Parable of the Prophet Syronius
Letter to the people from my pilgrimage to Kyoana

What is this parable, host Egbert Nosh explains.

• Reconciliation of nominal believers with true believers.

• Reconciliation of scientists with true believers.

• Reconciliation of people who accept western traditional values with true believers.

• Reconciliation of Trans people with western traditional values and true believers.

• Reconciliation of homosexual people with western traditional values and true believers.

• Reconciliation of different religious orders.

• Reconciliation of people of different political persuasions. Virtues and essential values are really not political.

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Other suggested sources of inspiration might include some fictitious movies like Eragon and The Time Machine, where people fight to live in peace, freedom, liberty and fair treatment. However, our fight is primarily spiritual and political. You might consider the name of the dragon or the people in our world against eating animals, but who consider that there are too many people, who in their view should be cave-dwellers (or cliff-face dwellers) like the Eloi. What will these elites eat in the future? See also, https://microtron.co.nz/brainstorming/, T: @stephen776 and X: @EgbertNosh1.

 

Parable of the Prophet Syronius

Letter to the sacred people from my pilgrimage to Kyoana

 

Chapter 1

In the year 1271, I, the prophet Syronius, write to the sacred people to chronicle my pilgrimage to the Kyoanian people.

My task was to get to know this people by learning to speak as they do and then ask them if they wish to leave their pagan gods and learn the ways of the true God of peaceful civilisation, happiness and strength. The Lord has sent me his prophet Syronius to offer salvation to the Kyoanian people one by one. However in order to counsel all of the people I intended to train prophets of their own race, tribes and culture.

I, Syronius, then ask individual people how they live and tell them what their sins and sens are. For those who have not been enlightened a sin is profoundly unacceptable to God and a sen only angers God for a moment. I now chronicle to you the sacred people, who live in peace, happiness and strength, the words of the Kyoanians that are most likely to enlighten you.

 

Chapter 2

I counselled a woman Sueckalia who also wanted to know if her LGT friends could become part of the sacred people. I told her that if their sexually intimate relationships are not with children or late teens then they are only senners and have only angered God for a moment and that God accepts them as they are. I also told her that God prefers them to have civil unions with one individual and to adopt children if they can’t have them naturally, and to be two parent families. God prefers civil unions because the evil in our midst attempts to progressively make more and more radical lifestyles normalised. However if her friends are promiscuous with adults and do not pursue family that is also only a sen. I further conveyed to her that God wants all her friends to learn his values and take them to heart. He does not want them to reject his ways because they feel alienated by being identified as a senner. He does accept them. I also told Sueckalia that though God has highest respect for couples capable of natural reproduction, namely a man and a woman he also respects the families that her friends can create as couples. The Lord God also prefers married couples to share only the type of sexual intimacy that is needed for reproduction, however he does not remain angry at the senners.

God has shown us that oral sex and anal sex are unclean and are not pure sex at all. Pure sex includes normal foreplay and is reproductive. We warn people not to do these unclean acts because it is something that they can never forget, though God does forgive them. These things damage the subconscious mind and tend to normalise behaviour that is offensive to God, making it harder to relate to other people in a way that is not degraded by these vivid memories. God led us to call sex that is not for the purpose of reproduction: soox.

Along with this I told Sueckalia that God did not take heed of what tribe or gender a person belonged to and so when new prophets or elders are chosen, the decision is based entirely on merit. Furthermore, I said that as her friends were complex in their identities that they had no right to expect someone to use the wrong pronoun and furthermore that the only pronouns that they could be referred to by were the usual traditional masculine and feminine ones. People are often uncomfortable referring to a male as she, when that person is a Transweib (“trans vibe”, efeminate); this is a Trans-man or a biological man who is Trans assuming female identity. We expect people to use the pronouns relating to biological sex; we tried changing these, but it caused many social problems and loss of women’s rights and freedoms. On the other hand, a Trans-woman or biological woman who is Trans can be called a Transalter (“trans ultair”, masculine). It is inappropriate to refer to a trans woman or man referring to the assumed gender, as it is impossible to change sex medically/physically, but only to adopt dress, lifestyle and make superficial medical changes. I said that no person can specify use of a plural pronoun, though it does happen for other reasons like in the next sentence in informal language as we were chatting. Typically, a Lesbian is a woman, a Gay is a man and a Transgender assumes the other gender to what they were originally. This trans gender is only assumed, as it is impossible for a Trans-man to actually be/function as a woman. A Transweib is not a female. On this basis, it is also improper to change the way we speak of women to accommodate the differences that Transweibs bring. Women remain their own clearly defined group: “Adult human females” and “to mother” still means to give birth.

The Transgender identity is a privilege and bad behaviour may reduce the extent to which the people recognise the assumed gender. I then noted that formal language requires the use of the traditional non-specific “he” to mean “he or she” for brevity. This is not a bias it is simply a practical tradition.

 

Chapter 3

The next Kyoanian that I counselled was Gredos, a man who had murdered his friend and was in jail. Gredos asked if he and his felon friends in jail could join the sacred people and belong to the Lord. I told him that this was more difficult but that God ultimately wants him to be able to leave his old life and never commit another crime or violent crime. I said that God imposes a probation on sinners whereby they can attend some gatherings of the sacred people, but that they are not fully trusted at this time and the people know that because the leaders tell them who is still under probation. In fact the prophets are the ones who decide when a probation is ended and that will often be after ten years of not committing a felony crime (apart from political spite cases). The golden rule is taught to all of the people but especially to those under probation. That is you must treat other people in the way that you would like to be treated.

 

Chapter 4

Another Kyoanian that I counselled was a Transweib (Trans-man) called Pholasia. This Kyoanian said that he had been ejected from a women’s changing room because he had a mail appendage. I told him that in order to keep Gods peace he would have to use the male (or other, but not women’s) changing room until his male appendage was removed. This admittance would still be subject to a decision of the women as a group. If a woman organises a group or sport for women, she can specify what if any Trans people can be part of that group or sport. I also said that he need not worry about his breasts being seen by men, as the Kyoanian women commonly sunbathe topless in public. I also told him that competing against women in power and contact sports (and maybe all sports) would always be unfair and forbidden, as he had grown up as a man. 

 

Chapter 5

A later Kyoanian that I counselled was a woman, Latalia. She asked me if God would forgive her if she left her husband and would God let her maintain primary custody of their children. I answered and said, that depends on how you treat each other in the marriage and on how you both treat the children.

Here are some of the guidelines:

• You may not be violent toward your husband and he may not be violent toward you. Contriving an accusation of violence when none occurred may reduce your parental rights. Three prophets (at least) may need to moderate such a disagreement.

• You may not be violent toward your children, however you may smack when discipline is required. The smack is applied to the buttocks and requires an open hand and only moderate force. Contriving an accusation of violence when only a smack occurred may reduce your parental rights. Three prophets may need to moderate such a disagreement.

• You may not be promiscuous as a parent. If you are, your husband may ask you to leave and you will be granted only secondary custody rights.

• If you wish to leave your husband and maintain primary custody you must convince three prophets (at least) that your husband mistreats you or the children, otherwise you will be unfaithful and will have secondary custody rights.

 

Chapter 6

A later Kyoanian that I counselled was a woman teacher, Talaytha. She said that when she was younger she had lost respect for the culture and beliefs of the Kyoanian people. She asked to be reconciled with God and the sacred people. I explained to her our guidelines:

• God and the sacred people are to be respected and that is to be passed on to the children.

• The tribes of the sacred people do not discriminate against other tribes in their law and culture. It is a slur to teach the children that they do. That does not mean that the conflicts that occurred in the old times did not occur, but that the people learned from these things and they want the children to receive wisdom by learning about how the conflicts of the past were resolved. This also does not apply to the neighbour of Kyoana, the land of Tabithia, as there some tribes openly persecute other tribes.

• It is also forbidden to teach the children that when prophets are appointed that there must be quotas of prophets from each tribe and from each gender. God only wants the best choice.

• It is forbidden to teach the children anything to do with sex other than basic biology and it is forbidden to deny that there are only two distinct sexes in nature and these are determined at birth by biology. Trans people cannot escape from this fact, but God gives them the privilege of being permitted to live like the other sex. We also forbid LGT (alphabet) kissing on the lips in front of young people. It is important to give them every chance to imprint on reproductive roles.

• God and the people also require that the children be taught arithmetic and spelling using repetition and rote learning with regular arithmetic tests and spelling bees. The children that do best should be praised by you the teacher in front of the class and possible even be transferred to a more advanced class. They need to learn the language of the people of Kyoana in writing and they need to understand the natural world in a scientific non-political way. Tests need to free of politics and racial overtones and the children that do the best over time should even be granted financial benefits as rewards. God and the sacred people reward merit in its many manifestations.

• It is necessary to allow parents to remove their children from certain classes, but also it is necessary to pay attention to the combined voice of your classes parents. The school committee can help with this and with their criticism and improvement of the curriculum for your school.

 

Chapter 7

An additional Kyoanian that I counselled was a comedian, a man called Distrophus. He told me that some of his friends had said that they found his humour offensive and that they thought he was persecuting them. Distrophus said that it was not aimed at his friends and that his aim was not to offend then but to make them laugh, but it was to make them see their own biases and inconsistencies of thought. He asked if his humour was acceptable to God and the people.

I said to Distrophus that it is alright for his humour to make fun of his friends or even another tribe or his own tribe. It is however best for the humour to give an insight into someone’s erroneous thinking and biases. Some people find that uncomfortable, but then they have no right to complain.  There can be wild exaggeration to be funny but an element of truth also. Satire is a way to make bad politics self-evident. Good nature and good taste are necessary. Also, for example, just calling your friend a fascist when he speaks up for his down-trodden rights is not funny. However, if he does not have a valid claim to those rights, though maybe not a fascist, there may be some valid satire that could be aimed at him.

 

Chapter 8

I also spoke to a scientist, a woman called Sherusan. The scientist said that her work had caused her to change her interpretation of some of the Holy writings. She asked if that offended God.

I answered and said that God is a god of truth and that he rewards people for making honest attempts to find truth and knowledge. I said that it is right to respect people who devote their lives to finding truth like you, but that any person that makes an effort to understand facts and to put together a logical argument deserves to be heard over someone who asserts a different point of view based on a mere political policy. Proper critical thinking trumps political manoeuvring in the eyes of God and the sacred people. In particular, there must be an allowance for debate and the conflict of ideas. People must be allowed to express their hypotheses and conclusions and have them criticised in turn. That is the path to our best understanding of truth. If a political bureaucrat forbids one of these arguments without being able to justify that position with critical thinking then they will not be listened to by the prophets and the sacred people according to the proper understanding of God’s will. Though God asks us to respect governmental order and to influence government in the proper ways, government does not decide truth for the people. Neither does government have the right to take away the God-given rights and freedoms of the people.

I should also say to you that the sacred people have a role to defend science from secular beliefs not based on scientific evidence; I mean unsubstantiated beliefs that occur as part of a large theory of everything. The sort of thing I mean is a secular belief in creation by nature which results in huge gaps in the theory which these people then fill with nonsense, because “it must have happened without God somehow”. We are to have our beliefs as to how God created the universe and created mankind, but we are not to vigorously oppose a logical secular belief about how the process of these things occurred, if that does not disagree with the bigger picture of Gods creation. On the other hand, we are to strongly oppose the filling of huge gaps in knowledge with events that are impossible or ridiculous. We know that our beliefs, (which are often not detailed) are better than that, these come from God, though we note that where logically sound secular knowledge occurs, we have the option where not told otherwise, to accept this as the way that God created. Some examples of unacceptable secular beliefs that I have encountered are: believing that there is more than one universe, as we have no possible way to confirm such a thing using rigorous science. Another is believing that the first simple organism formed spontaneously in a moment. If we are to tolerate beliefs of gradual creation in nature, then scientists need to show a step by step feasible pathway that God might have used to create life using Nature. If science does not provide acceptable detail, then our less detailed beliefs in God creating in only a few steps are sufficient for us.

 

Chapter 9

A man named Estraysis who is a psychologist came to ask my advice as to what his clients should be told about how their minds work and at what age such information should be given.

He said to me that he had a theory about some things that the subconscious mind does and what the individual must do to manage these processes. It has to do with managing relationship distance and one of many features of this has to do with how much you look directly into the eyes of the other person. Another is how intimate the subjects are that you talk about.

Here of some examples of relationship distance as I understand them from your teaching:

• Parents are to have intimate relationships with their children but they must learn the discipline of keeping these relationships proper. It is normal for them to be possessive and to regulate many details of the child’s life.

• School teachers are not to be intimate with children, though they are to give them instructions that maintain their safety. For example it is possible to give a lesson on the basics of biological reproduction and not be intimate, but purely scientific. This is what is expected.

• School teachers are also not to promote the alternate lifestyles that have been accepted as senful. Children are not to be encouraged to become a senner as that subject is also too intimate for a school teacher. Nevertheless, they are still free to make their own choices in life as they mature, however nothing is to be hidden from parents and the parents have the right to manage their child depending on the age of the child.

• Teachers are not to mention or describe to students, how to masturbate. This is a subtle technique used by unscrupulous adults including teachers to coerce children and early teens into sexual relationships with adults. This is usually different to the more innocent conversations that children and early teens have about sexual matters with each other.

• A prophet like yourself can be intimate with the people when they seek your help, but I know that your discipline must be proper and above reproach.

• Another thing that I learned from the prophets and the holy writings is that it is permitted for a parent that has the approval of most other parents and 3 prophets, to sit in on a school class and speak up if a teacher crosses the boundary and begins to speak with too much intimacy to the children. The teacher must comply with the request to be more formal and create a greater social distance if this occurs. An example of being too intimate would be if a school teacher told a student that he or she was privileged because of their tribal origin or gender or that they were sexist or racist.

I explained that we view teachers who breach these boundaries as groomers and if it persists then we seek to revoke their status as teachers. The Elder’s disapproval process is used for this, on a more local scale.

I said to Estraysis that it can make some people a little self-conscious if you talk about dealing with these problems in too much detail, but sometimes that is what is needed if a problem does occur. I said to him that it is Gods will for parents to raise their children wisely and it is for them to consider such things in the situations that arise.

The Elders can also approve an educated person to be a teacher, even if they have not done an apprenticeship with the head teacher. This allows us to make use of skilled people who otherwise would have their skills wasted. Often these are elderly or retired individuals who can teach part time.

If, however, a teacher is approved as highly trusted and honourable by the parents of the children/late teens and elders, then that teacher may form stronger bonds with the students and even be a friend of the families. This does not relax the requirement to refrain from talking about personal relationships as mentioned before. God does however permit these teachers to warn students about the list of points above and reference some of these safety issues regarding these sexual matters. It is recommended to have at least one teacher of this classification, if the class has an outing. In class, it is recommended to have at least one parent sitting in (taken in turns), if the teacher does not have this classification from the parents and elders.

I know Estraysis that you will understand God’s requirement for discipline and respect in schools. That is why the Elder’s are given collective responsibility for approving or disapproving of teachers for the responsibility for administering corporal punishment. For boys a cane can be used on the backside, when aberrant behaviour requires it and girls may receive a leather strap to the palm of the hand or a paddle to the backside when needed to promote orderly behaviour. For students in their late teens or early twenties, they will have a choice of taking corporal punishment or being suspended from class.

Also note Estraysis that corporal punishment is not violent, as it does no harm to the child or teen. In some cases there could be slight mark left but that is not a serious problem. In terms of cost-benefit analysis the cost is a little pain to the student and the benefit is a correction to aberrant behaviour and a reinforcement of respect for the teacher after a rebellion occurred.

You will also understand Estraysis why in most cases God expects teachers to lead their classes from the front. This is because in most cases learning from each other is like the blind leading the blind. Furthermore, the teacher has received a valuable investment of practical knowledge which it is his responsibility to impart to the students. If the teacher does not have this knowledge then he has no right to teach children or students.

 

Chapter 10

A man named Mooglemon who was a Tabithian witchdoctor came to ask my counsel. Mooglemon asked me and said: “I have been a witchdoctor for many years and now I realise that I have mislead the people who trusted me. Can god forgive me? In particular, can God forgive me for teaching the people that the things they do can affect the weather? I understand now that we are too small to cause bad weather and that God does not punish people in this way.”

I told Mooglemon that God would accept him if he changed his ways and turned to him in worship. I said that people are easily deceived when it comes to the weather and believing that they are responsible for bad weather. I also said that witchdoctors do not know any better than that, until they learn about God.

 

Chapter 11

A senior man named Hophnius came for counselling and asked about becoming a prophet in the future. He said, “I am concerned about the stories I have heard that people make up, after spending time with a prophet in a one to one situation: stories about what has been said or done.”

I answered and said that we do often counsel desperate people who are trying to gain our approval for a divorce or primary child custody and if things do not go in their favour they sometimes will try and take revenge and bring down a leader of the people. Nevertheless, the process to become a prophet is not easy and very high standards of behaviour are required, past and present. We do however put less emphasis on your childhood, teenage and young adult years. When you turn 21 more is expected of you from them on.

Furthermore the process of gaining the trust of the people and the other prophets is gradual and you go through a probation. That is the time when people see you in action on less important matters and have their best opportunity to come forward and say why you might not be suitable.

Then once your probation is complete and you daily face the possibility of making someone angry by carrying out your job properly, your behaviour is not easily called into question and only the decision of a council of three other prophets (at least) can remove you as a prophet.

We have seen many times someone who has become angry at us, find someone who interacted with us in childhood or as a young adult and ask them to come forward with a new story of misdeeds. The first thing that we ask them is why they have been silent until now? Probations are public matters. Something similar is true for romance and incidents that were not reported to the proper authorities promptly. After many years have passed we get suspicious if an incident conveniently surfaces when a leader becomes more prominent in the community.

The people must take their complaints to another prophet who will organise an investigation by the appropriate people. The accusers must not be permitted to make a mockery of the prophet in question and smear his reputation by attempting to be the loudest voice and assume the same authority as a council of the prophets. People who attempt to raise a curfuffle in this way risk the anger of the prophets. That is because there is a right way and a wrong way of doing things when matters are brought against leaders.

“So you see Hophnius”, I said, “if you seek high office the only thing that you need worry about is your own behaviour, though we do permit you to carry a concealed weapon, to defend yourself if it is essential when someone becomes very angry. That is however optional.”

 

Chapter 12

A woman named Zelinia approached me about a cult that she formerly belonged to where animals were worshipped. She said “I used to believe that some animals were equal to or even superior to humans and it has taken me a long time to realise the error of my ways. I believed that it was evil to slaughter or hunt animals for food. Now I know that God allows the use of animals as food and provides animals for our sustenance. God also shows us that some animals are unclean and some are pets, however all bestiality is a sin and is forbidden. He through our religious teachers and his written word also made it clear to me that cannibalism is wicked, evil and forbidden. The only exception to this is if you are lost and in a survival situation where someone has died of natural causes and no other food is available. Even this, I understand, is still frowned upon to some extent.” I told Zelinia that she had come out of a dark place in her past and into the light of our God’s ways.

 

Chapter 13

I would say to the people that our procedure for choosing a new prophet to help administer the issues that face the people, is one that we protect from corruption with a supreme effort. The people who help the existing prophets in the selection process for probationary prophets are the elders. Elders are people appointed when it is demonstrated over time that they live by the ways of the Lord God. Elders can be people who have gone astray in the past to a mild extent and then turned back consistently to the ways of God. Even senners who live piously cannot qualify as elders. It is inappropriate for people who are gay lesbian or trans to be elders, as elders should be people who could potentially be, or are, part of a traditional reproductive relationship, between a man and a woman.

 

Chapter 14

A man named Zytochus who is a playwright shared his thoughts about his profession and some of his history. He said that he used to write bawdy plays where sexual sins and sens where described or portrayed. He said “the people of God used to comment to me that my plays had a polluting effect on their minds and gave them unwanted memories or even a sense that it is normal to vividly imagine these things and to allow this for young children and teens also”. He said “I now realise that it is irresponsible to push the boundaries of sexuality and to include anything remotely explicit in my plays.”

I agreed with him and said that people like him are partly responsible for the mental well-being and social norms absorbed by many vulnerable people across many age-groups. I also said that all his play-writing needs to recognise that the plays are likely to be seen by teens and possibly even young children and should accommodate that.

I also said that action stories are permitted, but that villains should suffer the consequences of their actions and heroes should be untainted by serious vices. This helps to make people aware of justice and consequences, without giving the illusion that crime pays, that villains can win or that anti-social behaviour is ever justified.

 

Chapter 15

A follower named Callina spoke to me about her involvement in taking drugs. She said that before she turned to the ways of God she had been involved in drug taking. She said that she started with smoking Hooch. Hooch wasn’t very difficult to obtain and she was introduced to it by some of her friends. She said that because of Hooch, they did not like to work and worked as little as possible. Some of her friends that took Hooch even became paranoid or emotionally unstable and completely unable to work. The one good thing about Hooch was that some very sick people suffering chronic pain felt better when they took Hooch. The other bad thing about Hooch was that it led her to using Opium. She spent three years hooked on Opium and then encountered God through the people of God. They brought her out of drug dependency by teaching her that taking Hooch or Opium is a sin and it ruins your life. They taught her that God has a better way.

She then asked me: “but what about wine or mead”? I said that God allows wine (or mead) in moderation. Nevertheless, I said that we know that some people or some communities drink far too much wine and often become abusive to the ones they love and to others. They also spend all of the family money on wine, sometimes. In these cases God allows the prophets (a council of three at least) to forbid individuals or even communities (perhaps a village) from having access to any wine at all. The prophets pay no attention to what extended family, tribe or race they are banning, they judge the case on its merits and by the suffering of the families or villages. The prophets are permitted to instruct the local wine sellers that a certain individual may not buy from them or even instruct them that they must leave a certain village. They can also fine people that supply banned individuals or villages. The amount of the fine would typically be double the amount of the banned sale. If there was price gauging that would be double the extorted price.

The prophets are aware that some tribes require more bans than others and they do not accept any criticism for banning these tribes more frequently than others. We assert that arguing for equity on this basis is unrealistic, unfair to the sufferers and ridiculously simplistic. God did not make every group the same and he expects us to use wisdom and fairness in dealing with these matters.

 

Chapter 16

One of the people of God named Zynemius found me to discuss his path with me. He is a lawyer who said that he once believed in the special treatment of certain tribes, in particular the Gualo tribe. He said that he had been led to believe that members of the Gualo tribe should not be questioned when they made an accusation against another person. He believed that the presumption of innocence did not apply in that case, nor did the need for a lawyer or prophet to cross examine the witness. He said that he did not understand at the time, that was a serious infringement of the rights of the accused.

I said to him I am glad that you have seen the error of your ways and realise that if anyone makes an accusation, they must be prepared to be questioned by a lawyer in detail about what they have said. You cannot argue that anyone has the right to forego cross-examination, as that would be extremely unfair for the accused. This is because a false conviction is just as serious (maybe more serious) as a false acquittal. It is also important that the people should fear the public humiliation of being found out to be a vexatious accuser and they should know that there is a high likelihood that a vexatious accusation will be found out. Every step must be taken to determine these matters and that is even at the expense of someone from the Gualo tribe being made to feel uncomfortable because of being questioned intensely.

 

Chapter 17

A woman of the people of God, who was a law enforcer, spoke to me about how she had persecuted the people of God for speaking about their beliefs, including their beliefs about leadership of the community. Her name is Serelia and she said that she repented of denying the people their right to speak their minds. I said to her that she was right to reach that conclusion, however the only times that the people may be reprimanded publicly for speaking their minds is when they directly promote violence. I went on to say that if someone promotes a peaceful demonstration against something a leader has done and violence occurs then that promotor was not seen to be promoting violence. On the other hand, if a leader attacks another leader saying that he is evil and is a serious threat to the safety and well-being of the people, then they are close to inciting violence and the validity of that really amounts to whether what they said was true or fair. If the only reason is that they oppose each other on benign matters of policy and they are not actually enemies of each other or the tribes, then that type of language should be publicly rejected and reprimanded.

Some important rights that God gives us as a birth right are:

• Freedom of speech including the right to offend others.

• Freedom of religion and religious speech.

• Freedom of association.

• Freedom of assembly and the right to demonstrate peacefully, this even includes peacefully demonstrating in a Chiefs private temple, if the people are upset by something he has done. Soldiers must not use force against these people’s protests, but they may ensure non-violent behaviour.

• Privacy including medical and financial privacy.

• The presumption of innocence and a fair trial.

• Freedom of movement. Official borders may require official permission, however, but this should not be withheld without a fair reason.

• Freedom to buy and sell anonymously, apart from harmful banned items, like opium or hooch (except for medicinal purposes).

• Freedom to own property including land and houses.

• Freedom to decide not to eat a food or use medicine.

 

Chapter 18

One of the elders had a conversation with me. His name is Voltrazo. He told me that he appreciated the new way that local chiefs are elected. He said thank you for adding needed checks and balances to our voting system. We needed a way to vet candidates and having the elders evaluate a minimum standard of values stopped us from getting new chiefs that said one thing and then did another, taking us by surprise with the corrupt behaviour that followed after being elected. He said, “I think that requiring two thirds of elders to disapprove of a candidate for local chief strikes a good balance. And the role of the prophets to administer, validate and report on the approval process is vital.” I said to him, “Yes Voltrazo, we learned some hard lessons about corruption and we lived through some hard times. We needed a way to ensure that young people in particular, could not easily be fooled into thinking that a wayward candidate was cool, when they promised many expensive extravagant policies that sounded attractive. Yes, we have had serious problems with not only reckless spenders but elected chiefs who do not honour our basic values. This way of doing things has been a big improvement and has given us stability. We do, however, try to limit the withdrawal of our approval as much as possible, only using our say when needed or vital to defend these values. I believe that the Lord God has lead us into this and is pleased with these changes.”

I then went on to say: “Always remember that we are apolitical and we don’t favour one faction over another, however, as we stay out of politics we also ask our secular leaders to only affirm our values and culture and never to tamper. That would be an abuse of political power. I know that many chiefs have been tempted to meddle in these matters that belong with us as custodians and belong outside of matters of policy. This is a necessary separation of powers.”

Not all of the things written about here are our sole responsibility, some occur in the political arena. Some things that are best left to us are, partly because political leaders can’t avoid competitions to waste money and overspend:

• The regulation of benefits.

• Our values.

• Some family matters, such as rehoming abused, unwanted or frequently stray at night children.

• Immigration questionnaires.

• Genetic values.

These are areas where our political leaders can’t take the heat and we can be relied upon to be fair and impartial. This makes the difference between easily balancing the books and grossly overspending.

 

Chapter 19

One of the middle aged women came and discussed with me, the circumstances of an earlier pregnancy in her life. Her name is Calzana. She said to me that she reached a point where she decided that she did not want the baby in her body anymore and so she took a herbal mixture that was designed to make her deliver the baby. She was well through the pregnancy and when the baby was born alive she exposed it to the cold and let it die. She said: “I feel guilty about having killed a viable baby. It was mature enough to have survived, if I had given it to a couple who would have adopted and nurtured it.”

I told her that it is against the will of God to kill a baby that is born under those circumstances. If the baby is mature enough to live, it should be given a home. In that circumstance, we don’t tell the grown child who its parents were and we guard against the possibility of the adult child wanting to marry a sibling. We avoid telling the grown child any more than that: that is the minimum possible. We even avoid giving a clear reason as to why they cannot marry. They are simply told that there is a good reason for the advice. This means that the birth parents never hear from the child that they rejected.

I went on to say that, there is also the possibility of being accused of murder in the circumstances  that she described.

I went on to say that God really does not approve of delivering an unviable (if born) foetus after at most three months, unless there are special circumstances like incest, rape or malformation. These would be known well before three months in many cases. God does not specify about earlier abortions, but leaves space for the exercise of our consciences.

 

Chapter 20

A single mother of 3 children came and spoke with me about her views on single mothers that do not work and support their family. Her name is Sheherada. She said, “I have heard that some of the people want the prophets to organize food, clothing and shelter on an ongoing basis for mothers who have children before being married. I think that is too great a burden for the people to bear.  I think that it is enough to support widows. People like myself, need to either work for a living or give up the children to adoption. I should say that though I earn my family’s living my sister looks after my children when I am at work and she does not charge the full rate for this.”

I said to her that I tended to agree with her, as the scale of the assistance that could unfold otherwise would be crippling to the people. I also said that we uphold the sanctity of marriage and the family, but do not impose severe penalties against those that transgress. God simply asks them to pay their own way as you have. One further exception might by single parents have been left, treated unfaithfully or abused by their spouses. In these cases we also undertake to support them if needed.

I went on to discuss a further topic with Sheherada. On the issue of work in other circumstances I said that if people are not disabled or mentally fragile, then they should work full days (apart from rest days) even when they do not have an official job. Rather than helping with food clothing and shelter free for those who do not get employment day to day or regularly, the Lord has lead us to require that these people join work gangs in order to receive support from God’s people. For example we ask them to weed gardens or even forests, where the risk of high intensity fires is reduced. In this latter case the underbrush is removed to a location where it is burned or composted. This stops the large trees from being killed by fires and also some animals are then able to survive as well in that situation. God has shown us that it sends the wrong signal if these people who are able in body and mind are paid to do nothing.

 

Chapter 21

A young man named Equasius approached me for a discussion and he said that he had attempted suicide. He went on to say that he was referred to an elder for counsel, when the attempt failed and he had not badly hurt himself. The elder had spoken in some detail, but overall he had assured Equasius that he did not need to hate himself and that the rest of his life was worth living. He told the young man that he had been deluded in his mind and that he could learn mental discipline and shut the offending thought patterns out of his mind. You can’t control what thoughts pop into your mind short term, but you can control whether you entertain that thought or linger on it. This also trains your mind in the longer term. It would be an ongoing effort but he could achieve better discipline and be able to order his thoughts and in turn have a much greater enjoyment of life. The elder said that learning Gods values and ways was an important key to this process being effective. God’s ways provide boundaries to live by and save us from finding out the hard way, what the pitfalls of one’s own selfish ways are.

Equasius asked me if we ever help people to die and I said that we don’t. If it became known that unhappy people could ask the elder for a special herbal mixture to do that, then this would play constantly on the minds of the weak and especially those who receive support from the community and might consider themselves to be a burden. We know that these down moods pass and accept that in some cases they require counsel. We want people to appreciate the gift of life for as long as God gives it. We also do not want the unscrupulous to be able to impose assisted death on those who are susceptible to coercion.

In the case of people in severe physical or mental pain our doctors are able to give Opium, maybe even Hooch for older people or any of various other remedies. In bad cases sometimes the remedy even hastens death, but this is not the same as handing out a death potion willy-nilly. The doctor is not allowed to harm the patient under God’s law. We do, however, have an exception and that is for people who have terminal illness and our palliative care is unable to meet their needs and they are in physical pain. These people can seek permission to end life peacefully, however we find that many who receive this permission do not artificially end their life.

I then went on to comment and said to him, you are not alone in what you have suffered. In fact, I have seen a whole tribe collectively suffer something similar to what you went through, the Fingulau people. These people abandoned their traditional roots, especially their foundation in God’s ways and teachings. They abandoned the wisdom of the elders and based important decisions on the words of mixed up children. After they started doing that they made up a new religion that was based on a corruption of science and worship of the Earth. They did not realize that they had cut ties with reality and stability, and had greatly devalued the importance of human life and the importance of people’s freedoms. They overturned the foundations of social order and created chaos. People became unsafe wherever they went on tribal lands, leaders no longer told the truth, leaders’ promises were false and the scribes did not call out this lying as they corruptly benefited from it also. This undermined the functioning democracy that they once had. They eventually reached a point where the elites decided to kill-off most of the ordinary people, because they felt that man was not a part of nature and he had no right to develop farm land or to manage forest undergrowth. He also had no right in their view, to use any land for cities etc., except for one city for the elites. One way that they did this was by limiting the numbers of animals, that farmers could raise, milk or shear. They later confiscated farms stating that farms harm nature. These actions resulted in famine, but this was not their only means to kill-off ordinary folk. They also sent a jailed life-sentence criminal on a long journey to a land where it was told people were dying of a plague. He was instructed that he could go free if he brought back samples of tissue from those who had died of plague. This was to be used to infect ordinary folk and create a local plague in that tribal area.

When the grass roots of the community recommitted themselves to returning to God’s ways and values (at least to God’s values), then they had sown the seeds of their future recovery and that is what happened. They recognized that God had given them the management of creation where they were to be responsible in the decisions that they made, but that they had a right to use natural resources for their own benefit and livelihood. They recognized God’s balance in nature.

 

Chapter 22

A young man and a young woman came to me to discuss how to avoid the pitfalls of building relationships. They were Malicusto and Yuvenia and they said that they knew people who had had bad experiences finding love.

As you know, I said, you usually start with asking for dates, though you can just hang out with friends. The relationships that you build talking, drinking coffee and hiking etc. are the important thing for determining compatibility. It is best to spend a lot of time at this stage rather than rushing into a physical relationship. This may surprise you but a girl sometimes writes a letter to a boy saying this is why I think that you are well behaved and honourable, and I would be happy to date you, if that is what you want.

These rules that I discuss here are based on God’s desire to keep everyone safe including reputations as well as physically. There must be tolerance of small mistakes and learning processes, however serious misconduct still needs to dealt with appropriately. That includes physical misconduct like behaving out of context, but also the bringing of vexatious charges.

I said to them that for physical interaction situational awareness is very important and there is a process or series of steps to becoming physical with each other. However it is very important to take things slowly and to build trust.

This is important for men as there are women who hunt for opportunities to fabricate untrue stories about men. It is important to detect people like that early on and if you rush into being alone together you put yourself at great risk of being accused of things that you didn’t do. For example, it is desirable for the alleged incident to occur on the chief’s property, so as to require the chief to pay the untruthful woman compensation. That is easy money if the chief is gullible, however if cross examination occurs, these rape cases tend to fall apart very quickly.

There are also men who will take advantage of their greater strength to mistreat women and to refuse to stop when asked to. They also move too fast and behave outside of proper situational context.

I went on to say that young people in the company of other young people are more likely to get context wrong to a moderate degree. The main outcome of this should be a terse word asking them to stop what they are doing. It is important that they do stop, but beyond that consequences should be quite limited. On the other hand a pattern of persistent transgression showing no signs of learning from ones mistakes can require some stern words from an elder, parent or law enforcer.

Similarly for adults following a process, if someone moves on to the next stage then a terse rebuke and request to stop should result in a stoppage and no significant consequences. It is important to understand that a gradual physical process of being together also builds consent for the very next step, but not at that time for a later step.

If lovers take part in practices that are not part of the process of reproduction, then there must be specific permission to begin initiating that process, even if the gradual sequence has been followed.

I also pointed out that true adulthood does not really begin until the age of 21. The three approximate groups are children, early teens and young adults. In various circumstances, all of these groups can sometimes be referred to as children. Gradually reducing leniency for misbehaviour, especially if persistent, should be observed across these groups with age.

Finally I said, always remember that God wants you to be happy and safe in your relationships and it is his will that you be married or in a civil union before you consummate your relationships. This is what we prefer, but we do not condemn you if you do not follow this rule. We are only concerned for your well-being, as you do not receive all of Gods protection this way.

 

Chapter 23

One of the elders named Pertaysis came and talked with me about the fundamentals of God’s dealings with us.

He asked me, “What do you think about forgiveness, as God commands it in his word? How far does it go?”

I answered and said that for serious crimes, we always remain cautious about the people who committed them and it is right for them to be imprisoned and punished to atone for their sin. For repeat offending of lesser sins, there is still a place for punishment. A rule that often applies is the three strikes rule. I said that God does want us to forgive others; he just does not want us to be gullible about the nature of unrepentant and dangerous people.

I went on to say that God expects us to treat others as we want to be treated and we know that there are some things that if we did them, it would be a long path back into the trust of the people of God. God does forgive us when we ask him to, but that does not mean the people of God will accept us with open arms any time soon if we have engaged in serious misconduct or crimes.

I then said that another side of this coin of how to treat others is the right to benefit from our hard work. God rewards merit and expended energy. If you make a product and sell it or labour for a boss, God honours your efforts and it is right for your employer or the people to reward your efforts.

 

Chapter 24

I like to keep up with the findings of our Kyoanian scientists and one of these is Ditreesia, also one of the people of God. She spoke with me telling me about what they had been finding out about time.

She said that the Earth shows signs of being ancient and having had vast amounts of time pass since its beginning. She said that at least a billion years had passed since the Earth was created, likely several billion. She said that there is evidence of slow processes occurring over this time and we believe that God created life in a very simple form, early on and this has become more complex over time, by a process of selective breeding carried out by nature and by the guiding hand of God. This means that when God created the first man and made him special in the likeness of God, he rose from a previously developing creature.

Our travellers have found evidence of similar rock types and formations on parallel but distant shores. This pattern forms a similar sequence along both coasts. We believe this means that the continents have been slowly moving and were once joined at these places.

I said that this helps confirm the inspired teachings that we use on the topic of creation.

Ditreesia then went on to say that she and other scientist, who live by the values that we the prophets and elders teach and which are recorded in this letter, have developed guidelines for entering and developing new lands. She went on to say that where there are risks that our development of farmlands will push back forest and even hunter gatherer peoples who are not organised nations, we must share the land fairly and not take more than God would have us do. However God does allow us to expand in this way and simply wants us to be good and wise stewards of the land and water. The barbarian peoples are to be given the opportunity to learn our fairer and more rewarding ways of living. They are not to be persecuted, but we are permitted to fight back if they show violence and we are permitted to apply our laws to these situations, allowing some leeway for cultural differences, where this is practical and does not result in serious violations of our laws and God’s laws. God does grant them freedom of religion, because he does not value captive members of his faith. We also allow these people to aspire eventually to be part of our democratic processes. As they come to respect our values, as expressed in this letter and in our faith, they are given greater and greater democratic rights, until they reach equality with the members of our society. To begin to participate, they must honour God’s civilizational values and accept peacefulness, justice and forgiveness. If they remain militant or reject the basics of our values then they are disqualified from democratic processes. If they are consistently violent then they must remain living in the forests and they must know that if they do harm to our peaceful people then they are likely to lose their freedom or experience greater banishment. They may even be dealt with by soldiers in the worst case.

We also know that there are certain creatures that are affected by our development. God has shown us that if we can, we are to set aside sensible portions of their specific environments for them, where this does not greatly hinder us. God expects a balance. If we do this and they die out completely in the region, God acknowledges that we did our best and the outcome is unfortunate but we are justified before God, as he gives us priority along with the requirement to be good stewards of all our environments.

This is also true for the spread of disease amongst God’s intelligent creatures, as if spread is unintentional but possible, God absolves us from responsibility for what might happen. The risk is mutual and largely unknown. Cause and effect in these situations are difficult to predict and to determine, and God wants us to enter many new environments without fear of these concerns. These matters are beyond our practical control, however, we do share our treatments to help people, and also animals and plants.

I replied that these conclusions and recommendations of her group complement and reinforce the current teachings of the prophets and elders.

I went on to say that our ancient teachings commanded us to carry out conquests of lands where the people had different beliefs to ours, were not a related tribe or were related but where there had been an estrangement. We now consider those words to be relevant to a different age and not to ours.

We do, however, believe that the people we let into our community and to share the right to vote, should have values and beliefs compatible with ours. Where they come from a very warlike tribe we ask them to write in detail the reasons and ways in which they have turned away from conquest of other nations who have kings or governments along with written law, courts, an army and a shared values system. Also, where their religion specifies conquest and genocide, they need to detail the scriptures that they no longer observe as applying today. They need to cover all of the cases where these problems occurs in their Holy writings. We also ask them to acknowledge their compliance with the values expressed in this letter to the people.

 

Chapter 25

The woman of God Serelia who is a law enforcer visited me again saying that she had had to deal with trespassers. She said that people who own properties including houses are protected from trespassers by the chief. The chief says that it is best for you to let him send soldiers if you have a problem with trespassers. You do, however, have a right to defend your property from trespasser, if you are able and want to do this. The chief will validate the behaviour of those who defend themselves, as long as they have given the appropriate warnings and waited for the threat to occur after that. It is not necessary to follow these rules if you are already being attacked.

Consistently with this, we do respect the dwellings and local properties of hunter gatherers, especially if they do some farming as well. We also respect their nearby forest areas where they hunt and find food plants. This recognition most commonly occurs where they form a village.

I said to her that God has given us this guidance relating to defence of property and he expects us to be fair and even handed in our dealings with hunter gatherers and trespassers. For instance, if we identify the trespassers, we may be able to offer them permission to build a house on low value land, or even offer them a simple dwelling, in return for carrying out community chores.

Serelia raised another topic with me and that was polygamy. She said that there is usually no need for polygamy as the sexes usually balance out quite well in terms of numbers. On the other hand she said, most soldiers are men and when we have wars to defend our land, there can be a shortage of men. In this case polygyny is recommended to help the women who want and do not have husbands and who furthermore could accept that arrangement. She said that there was no justification or need for the opposite situation, polyandry. She went on to say that polyandry is not good for traditional responsible masculinity and we want our men to be real men.

I said that that view was consistent with our teachings on the subject and the guidance and inspiration that we had received from God.

 

Chapter 26

As I say, I like to keep up with the findings of our Kyoanian scientists and Ditreesia visited me again and she spoke with me telling me about what they had been finding out about harvesting animals such as deer, wild sheep and including whales.

She said that all of our hunting efforts at this time are sustainable and do not harm population numbers. She said that the hunters are very careful to select species that do not have declining population numbers below a safe level. Where possible they avoid harvesting young females and mothers, if the sex can be determined from a distance.

I said that God’s teaching agree with this way of living, as we responsibly manage these non-human species. Some people think that whales are too special for this, but God has provided all of these species for our sustenance and use. For instance whale oil is compatible with machines used for processing food and for use in lamps. We also have olive oil, but we have more options if whale oil is available. Whale meat is nutritious and tastes good, however we have to be careful not to waste it as one whale is very large. This means that the meat must be salted and preserved. We thank God for all of his provisions that he has given us through nature and obediently we manage these according to his wisdom.

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