Zan Maruke
Amarr
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Posted - 2008.12.07 15:07:00 -
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All men worthy of being called such challenge themselves, question themselves, and seek meaning and purpose in life. Others see only themselves, or expect to see themselves, reflected in a stranger's face and can see only error where there is merely difference.
This is a difficult lesson I am still endeavoring to master.
But I would argue that too much freedom, or the desire for unfettered existence, is driven less by a man's coming to terms with himself, finding himself as you'd likely put it, and more from his desire to flee even further from that about himself which he cannot confront.
The Amarrian faith is not a blind thing for all, at all. It is interpreted by men, argued over by men and the lessons prioritized and preached by men. And even the wisest, most selfless and self-aware of men, few as they are, make errors. The Amarrian Church is a very large institution. We, of The Kingdom, are even more diverse and, in some ways, tolerant of competing interpretations of canon. We rather have to be.
The issue of slavery is two-fold.
You are correct in concluding the Amarr, and by extension The Kingdom, do have a theological basis for slavery. Many Amarr genuinely believe that humble service and reflection is the path to enlightenment for the ignorant, the proud and the selfish. In truth several other cultures I've encountered in my travels have similiar beliefs but they are not charged, by God Himself, to expand and liberate the darkened corners of the universe as the Amarr are duty bound to. So inevitably an institution such as slavery would arise. How else to bring about enlightenment efficiently for a conquered people? Look at many of the races in The Empire. See how they did rise to prominence in time? Lady Catiz Tash-Murkon is a shining example of one of the Faithful despite the fact of her Udorian heritage.
It shames me that while my beloved Kingdom is the penultimate example of what a progressive Amarrian faith can achieve it does harbor some of the most exploitative, faithless, and cynical slavers in the universe. We do not practice The Reclaiming and we care not in the slightest, certain of us at least, about what or who might qualify as a slave if the act can be gotten away with.
But that does bring me to the second fold of the institution: economic considerations.
Of course slavery is utterly inefficient even if one has the luxury of generations of slaves, trained from birth, at one's disposal compared to Caldari practices or even many Gallantean ones. "Heresy!" I anticipate the cries now. Before the inquisitors are called out in force, please if you will, hear me out.
Beyond religious duty or theoretical economic efficiencies we have the reality of massive economies and cultures already built upon the institution of slavery in both Kingdom and Empire. Almost all Holders own slaves or are vested in enterprises which are based on slave labor if some, such as agriculture, more than others. The Empire in particular requires huge beaurocracies to manage the flow and transport of goods from one world to another. Some planets are veritable garden worlds while others might not, after millenia of industrial development and population growth, be able to feed themselves.
These Imperial beaurocracies are amongst the most complex institutions known to New Eden. Not only are they riddled with incompetant blindered careerists, unwanted bastard children of nobility, and internal infighting but they're also beholden to councils of theological advisors, with whom every change must be cleared, and regional political pressures. Now imagine that stew had been left to simmer for thousands and thousands of years.
No, the Empire cannot change on the matter of the legality of slavery even if a theological or economic argument could be put forward. She is a massive vessel propelled by the momentum of eons of tradition.
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