So, some of you may know that the Sisters of EVE is one of my more favored topics, specifically the faith. I play my character as an adherent, and it's a significant topic in my own
word fugues. Unfortunately, it's not very well-detailed in the PF. The Amarr and Sani Sabik seem to have sucked most of the air out of the room when it comes to religion in EVE. When I heard the SoE was going to play a major role in The Burning Life, I'd hoped for more details, but no such luck since it was all about the humanitarian side of the house. I'm going to make the assumption that the operating methods of the not-explicitly-religious operations the SSoE undertakes are grounded in the principles of the faith, but disagree if you like.
Anyways, in the quest to explore and hopefully broaden the PF here, I thought we should start with what PF nibblets we do have and see what they say.
The SoE chron: Where it all began, detailing the organization's unique fusion of faith, science, and humanitarianism. My view is that it suggests that the religion's core doctrine is something like "Know God by knowing creation." Also:
The Sisters belief that this ‘relic from god’, as they call it, holds the key to the universe and are determined to unlock it, in order to bring ‘everlasting peace under god’s guidance and guardianship’ to the world of EVE. The Sisters maintain that god resides at the other side of the gate and from his domain he guides the lives of those that belief in him and keeps them out of harms way.
As fundamentalists and liberals exist in any organized faith, there is likely some internal dispute whether these teachings are literal or metaphorical. This passage also indicates a lack of predestinative beliefs as well as cementing their monotheist status.
It also says the organization was founded during the Gallente-Caldari war. That's almost 194 years ago, so the corporation/faction as we know it in game is at least 150 years old. I suspect, however, that the underpinning religious beliefs. My pet theory is that they're rooted in disaffected, meaning-of-life-seeking Federal sociologists studying primitive cults worshipping the EVE gate, but that's entirely speculative. Note that this is prior to the first contact with the Amarr, so none of it can be traced back to them.
Harna Durado, CEO of The Sanctuary is said to be the "current high priestess." What this means in relation to Santimona Sarpati's title of 'Reverend Mother' in 'Ante' is unclear.
"Millions of believers" are mentioned. This seems a little low to be a "large following in all the empires" given recent calculations of tens of trillions of people. I'll just chalk that one up to the general creakiness of old PF.
Silphy: She's said to have been sent off to the Sisters for being a hellraiser.
Her stay with the Sisters, initially intended as a punishment, grew into enthusiasm for Silphy - for the first time she was free of her father’s iron will and free to live as she liked.
The faith clearly encourages accepting people as they are and allowing them to live their lives, so long as they're not hurting one another.
The Black Mountain series: Though this chron series mostly deals with a splinter subfaction of The Sanctuary, it's worth mentioning, particularly the
infodump of the same name:
The Sisters of EVE have devoted themselves to saving lives, helping the sick & wounded, and gently prodding humankind to sacred ascendancy; and what foils them at every turn, in greater measure than politics and weaponmaking and natural disaster, is a force that continues to grow: The capsuleers.
Again we see the emphasis on action in the physical universe versus faith in the hereafter. The capsuleers probably figure, at least in veiled reference, in a fair few sermons against violence.
There have been stories of the SoE doing more arms training than before, and of Food Relief taking decisions that are decidely more militaristic in nature, even going so far as to demand personal information on capsuleers in exchange for providing assistance...In and of themselves, these developments are not that surprising: The SoE always have to be ready for combat and thus periodically renew their teaching syllabus, generally putting a higher focus on self-defence each time
Even abhorring violence as they do, the SoE apparently do not preach total pacifism.
The Sisters of EVE are masters at handling themselves in adverse conditions, and it is in their nature to face reality and deal with a situation as it is, not as they'd like it to be. They will not be led by dogma for long.
Here again we see a decidedly pragmatic strain to the teachings, as well as a suggestion of a tradition of internal dialogue and flexibility rather than centralized heirarchy of doctrinal control.
The End of the World series: Here we see what happens when the
faith of the Sisters, and their pursuit of knowledge, becomes
blind zealotry. Though not explictly written that way or even IC, it's a parable about what happens when you lose sight of the founding values of the Sisters, when you pursue coercive power rather than persuasive humanism, similar to but perhaps even more forceful than The Black Mountain and Burning Life.
Ante: Santimona and Silphy reunited again. Mostly not about the religion, but it does play up their neutrality in the ability to act as a go-between. Santimona's title "Reverend Mother" is an interesting touch. It's one of the few titles mentioned beyond Sister in any SoE PF, along with the aforementioned 'High Priestess' and possibly '
Seeker'.
All the Sisters of EVE ever asked for in return for their humanitarian assistance was permission to construct cathedrals dedicated to their faith, and over the years they had perfected the science and art of completing such structures in a matter of mere hours. The one in which they stood had a ceiling over thirty meters high and could seat twenty-thousand worshipers during its daily services, one of which had just ended.
Seems to suggest that it's a fairly expansionist, proselytizing faith. 20 thousand is a lot of people for one building. There's mention later of the SoE "holy crest." What that exactly looks like, I don't know. Probably something like the corp logo and the necklace/ring seen in the original chron.
The Burning Life: Again, not much here pertaining to the faith here. However, the detailing of the organization's willingness to work with just about anyone reemphasizes their essential pragmatism.
Pretty thin, overall. We don't know much about the religion's history, rituals, services, scripture, clerical structure, or specific teachings. It'd be nice to know what the hell to call a male member of the faith too, even if it's also 'Sister'. (I know you read these forums, CCP. ANSWER ME, DAMN YOU!)
Anyways. Anything anyone would like to add/comment on?
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Topic: Sisters of EVE - The Faith (Read 1328 times)