On the Creeds » David Louis Edelman

The creeds were founded with a noble goal in mind: to promulgate the spread of ethics and responsibility strictly through scientific and rational means.

History of the Creeds

Organized religion had largely disappeared into the Pharisee Territories with the chaos and destruction promulgated by the crazed prophets known as the Three Jesuses in the early years of the Reawakening. Wanton destruction in the name of God by New Alamo and the subsequent splinter Texan governments contributed to this as well.

But with the rise of Sheldon Surina’s science of bio/logics, many began to fear an intellectual imbalance. The great minds of the day traded horrified what-if scenarios about a society devoid of any moral compass whatsoever. The atmosphere soon became ripe for a return to spirituality in some dimension.

The cryptic hermit known only as The Bodhisattva filled that gap. He began wandering through Europe and Asia gathering followers much as the Three Jesuses had done in the early 100s. But the philosophy he preached about the search for Objective Truth was non-violent, non-judgmental, and extremely personal in nature. He allowed an administrative organization to coalesce around him almost as an afterthought.

Other organizations quickly took up the model that the Bodhisattva had placed in motion. Some like Creed Élan and Creed Dao were old institutions who had simply found in creedism a convenient structure suited for modern times; others took inspiration from the Bodhisattva and developed new philosophies that appealed to a wide body of followers.

Role of the Creeds Coalition

The Creeds Coalition was founded in 235 as a means of formalizing the interaction between the large (and still growing) number of creed organizations. Most creeds participate in and fund the operations of the Coalition voluntarily. There are a number of creeds who have refused to join the Coalition and are thus not bound by its rules and regulations. But even those creeds that do not officially belong to the Coalition tend to recognize its authority because of its long history of good deeds.

The major functions of the Coalition are to keep interactions between the creeds civil, and to act as a lobbying and advocacy group in the various government bodies. The Coalition also funds a number of minor creeds and engages in various philanthropic enterprises of its own.

To a lesser extent, the Coalition is assigned the duty of enforcing certain creed bylaws (such as the Objectivv oath of truthtelling and the Conscientious pledge of resource preservation). However, considering how fearful the Coalition is of favoritism, their oversight is in this regard is generally little more than a formality.

Leadership of the Creeds Coalition is an executive committee selected by all participating members, with membership tending to heavy representation by the major seven (listed below). Chairmanship of the executive committee is a two-year commitment, and is currently being held by the Bodhisattva of Creed Enlighten.

One important bylaw of the Coalition is that none of its members are allowed to formally restrict their devotees from pledging to multiple creed organizations. (In practice, however, many creeds do hold such restrictions.)

Major Creed Organizations

While there are literally tens of thousands of accredited creeds in the Coalition’s rolls, the number with any significant amount of power or influence is relatively small.

Creed Bushido (founding date unknown) was one of the products of the Autonomous Revolt. The creed was initially a martial organization whose aims were to preserve Japanese culture and tradition during a time of great upheaval. Gradually as the Reawakening got into full swing and the Creeds Coalition came into existence, the creed softened many of its stances and began incorporating the remnants of many other Asian cultures into its rituals and traditions.
Creed Conscientious‘ (founded 322 YOR) goal is to conserve the world’s computational resources. The creed is among the newest in the Coalition and its membership is quite small (around 4 million). But increasing concerns about computational resources in recent years have brought the creed an abundance of favorable press and a disproportionate influence on computational policy.
Creed Dao (founding date unknown), like Creed Bushido, also carries the torch of many of the ancient Asian religious cultures. Some have likened its philosophies of peace, tolerance and introspection to the teachings of Daoism and Buddhism. The creed tends to be very insular (if not downright secretive) in its beliefs, however, and therefore its tenets are not well understood in the popular imagination. The creed’s color is bronze.
Creed Élan (founded as The Élan Society in 39 and later rechristened as Creed Élan), one of the oldest and most venerable of the creeds, was once known as one of the most generous and self-effacing. In recent decades it has largely become the creed of the moneyed elite. And while the organization’s critics delight in pointing out the hypocrisy of its members, Creed Élan still devotes far more capital to philanthropic endeavors than any other creed. The creed has no single leader, but rather is run by a consortium of major and minor bodhisattvas. Its colors are red and purple.
Creed Objectivv (founded 108) promotes the search for ultimate epistemological truth in the universe. Its members take what is known as the Objectivv truthtelling oath, where they promise not to lie and to devote their lives to truth. Founded by a mystical figure known only as The Bodhisattva — the first creed leader to take that title — the organization continues to be run by a single leader. As of this writing (359 YOR), Objectivv membership runs in the low hundred millions (although a good percentage of those are considered “associate” members who are sympathetic to the creed’s aims but do not wish to pledge the truthtelling oath). The symbol of Creed Objectivv is a black-and-white swirl.
Creed Surina (founded 116) was founded by Prengal Surina and his companion Ladaru to honor Sheldon Surina’s memory. The creed’s official purpose is to promote “spiritual discovery and mutual enlightenment through technology,” which most observers interpret as humanizing technology. Some critics contend that such a goal might have been appropriate for the rampant Luddism of the early days of the Reawakening, but has lost its relevance. The creed has maintained such a large membership (2 billion) largely through the charisma (and money) of the Surinas. Creed Surina’s colors are blue and green.
Creed Thassel (founded 268) began as a popular movement dedicated to the “virtues of selfishness” and run by an extreme libertarian philosopher known as Kordez Thassel. The creed’s rituals were believed to be dangerous and mystical for many years until a drudge’s undercover reporting revealed that it had all been something of a hoax. The Thasselians turned to a more conventional philosophy of hard-core individualism afterwards and has been operating low-key ever since. Creed Thassel keeps its membership rolls private, but drudge opinion places its membership at somewhere south of a million. The symbol for Creed Thassel is three parallel vertical lines.

Minor Creed Organizations

Other creeds with significant membership rolls and some small amount of public influence include Creed Autonomous, Creed Enlighten, Creed Laebos, Creed Sacrificial, and Creed Tzu.