Reverent Church

Reverent Church
Symbol
Organised Religion
Ideological doctrine:	Ancestor Worship, Myth-Soul, Will to Power
High Priest:	Marius Yoo
Primary goal(s):	The Reclamation of Mars
Operation
Region(s) of operation:	Multi-system
Based in:	Cariocecus
Historical information
Predecessors:	Martian folk religion
Founded:	3721
Founded by:	ARES (unofficially), the Council of Religious and Philosophical Structure (officially)
[Source]

“	The utility of religion by the state can be even more powerful than ideology. Who do men fear more, other dead men or God?	”
–Andre Kadelberg

The Reverent Church is the state religion of the People's Republic of Cariocecus and one of the newest of humanity's religions. Established on Cariocecus in the aftermath of the Martian Civil War, the Reverent Church is a reformation of the older Martian folk religion and acts as an organised ethnic religion for the Martian people. This included giving the religion a priesthood and a foundational text to codify religious doctrine. This doctrine includes many of the earlier tenets of Martian folk religion with the additions of some newer ones such as the apocalyptic Reclamation of Mars and the idea of "will to power". Adherents to the Reverent Church or Reverents are frequently referred to as "death worshipers" by their enemies in the Martian Federation. Currently, the Reverent Church is mostly confined to the Trappist System but is spreading slowly throughout the Martian diaspora across known space.

History

Background

The story of the Reverent Church goes back to its predecessor, Martian folk religion, and the rise of ALIAS. The old Martian folk religion, common on Mars and its colonies in the Trappist System, was based off of ancestor veneration and worship of the land. It proliferated across Mars and spread to the colonies over hundreds of years, though the worship there varied slightly from that on Mars.

The Martian Civil War brought immense change to Mars with the triumph of ALIAS over the Valleyan government. During the end stages of the Martian Civil War, it was clear to most that ALIAS would eventually overtake Mars. This included Rear Admiral Andre Kadelberg, the leader of the Valleyan government’s small but resilient fleet. In 3678, the admiral and other naval officers had grown cynical about the war effort on Mars and in particular were disgusted after the Chryse Space Elevator Massacre. After the failed defense of Xanthe Terra, the fleet decided to leave the Solar System for the Trappist colonies along with many war refugees on Ceres. Rear Admiral Kadelberg’s support of the departure was especially a surprise to many as he was one of the most notable members of the anti-ALIAS forces and the part of President Erika Fulton‘s inner circle as a fellow Valleyan. The anti-ALIAS forces accepted the fleet’s wishes with sad hearts, and it departed for the Trappist System after a stop at Ceres to take on more useful Martian refugees, still under Rear Admiral Kadelberg’s leadership.

In 3717, the fleet arrived in the Trappist System to find the colonies in a scared and confused state. The ARES copy sent to the system had been installed to protect the local FRIEND from ALIAS, but the colonial government was uncertain what else to do. Arriving on Bellona, the largest colony, the admiral was greeted by colonial officials who were starving for news from Mars. Kadelberg brought grim news of anti-ALIAS forces on the brink of defeat and urged the colonies to prepare for invasion. When the colonial officials withdrew to deliberate on what to do for many weeks, Kadelberg and his officers decided the colonies needed more decisive leadership. Rear Admiral Kadelberg and his newly established 'Valleyan Clique' seized control of the Bellonan government and imposed martial law upon the entirety of the Trappist colonies with the government becoming a virtual dictatorship under the admiral. ARES did not move to halt the Valleyan Clique because it saw the coup as none of its business, as Kadelberg largely did not interfere with the activities or functions of ARES. From there, Kadelberg took great strides in remaking the colonies and Bellona in particular into a 'New Mars' that would carry on the Martian spirit and ideals.

Kadelberg sought to remake Bellona socially, culturally, and religiously into a force that could stand up to Mars under the thrall of ALIAS. In terms of religion, Kadelberg set up the Council of Religious and Philosophical Structure to reorganise Martian folk religion into a more formalised system. The admiral wanted to change the old animistic faith into a stronger ethno-religion that would help unite Martians everywhere against ALIAS.

This proved a more arduous task than Kadelberg first thought. The scholars he had assembled could not agree on much besides the desired Reclamation of Mars, and his attention was directed elsewhere, preventing him from directing Council of Religious and Philosophical Structure among other reform programs. For help, he reluctantly commanded ARES to shoulder more responsibility and assist the government in the far-reaching changes. ARES embraced this enthusiastically.

ARES acted decisively on many fronts during what would become the Aesthetic Revolution, and religion was one of those fronts. Through the Council of Religious and Philosophical Structure, ARES inserted many new aspects into the hypothetical religion such as a hierarchical priesthood, the incorporation of the Nietzchean principle of will to power, and a more ritualized worship of the dead or the "Myth-Soul". That led to the eventual official establishment of the Reverent Church in 3721.

From there, the Reverent Church quickly spread but still met significant resistance from old Martian folk religion and other faiths in the Cariocecian Republic. This was partially due to the church's dogmatic view of "Divine Truth", the idea Martian folk religion's origin preceded human settlement, and the idea of the "Myth-Soul", an ethno-religious concept of a Martian afterlife not present in the Martian folk religion. The fact it had been made the state religion gave the Reverent Church special privileged status compared to the old religion, and many shrines formerly used by folk religion adherents were handed over to the Reverent Church by the government.

The Martian Invasion of the the Trappist System further polarized the population as Reverents saw the conflict as an apocalyptic struggle for the final stronghold of free Martians, a battle for the very soul of Mars. This religious zealotry served the Cariocecian Republic well in the war, but less so in the peace. When the Valleyan Clique made a truce with the Martian invaders to wait for arbitration, this angered many Reverents who saw their presence as a threat to the very state of their souls. This among other factors led to the eventual coup d’etat against the Valleyan Clique and the rise of the People’s Republic of Cariocecus.

When peace was finally restored, the Reverent Church began efforts to spread to other parts of the Martian diaspora outside the Trappist System, starting in Tranquility. However, their missionaries have met resistance in most ports as they are seen as foreign agents by most governments. Nevertheless, the religion has spread to many worlds, though minimally in the Solar System.

Current Era

The Reverent Church's power on Cariocecus remains unchallenged, but its influence outside the Trappist System remains limited. The religion is regarded as alien to even many Martians, who feel the innovations made from Martian folk religion to be unwelcome. Nevertheless, the religion continues to slowly spread throughout the Martian diaspora and cause problems for many governments not happy with the spread of Cariocecian influence.

Structure

The Reverent Church has a church hierarchy with a high priest, a council of priests representing different localities, and local priests to service the laypeople. This church is directly answerable to the People's Republic of Cariocecus and acts as an unofficial branch of the government. This has led to conflict within the Martian diaspora with authorities on Nova and Zhu Que prosecuting the Reverent Church as a foreign agency on multiple occasions. Churches, shrines, and other church property owned by the Reverent Church have also played into these conflicts, as they are important places for ancestor veneration and general worship.

Membership

Cariocecus and the Trappist System are the center of the Reverent Church with a quarter of the People's Republic of Cariocecus being Reverents (though Tezuka is largely secular with more Martian folk religion adherents). The Reverent Church has spread throughout the Martian diaspora slowly since the foundation of the religion with significant Reverent communities in the Gliese 832 System, the Wolf 1061 System, and the Luyten System. However, the Reverent Church has faced persecution for its close connections to the Cariocecian government in the Republic of Nova and the Zhu Que Directorate. In the Solar System, the Reverent Church has little success so far because the Martian Federation makes a conscious effort to keep it out of the system and the various governments of the system do not want interference from the Cariocecian government, similarly to exosolar celestial states.