A Discourse on Morality and Heresy
by Sachiko Yuasa, 229

There has been much discussion lately of the Code of Blood and how that deals with honor. However, there is little being circulated on morality, a different philosophy.

What is morality?

A moral code is different from an honor code in that one follows it in self-sacrifice and to the dedication of others, rather than oneself, one's name, or even one's family. Highly moral individuals never receive the same awe as those with famous honor. Nor should they. Morality is sought for the sake of saving others, not for oneself.

A glimpse of strong morality can be seen from Paraceln's Oath. Whosoever swears to Paraceln's Oath promises to never harm anyone who has the Light inside him or her. As Church doctrine dictates that everyone has the Light inside her/him - noble and commoner, man and woman - this Oath is a far tighter stricture than the Code of Blood. While the Code of Blood is specific in terms of time and place, allowing immoral individuals to abuse its spirit by keeping to the letter, morality is more encompassing and involves motives as well as actions.

Is it possible to be a moral person and not swear to Paraceln's Oath? Of course. And this is the path most Church initiates and priests follow. The moral path is a path of righteousness, of caring for peasants and the people, and of seeking out and defeating the dangers that threaten Komaru. Then, for a definition of morality: Morality involves protecting and healing the weak and innocent and, in the case of the Illuminators and others, bringing the Light's judgment to the guilty.

Sometimes protecting the innocent and judging the guilty is the same act, as when our siblings in the Hawks of Light brought death upon the dark sorcerer, Garnet Touraine. Sometimes, as when a theurgist heals a peasant near death, moral actions involve only healing an innocent.

Who are the innocent, the weak, and the guilty? The weak can be those who have fallen or who have turned away from the Promise of the Light, yet still have the ability and inclination to pursue it. The innocent have not fallen, and the guilty have fallen and cannot be saved.

Who are the guilty, then?

At least three points help us to understand the differences between the innocent, the guilty, and the weak. In understanding these points, one may also understand the nature of a fair and just punishment. For example, small wrongs do not merit great punishment; nor should a person who lacks agency be punished for something out of her control.

1) In order to be guilty, a person must have agency.

Agency is when a person can act out of free will. Lack of agency is why people who are coerced to do great wrongs should not bear the full responsibility for their crimes. If a lord forces a peasant to murder another, that peasant has no agency; the peasant is not truly guilty. On the whole, peasants are less culpable than nobles because they often lack agency. They have less control over their lives, and thus should be treated generously and compassionately as much as possible. Most children are less culpable than parents for the same reason. Also, those under coercive magics do not have agency.

The issue of agency calls into focus the issue of power differentials within Komaru. A noble may make a contract with a male peasant to murder him in exchange for freeing his family, but given that peasants have less agency than nobles, it is not a moral contract (regardless of whether it is considered honorable and fair). Therefore, contracts and arrangements that involve the potential for great harm to come to those of lesser power must be called into question as per their morality.

2) A person must also have committed a wrong.

This point should seem obvious. Children of murderers have committed no wrong themselves, and should not be killed in punishment for their parents' misdeeds. Wrongs that can be clearly agreed upon are murder, rape, theft (to differing degrees), coercion (be it magical or otherwise), and otherwise most cases of using magic against the will of a person. A general ordering her soldiers into battle is not using coercion, although the structure of power allows it, because soldiers have voluntarily put themselves in a position where they will follow.

One of the most splendid things about our modern magics is that they allow the Hawks of Light to assess whether a person has truly committed a wrong by understanding the true tale from the lips of the suspect. It seems only the most moral thing for the Hawks to do this, in order to be sure that they have caught the right person.

It is worth noting that even those who have committed a crime and have had the agency (free will) to do so may be treated with compassion. If there is hope for their souls, if they can be brought to the Light, then it is clear that they are the weak rather than the guilty. One clear way to tell the weak from the guilty brings us to our third point.

3) In addition to free will and performing the crime itself, the person must have had the motivation to harm.

An extension of the agency issue is that the person must have committed the crime intentionally. If a man accidentally kills his sister's husband in a brawl, he was certainly doing something on purpose, but the target (or end) was not what he intended. He should be treated with compassion and not punished as harshly as a cold-blooded killer.

The weak usually do not wish to cause harm, but are simply misguided in following some higher mission. A person who freely kills a person they believe to be a threat to their family has destroyed a life, but they are not a murderer per se; they were attempting to protect; they acted with the intention of self-defense. As such, they should be treated with gentleness and as if they were weak, rather than guilty.

When judging any crimes, it is important to keep in mind the agent (person), the act itself, but also the circumstances surrounding the act, the instrument, the end motive or object, and how the act was performed (i.e., gently or violently). All of these pieces of information can have an impact on judging whether the person in question is weak or guilty, and in formulating a fair and moral punishment - whether meted out by the Church, the Royal Council, the Crown, or individual nobles.

One of the duties of the Church is the eradication of Heresy. Clearly, morality and heresy are linked concepts. There has been much debate as to the nature of Heresy in the past years.

What is heresy?

Heresy was, until recently, thought of as any sort of magic, occult study, or pursuit that followed teachings outside of the Light or brought a threat to the Light. I would propose that in this day and age of magical exploration - and the import of it - a more specific definition of heresy should be adopted. For example, within the past twenty years we have seen Twilight Crux magic, once heresy, be embraced by the Church. Why did that happen, and how can we rationally and carefully allow this sort of thing to happen in the future?

I would propose that the goals of the Church, as a moral organization, are manifold: a) Bring the teachings of the Light to the people of Komaru. b) Protect and heal the innocent and weak members of Komaru. c) Judge and punish the spiritually guilty of Komaru. d) Protect Komaru from the threats of those who seek to use occult knowledge for immoral ends, particularly threats external to Komaru (the Aten, etc.)

These dictates do not contradict what has gone before, or what our honored prophets have said. It simply clarifies that the Church is a moral organization, interested in the morality of people.

It also allows us to assess and take into the Light new magics related to protecting the people of Komaru, as is necessary and can be accomplished with care. Many (but by no means all) magics in and of themselves are amoral: they do not have a moral stance of their own. Some do, of course. Magics that demand by their own nature the death or coercion of innocents are quite suspect! Therefore, a person who explores magic is not, in and of himself, a Heretic. If he uses magic for immoral (guilty, see above) means, then he is most certainly a Heretic. However, just the fact that Heretic Physicians may be brought into the Church and the Light means that we can convert the weak. We can make magic controlled and less dangerous to society. Let us take three possible cases of Heresy to see where Heretics may in fact be "weak", and not "guilty".

If a Heretic plots murder against the Duke of the land and the overthrow of the Church, but it can be established that this Heretic can be returned to the Light, then death need not be the final judgment. However, one must be very careful; a Heretic who deliberately plots the downfall of the Church may not be willing to accept the Light, and must be dealt with accordingly.

For another example, let us take an unrepentant Minamet who practices ancestor worship. The details of ancestor worship should be understood fully, and it should be determined whether this practice is contradictory to the Light or not. Especially, this practice should be examined to determine its use in the protection of the Realm. If ancestor worship involves dealings with and obeisance to monstrous snake-people who represent a threat to the land, then it is clearly Heresy. Particularly if it is practiced to the exclusion of Theurgy and meditations for the Light! However, if it allows a mechanism for our safety, and it can help its followers find the Light, then it should be examined with a more compassionate eye.

Finally, consider the example of groups - such as the Issora or the Gitany - who have long been considered Heretics. If they were to share their knowledge with the Church, and such knowledge is decided to be pure and useful in the protection of the land, then should their followers be hunted? Certainly not. What if they were to embrace the Light, clamoring to study Theurgy? Then they should most certainly be welcomed into the fold. What is more, many Issora and Gitany do not have much knowledge of the occult. Should these poor ignorant people be hunted as Heretics? Of course not. It is not moral to punish innocents for imagined wrongdoings!

Within these descriptions of Heresy and Morality lies a true path that both occult-interested Church members and the more conservative Hawks of Light can walk. Both are unified in their desire for a strong Church that can protect Komaru. There will always be an important place for both those who can assess the purity of new magics and those who can root out true heresy and can fight threats to Komaru. As two eyes, they are both important for the perception of the depth of the world. There are so many threats to Komaru from the outside, it is vital that these two eyes work together to see and combat the Darkness. In some cases, such as in the case of the Seige of Sirocco, only magic alien to the Church can be used to protect the realm. But should these magics be used for immoral ends? Of course not. They should be assessed by the Church to be seen if they are pure, and then controlled for proper use.

With a clarification of both morality and heresy, the Church can continue on as a strong, unified organization, intent on the protection of Komaru.