was Ada's judgment or a problem with the Path of Incarnation or a problem with her particular Incarnations.
In and of itself, fine. People make mistakes. They're human. But she wouldn't listen. She wouldn't see. She ignored everything the people around her were telling her about why Jariel was wrong, and why he was dangerous. And she didn't even acknowledge the disagreement, didn't open herself up to a reasoned and logical discussion, or even an emotional one. It was all about her-- her instincts, her beliefs, her... error. And there wasn't any room for doubt, even when it was blindingly obvious that everyone around her thought that she was wrong.
That's dangerous. It's one thing to trust your instincts, but it's something else entirely to follow them blindly to Hell. She doesn't even seem to realize that humanity is not only a reflection of the Divine to be revered, but also a reflection of the sins and misjudgments of our forefathers. Free will gives us not only the ability but the instinct to do wrong, or we'd never really be making choices. But somehow, her Incarnate Humanity doesn't include self-correction or self-doubt, those essential tools that every human being needs to stay on the path towards God and not be led astray. And therefore... though Sameti still loves her sister, she's very, very worried.
And this latest thing? To throw Sameti's deepest faiths in her face and insult the very Word of God The problem is even worse than Sameti realized. Insults said in the heat of passion are often overstatements, but they do usually seem to be reflections of general opinions. And this suggests that Ada does not respect God's Word, or the Law of Enoch. The very Laws that hold society together, and let her practice her Companion's profession in safety. What's more, it throws into doubt whether Ada even acknowledges an external and absolute morality at all. Does she even believe in Right and Wrong, or has she decided those are irrelevant too, frozen and impersonal concepts of a blind and unfeeling law?
Sameti would never want to hurt Ada.... but if she's really gone so far as to discard morality in favor of trusting in blind human instinct, she's going to hurt herself and others. That would be a severe danger, not only to bodies but to souls. If only there were any way to tell whether or not Semati is reading this right... to act without proof would be a grave, grave sin of pride and perhaps forever destroy her family, but to allow her sister to follow the Fallen Angel's path to Hell is unthinkable.
Legalists vs. Incarnates (aka "You can take this book and . . .") --ariels,
(Sorry, forgot to log in before)
One more thing: Semati isn't sure whether she's more afraid for Ada, or of her.
Where I would like to see Madu's spirituality go --simplewordsmith,
Madu spent the first thirty years of his life denying aspects of who he was as in individual. When he finally broke from this negation of self, he did so somewhat dramatically. He is slowly coming to the realization that over the past two years he has been negating different aspects of who he is as an individual. I'd like to see Madu learning that negation, whatever form it takes, wherever it comes from, is inherently wrong. As he does this he will realize more about the Path he treads: the distinctions people claim exist aren't really there. God is whole and one. When you try to pidgeonhole God, you deny some of what he is, because people can not grasp the infinite. Negation is rejection of God in some of his myriad emanations. Except there can be no difference between the emanations. Madu and the other Lilim display this with their ability to synthesize the magic of the Legalists with that of the Incarnates with that of the Inspired. Understanding God requires acceptance of reality, all of it, unconditionally. Though this is likely impossible for mortals, to strive towards anything else is to miss the mark. Note: More information on specific sorts of events to work towards this end will be added at some point. Others are welcome and encouraged to participate.
"Are you happy?" --simplewordsmith, Mon, 07 Nov 2005 14:05:29 -0500 reply
This is the sort of question that Madu hasn't really asked himself. As simple a question as it is, it could be a catalyst for Madu's re-examination of his current state. Similar questions that confront Madu's notion of how his life is supposed to be going could have similar effects.
Magical contradictions --simplewordsmith, Mon, 07 Nov 2005 14:16:28 -0500 reply
Since Magic comes from God, apparent magical contradictions can spur discussion and questions of the accuracy of our understanding of God. This can spur Madu's understanding of his own path as well as the idea of the nature of God and the world I would like Madu to progress towards.
Magical contradictions --ariels, Mon, 07 Nov 2005 16:15:41 -0500 reply
Just as a note: As someone playing a character focused on seeking Absolute Truth, I would like to put in a strong preference for apparent contradictions, instead of actual contradictions-- things where there's at least the possibility of it being resolved within the world, and where that possibility is there for the characters to find. I want to make sure that attempts to create interesting complexity don't accidentally rule out Legalism as a path towards truth; it shouldn't be provable that Absolute Truth doesn't exist.