Local date in Tamora (Islamic calendar): 16th Dhul Qadah, 1440h (Friday)
Special live transmission: day one of the Synod of the Church
His Holiness, the Supreme Ayatollah, presided over the Synod
It is our great pleasure to be transmitting live the first day of the Synod of the Church. For those of you that have not had the chance to watch TINS, the Church of Mani has conveyed the yearly synod and will debate whether the idea presented by Imam Ashan Kayani in his book, “Who is the Kwisatz Haderach? And how is he related to Manism”, in which he claims there is a connection between Bene Gesserit and Manism, are in fact heresy. The BG have offered to send a scholar Professor
Ruth Hipkiss which will answer the question of the members of the Synod helping them better assess the situation. The Synod will see attending two hundred and fifty Ayatollahs, the five Grand Ayatollahs and the Supreme Ayatollah. For us who believe strongly in the word of the Prophet is hard to be more excited.
For the first time the Church of Mani has managed to secure a series of agreements allowing our transmission to be aired live in : Pramoria, Socram, Clysperis, Pardclinnia (radio only), Quintelia (radio only), Phuebra, Royal Seleucid and Zimalia. So for those of you watching in those countries, TINS is sending its best wished to you. Also, the church is transmitting live on its website the event so there is also the option to watch there.
Spoiler: Manists around Mundus show The some of faithful in Phuebra gathered at the local temple where they would see live the first day of the Synod.
Our brothers in faith from Socram praying for the Synod.
Thanks to the efforts of MAZ( Manist Association of Zimalia) and TINS-Zimalia even our communities in rural Zimalia had the chance to see the event live.
As the session started, the cameras moved and showed Lady Hipkis dressed in Blue tunic jacket, the traditional wear for the women of their branch of their faith.
In the large auditorium approx. 250 Ayatollahs were present. After the formalities of presenting and greeting her were done, several of the members of the clergy proceeded to ask her questions:
-Lady Hipkiss, first allow me thank you for coming here today. I looked at your CV and I see you have degrees in Physics and even a PhD and you have worked in several fields relating to science and research, all nobles pursuits I am sure. I am however puzzled, what exactly qualifies you as a leading scholar on the Bene Gesserit faith? Where is your study of theology for example?
The very fact that I have dedicated my life to trying to understand the Universe qualifies me as a leading scholar of the Bene Gesserit faith. I am yet to find a religion on Mundus that does not claim it's God or Gods or other related concepts created the Universe. By trying to undertand the wonders of this creation we are studying theology. Now while on paper I have no degree in Theology that does not mean I do not understand the subject. I am a fully qualified Missionara Protectiva, that essentially means I had been groomed since the age of four to understand our faith, learn about other faiths and where possible look for common ground. The question you ask assumes that science and religion are seperate subjects, I merely see them as opposite sides of the same coin.
-Lady Hipkiss, I have tried to prepare myself for this synod as I am sure have many of my esteemed colleagues also tried to do the same but I have not found a lot on your faith. Why is there so little information on your faith out there? With all due respect, if your faith keeps its secrets how do we know what you are saying today is true in relation to your faith if we can’t verify it with other public texts of your faith?
The Bene Gesserit faith has no secrets. I believe the issue here isn't us keeping our secrets, we have none. The issue is that as we began to make use of the 19th centuries technology our abiliy to share our faith was snuffed out. Our homeland and main religious centres were damaged, now as a few books were disseminated before that time the focus of the Missionara and Mothers was on nations with similar cultural heritage as ourselves, Ui Cenneslaig, Canterbria, Scordisci, Seaforth, places like that. We managed to preserve many books smuggling them out of Kaitaine to new homes in our schools, the nature of which needed to be kept discreet. That knowledge is there and we'd be more than happy to see people of all faiths and none utilising them. I suspect in the coming years you may well see a huge increase in the publication of articles, journals, thesis and oher documents relating to the Bene Gesserit. However you are aware with some of the matters of our faith. You see we believe that all faiths contain some truth. Therefore a Bene Gesserit would view your own faiths Holy Books as part of our own. As too they would the bible, torah, the Odinist Saga's, the Books of Sessifet and the Codes of the Cult of Helus and so on. Our faith even contains little mini offshots, what we call Combireligions. These are where some Bene Gesserit believe two or more faiths hold the most truths and lean their practices towards them. For example there is one I know of called Mahayana Christianity. A hybrid of Mahayana Buddhism and Christianity, which presumably interpreted Jesus Christ as a Buddha, and therefore in turn the first incarnation of Kwisatz Haderach. If it is of use to this Synod I'm more than happy to arrange for scholars to have access to any of the Chapterhouse libraries.
- What I do not understand is how you can have a religion that cannot even decide if it’s monotheistic or polytheistic. Correct me if I wrong but your faith believes that even the knowledge whether there is one God or more has been lost so how exactly can you decide that what all up us in the room believe, except you of course, is not entirely true and by that I mean the Book of Mani and his teachings?
As I have said earlier a Bene Gesserit would not talk in so black and white terms as right and wrong. There is a truth to be found in all faiths and all religious books. As for determing whether we are monotheistic or polytheistic even faiths that you assume have a concetre answer to that have issues. Take for Christianity, faith believing in a single God, however their holy books create an issue. Their God gave a man called Moses ten rules, the first of which is "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me" If there is truly one God why would he need to instruct his people to put no other God before him? At one point even the people who are today the Jews worshipped more than one God, one religious text states Elijah said “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets" therefore in that time those people where Polythesic. Our standpoint therefore is just an acceptance of what many others faiths have struggled to accept. The true nature of God/Gods is clouded for many and all our faith does is seek to remove that cloud and in the meantime show our understanding of the situation.
(there were clear murmurs in the auditorium from the ayatollahs clearing expressing their disagreement over assumption that faiths do not know whether they are polytheistic or monotheistic) -I would like to know what “special insight” do your holy houses have to God’s powers and perhaps your Reverend Mother if that’s the case?
Since leaving Kaitaine this matter has become less clear cut. In the past it was believed that members of the Holy Houses were granted what I suppose you could claim to be specific and special powers. There were some said to be able to heal with a touch, others who could see the future, supreme intelligence, exceptional bravery, stamina, the list is endless. Some believe this is because of the way God/Gods have blessed them. Others believe it is because there is something unique about their bloodline that when in contact with the spice Melange untaps a potential all humans have within them. People believe that as supplies of Melange dwindle since we left Kaitaine the visible presentation of these insights, gifts etc become harder to view. As for the Reverned Mother it is not a position that is filled with the death of the old one, not like the Christian Pope. A Reverned Mother is one who must prove herself to have what we refer to as Pre-Cognition. To become just one of the four leading Mothers attacthed to a Holy House one must be shown to have the confidence of a large number of Mothers, but to then claim the title Reverned Mother and unite the faith a final step must be shown to be true. When one of the Mothers attached to a Holy House dies she is normally in the prescence of a Truthsayer, a Missionara and a Honored Mates. Any Mother may then come forward and tell these three the last words of the dead Mother. Only someone blessed with Pre-Cognition is capable of getting the words exactly, as such many who attempt fail miserably, in those cases the three witnesses must pick what was closest to the final words, but that generally rules someone out of being a Reverned Mother. Erin McGregor spoke the exact wording of Hannah McKey and therefore proved to the faithful that she is blessed with that Pre-Cognition, add to that the fact she is a distant member of the Harkonnen branch of the faith then her closeness to God/Gods is obvious for all the faithful to see.
- I am more interested in this “Kwisatz Haderach” as you call him. Will he be of your faith or could he be a member of a different faith like Manism?
For me to be able to answer this I must clear up this idea of you saying "your faith" or "Manism". If you imagine going to an art gallery and looking at an abstract painting you and me could well come away from that viewing with different interpretations, different emotions, different messages from the artist. Now that is how we see religion. We have merely looked at the image differently, maybe the light fell at a different angle, maybe the music playing that day in the gallery influenced us differently, but we saw the same canvas. So to ask what faith the Kwisatz Haderach will be is kind of misleading, he will be all faiths but could well be none. Let me explain. He has been on Mundus before, and he will come again. He has left clues to his existance but we need to interpret them, just like that painting in the gallery. When he does arrive he will finally unveil the truth and everyone will have made some mistakes. So Yes the Kwisatz Haderach will be Manist, and Christian, and Buddhist, Cultist and Odinist.
(At the BG professor mentioned the comparison with the art gallery and the abstract painter, there was a loud murmur of disapproval which only stopped when the Supreme Ayatollah made a sign with his hand to ask for silence)- Imam Ashan Kayani has proposed the theory that the Prophet Mani was an individual that had what your describe “godlike” attributes and thus it can be explained how he gave us the book of Mani. What do you think of this theory and would that make the Prophet a member of the BG faith in your opinion?
Let me return to my metaphor of the art gallery. Most of us are casual art gallery atendees, we may not know the historic ideas behind an image, or what techniques can symbolise on a canvas. An art critic or museum guide however can help with our understanding. A Prophet in many ways is like that guide. The Bene Gesserit believes that Prophets in many ways are similar to the Missionara, they have been able to discover knowledge, they have tried to assimilate it into a world view and then presented it for people to judge. Just as with modern peer review in Science history has shown a similar process for Prophets, only more deadly. Take for example Islam's Prophet Muhammed. He presents his newly gained understanding of the world to the people of Mecca and was promptly chased out of town. Over time he presented new knowledge, showed new examples and the like and soon the religion flourished far from Mecca. A Prophet is merely a mouthpiece for knowledge and can help bring about a new understanding of God/Gods, that is the job of a Bene Gesserit, to seek a better understanding. Therefore I consider all significant religious figures such as Prophet Mani, Jesus, Moses, Raimond Unasson etc to be parts of the Bene Gesserit faith, they maybe just at the time didn't realise it.
- Lady Hipkiss, you might be aware that our faith puts a great emphasis on respecting a strict set of rules from how you dress to what you eat and how and when you pray. As far as you re familiar with these rules are they against the teachings of your faith?
Our faith has no set rules on dress. The four branches of the Sisterhood are the closest you will find to a dress code. A black robe for Mothers, heads shaven. A Blue tunic jacket for Missionara, a military dress uniform for Truthsayers and a pair of Red trousers and long sleevless jacket for Honored Matres. Members of our faith are taught to however be respectful of local customs, so a Bene Gesserit visiting Tamora would follow these customs. As for other rules their are few over-riding rules other than to respect knowledge, seek it out actively in any form and naturally try and leave the world in a better position than we found it. After all some would say we are a Doomsday Cult, simply waiting for a great world ending disaster. We have Missionara who are Budislamic, they believe that essentially Buddha was the Kwizach Hadrach and set the initial rules for mankind and that the Prophet Muhammed, who was a reincarnation of the Kwizach Hadrach, came to codify more clearly to help prepare mankind for future disasters. As such those following Budislam are mostly vegeterian, don't drink and you will see their Missionara members wearing head-scarfs.
- Correct me if I am wrong but your faith believes “all faiths being connected as one just with different interpretations” doesn’t that mean that the BG believe only what is common in all faiths and disregard the rest? And if that’s the case then I would assume you believe very little since there is little in common between us the Helusians for example.
I believe my answers up to now will have explained this however please allow me to clarify. I believe that most religions, not all but most, follow some similar patterns. The first being that there is an ongoing struggle between good and evil. The Cultists believe that it is between those loyal to Helus and his first creation the Underlords. Odinists believe between the Gods and the Frost Giants. Christians between God and the Devil. We believe therefore that there is some great evil in the cosmos that must be faced and that by being a good person we can do that on a daily basis. Most religions also believe that there will be a great end time. Christians call in the End of Days, the Cultists believe one day the Underlords will return and the Odinists have Ragnorok. We too believe that such a day will come when we shall have to face this great evil and that we must prepare for this. Now naturally the manner of that evil, the events of its coming and the results differ but in the end we believe that an evil is coming, we must seek it out and prepare for its arrival. That I believe gives us lots therefore that we must believe in. If an evil so large it will destroy everything is coming then it must be faced not by just one or two people but by everyone. So we seek to work with others towards that end. Even within faiths there are things they don't agree upon. Does the bread of Christianity actually become the body of Christ within you? The Christian Church spent centuries debating that.Yes we find there are little commonalities between faiths but they do tend to agree on the big things such as good v's evil, a need to face evil, a need to lead a good life and that a kind of end of time is a possibility.
- If you say that our customs are not against your faith then how come we have not seen any of your faith wear the hijab for example? It is a practice that is found not just in our religion but also in the Islamic tradition. Is it because you haven’t studied Mannism and Islam?
Until 18 months ago you wouldn't have known who was Bene Gesserit and who was not. We were hiding in an effort to ensure the future of our faith. Imagine for example a pale skinned, red headed girl living in Claith, Ui Cenneslaig wearing a hijab yet she does not attend a mosque. Questions are going to be asked by friends, by neighbours and the like. You will find if you visit the Chapterhouses those who have a belief in the combi-religions wearing such items, the Missionara even has a blue headscarf wearable as part of their uniform. Our students study all religions as part of the basic curriculum at Chapterhouses, sadly not always taught by experts because of the situation we faced, however that I suspect will change. From that point on will people begin to wear it? Maybe. You must also remember that over 200 years our faith has faced rather unique challenges and as a religion with such a wide variation in belief it is not odd to think people will be influenced in terms of customs by local geography. Look at the Truthsayers in Kaitaine, the girls have been there less than 18 months and have now practically all taken to wearing keffiyeh around their necks. This is not because of any instruction or doctrine. Its because that's what the local of Seitch wear. I think you will find that as the Bene Gesserit seek to become part of everyday life wherever they live and as more of the Bene Gesserit begin heading to places like Tamora to learn more you may well see items such as the hijab increase in use.
After that last question, the Synod adjourned only to resume the next day when the debate will be done with the doors closed to be public. A representative of the Synod publically thanked the BG professor for accepting the invitation to attend and for answering the questions.
Dear viewers we have returned to our studio where Ayatollah
Arak has just arrived from the synod and can better tell us about how the session went.
-Thank you for being with us again. How did the question session go?
-Well I can’t speak for the Synod and giving an opinion now is not something to do. But I believe the public could see that the members were often not exactly pleased with the answers and at times offered vocal opposition. At times it seemed even that we were speaking different languages. The Bene Gesserit have a very unusual religion. But this synod is not about the them, it is about Imam Ashan Kayani and his theories, and that is what we will be discussing the next few days. We have not convened to the Bene Gesserit faith or to pass judgment on it and it’s important for viewers to understand that.
-This was also the first time that the Synod was broadcasted live in several countries. First of all, why these countries in particular? One would think that is because they are the ones with
significant Manist population but for example Vaguzia is missing.
-Well yes, we wanted to have an agreement with a national network in each country where the followers of our Prophet are present in a significant number. Thanks to TINS and its sisters channels, we had Zimalia and Clysperis covered but we had to also consider the other countries. We had some issues in Quintelia nad Parcinnia where we could only find a radio channel to broardcast but in Vaguzia we couldn’t even find that. The Helusian hold on that country is incredibly strong. The people were very polite and basically said “we are sorry, we understand but we don’t want any trouble” etc.
-But why would the Helsusians be against a live transmission of the Synod of our church?
-Because it goes at goes against the core of their narrative. Today, people from nine countries totaling a population of close to a billion people could see or hear live a“terrorist” and “slavers” debating, talking and generally acting like any other human being. They could see the BG professor talking without any mal thought about the Cult of Helus, they could see our church trying to understand and seek the truth. The Helusians and Rokkejima among others have painted us and the BG as monsters and when you show the people how we really are they begin to ask questions and that’s the last thing the Helusians want. I mean Rokkenjima broke all ties with us because Tamora recongnise the Theocrayc as the legimate government. People could see live just how “dangerous” the Bene Gesserit really are and can decide for themselves.
-You mentioned close to a billion in population but that’s not the total viewership of the event.
-No, not at all, it will be far, far lower than that of course. But hopefully people even outside of our faith will have looked at least a couple of minutes at the session and made up their mind for themselves.
-What should the people of our faith get from this first day and the Synod in general?
-That the faith is growing and that the Church is adapting to meet the needs of the faithful. Now, one in three that follow the Prophet lives outside Tamora and the church has to reach out to them, to be more engaged since that is what the faithful outside Tamora are asking us to do. I have talked to people aboard and they told me that they don’t want to join the mandatory military service as that could put them into the situation that they would be picking arms against Tamora. The brother in faith that asked me that was someone who had never been to Tamora before and had no connection other than our faith.
-How does the Church plan to reach out?
-It all depends on the nation. While generally the countries where our religion prospers are not rich they still have different needs. Some have good relations with the majority religion and the national authorities, others not so much. Some are in nations that are much poorer than Tamora while other have emerged from isolation and we have discovered that they have evolved on a different path and a process of reconciliation will be needed. So the Church is now looking to reach out, we are transmitting live, the Supreme Ayatollah will soon visit Clysperis and we are exploring other ways to reach out to the other countries where Manism has a significant presence. Our faith is not a numerous one, it doesn’t have political power anywhere outside Tamora and its members are not rich but what we do have is solidarity.
- What should the people of other faiths get from this first day and the Synod in general?
-I hope it has spurred a curiosity in them, to learn more about us. I also hope it has shown something about the Bene Gesserit. As I said, I am not impressed with their lack of theology but also their lack of orthopraxy but scholar Professor Ruth Hipkiss has said resonated with us deeply in at least one regard, the country of the Bene Gesserit, Kaitaine is under occupation by an Atheist government for more than a century, one that is systematically doing its best to erase the Bene Gesserit faith within its borders and even outside. So when many of us were frustrated that we couldn’t find more info on their faith, we had in fact missed the point that the reason is because they have been persecuted for so long that they were forced underground even outside of Kaitaine. We know so little about them because they were in danger of disappearing at the hands of an Atheist government. There are many faiths in Mundus and many things can be said about Mundus but not that is irreligious so viewers will sympathize with the plight of the Bene Gesserit. I think the people of Mundus find the idea of a regime that seeks to eliminate religion by force simply horrendous and will begin to understand why the Bene Gesserit are so determined to regain their lost country.
-Can the Church do something to help the Bene Gesserit?
-That is for the Synod to decide.
-Thank you so much for being with us.
-Thank you.
Thank you for being with us dear viewers. God bless the Emperor! God bless Tamora!
Spoiler: ooc thanks show
Thanks to Libby for the massive effort of writing the answers to the questions. Also thanks to Dave, Major Jaws, Yolotan for providing an answer to the live trasmission permission request.