The Achkaerin Inter Faith Forum is an initiative which has existed for a few years now and has become a very friendly and thoughtful environment where through the lens of our faiths we explore social issues, meeting in each others respective places of worship, experiencing as far as we can each others acts of worship and while our debates and discussions do become passionate at times we always begin and end as friends with respect for each other and there are times we contact each other during the days between meetings to discuss something that was said that has stuck with us, we have found that there are many similarities in our viewpoints but equally many differences as well. One such difference is the Hyphenated of the Rosari, while we respect the Rosari believe that "one can be Rosari while also being a Christian, Muslim, Cultist, or Namist even because all faiths route back to a truth which is indeed universal, and one which is at its heart, good." we as the leaders of these faiths in Achkaerin disagree with this assertion, we don't say that the Rosari can't choose to believe this is possible however we look to our own beliefs, our own scriptures which challenge that assertion for example the first sacred tenet of the Cult of Namis is "Pay homage to no God other than the Trinity." meaning the Goddess's Namis, Kisara and Xiaoyu, additionally the book of Exodus chapter 20 verses 2-7 states:
"I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Abydos
[1], the place of your slavery. You must not have any other God but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affections for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected - even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish in unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name."
So taking both of these scriptural passages as examples it is hoped that the Grand Maester can see how the concept of the "Hyphenated" is perhaps contrary to other faiths, it is noted that if one were to read a little further in the Exodus to verses 13-16 one would read "You must not commit murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely against your neighbour." these are indicative laws that underpin, in one form or another modern society across multiple nations where the dominant faith is different, whether it be Achkaerin, East Moreland, Vaguzia, Tytor, Samantra, Rayyu, Nya Aland, Lodja, Rokkenjima or Tamora and each faith makes known in its own way that such things are not to be done. So while we as a forum note that faiths have times when they are similar whether it be how the Abrahamic faiths share a common history or how the Namist and Rosari faiths delve into nature, there are times where naturally we disagree.
Turning now to the situation that has developed over recent times, the Forum notes its disapproval of the Emir's statement of Mundus being "an ultra liberal world order devoid of Gods guidance." we believe such a statement to be inflammatory, unhelpful and unnecessary as it implies that actions of those not of the Abrahamic faiths are not guided by the Divine, such disrespect is unbecoming and only escalates a situation. Speculation around the conference called by the Emir is "it may be an alternative approach to human rights than the MCUR. The move however may just be an attempt at forging closer relationships with people the Emir believes would likely share a common outlook on world affairs." This sounds very much like a political agenda being pursued rather than a theological one, so a spade should be called a spade - it is well documented that the MCUR has come in for a great deal of criticism over the years, generally from nations who despite what it says choose to twist its words to suit an agenda, the most obvious example of this in recent times being Pharaoh Akasha of Clysperis, she claimed that Seaforth enforced the MCUR against her nation - a falsehood that she was successfully challenged on, for the simple reason that the MCUR's jurisdiction is within the borders of its signatories. That means that there is no conceivable way that the MCUR could be used to do that as Clysperis is not a signatory, in truth what happened was that a nation with a strong anti-slavery, anti-servitude principle sanctioned Clysperis. In the same vein it is not surprising that nations who believe in equality and stand for that would pass comment on something that appears to be condoning inequality. The Emir is entitled to seek his alternative MCUR document should he choose to however we remind the Grand Maester that any such agreement, if one is reached, would face the same point on jurisdiction that the MCUR does - regardless of any law applying in Samantra, a Samantran travelling to Achkaerin is subject to Achkaerinese law just as an Achkaerinese citizen in Samantra is subject to Samantran law. It is not a threat nor do we expect it to manifest as such.
This started as a dispute over equality in the light of controversial legislation in Samantra and has since snowballed into something far more disturbing, we've seen where this road of faith vs faith can lead - Royal Seleucid, Mavrosia, Vaguzia and Clysperis. All to some extent have seen violence along religious lines in recent years. Our Forum's Christian representative Cardinal Martin Deed recently warned against the weaponisation of scripture and it saddens the forum to see how this has happened. As people who regularly lead acts of worship in our temples, church's, mosques and synagogues a challenge we face on a weekly basis is how we preach our message, we know that one cannot simply quote the scripture but apply it to the world lest we merely quote history without context. The greatest benefit of the AIFF has been the developing of understanding across the religious divide without compromising our principles and while we understand and feel the offense caused by the Emir's words we are reminded of one of the Forum's favourite worship songs, a Christian hymn, that goes "Will you watch the news with the eyes of faith and believe it could be different? Will you share your views using words of grace? Will you leave a thoughtful imprint?"
Now is the time for grace on all sides of this before it gets out of hand, we are prepared to do what we can to help.
Signed by the following members of the Achkaerin Inter Faith Forum
High Priestess Alexis Minette of the Cult of Namis
Oracle Temari Fuma of the Cult of Namis
Queen of Songs Phoebe Wolfe of the Cult of Namis
Priestess Hannah Barker of the Cult of Helus
Cardinal of Santiago Martin Deed representing Christianity
Bishop of Valor Daniel St Claire representing Christianity
Archmaester Asano Yūki of the Rosari
High Priestess Nimue Jowenys of the Congregation of Rao
Kunieda Koma of the Buddhist Faith
Iman Razeen al-Afzal
Rabbi Jordain Krickstein
Secretary for the AIFF Dr. Brian Raines