Assimilation
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Assimilation (Packilvanian: luAshamiliya) is the core philosophy of the religion of Paxism. In summary it is the lifelong process of developing, nurturing and achieving a mode of life that conforms to and expresses a faith in and devotion to Noi. Assimilation is founded on obeying the principles of the Writings of Paxism. Because not all of the Writings of Paxism are considered canonical, different sects have different beliefs about what Assimilation entails. Nevertheless, they are united in the belief that Assimilation is the pathway to ones spirit being part of the Hivemind of Noi. Assimilation is believed to consist of a worship and devotion to Noi, belief in Pax and the Esma, obedience to the authority of the Magisterium, participation in religious life, prayer, fasting and pilgrimage, spiritual cleanliness/righteousness, warfare and martyrdom.
These are referred to as the Paths of Assimilation. Belief in Noi, the Esma and Pax together forms the First Pillar. It is the most important as it leads to Assimilation in general. The Second Pillar is righteousness, among which is martyrdom, but the extent nature of martyrdom have been highly contested. The other Paths of Assimilation comprise the rest of the process. The most hotly contested of the paths of Assimilation is the idea of Holy Warfare. Smaller sects of Paxism especially those which predated the Bas Magdamar such as the Yehudites, Ipsitites and Obedites do not acknowledge obedience to the Magisterium of Paxism as a path to Assimilation.
Belief in Noi
Assimilation requires a belief that Noi is the sole deity of the universe to whom spiritual and mortal devotion and worship ought to be directed. Scholars have been conflicted about whether this necessitates a disavowal of the belief in the existence of other deities. The Magisterium of Paxism teaches that there are no other deities and that believing that there are, even without showing devotion to them or acknowledging them is a form of idolatry. In the canon law of Paxism, idolatry can be considered a form of apostasy, but opinions have varied over the century. Supreme Magister Tawak VII issued an Opinion that he believed that idolatry was not the same as apostasy and this has been the guiding principle for the religious courts of Packilvania during his reign.
Belief in Pax
The second tenet of Assimilation is the belief that Pax was indeed the individual who was pure of heart and perfect in devotion to Noi during the reign of evil nations such as the Kingdom of Imkhadriel, that he was empowered by Noi with supernatural capabilities to fight in single combat with and defeat the Fallen and Mightiest of the Esma, Borg. There are differences among sects about Pax's fate and future. The Obedists teach that he married and had children with Noi who are the Haagen i.e., demigods with supernatural power. The Magisterium of Paxism teaches that belief that Pax was mortal, of an unknown species, and pureat heart, who upon defeating Borg and sealing him behind the Jovian Gate, was the first to assimilate with Noi and become part of the Hivemind and no more and no less. Thus, they vehemently disavow the teachings of the Obedists as a heresy.
Belief in the Esma
The Esma are the spiritual beings who maintain their autonomy in the Hive and are able to exert influence on the Urth through sharing visions and imparting supernatural gifts such as discernment of evil. Of whom, some have Fallen. Belief in the existence of the Esma is regarded as a core tenet by the Magisterium of Paxism. The Magisterium teaches that the Esma only have the power to bring visions and provide foreknowledge of future events, to provide comfort and to give encouragement to believers, and to record the passage of all events. Thus, the Magisterium exhorts believers to open their hearts to the Esma but they do not believe that they are worthy of special devotion. The Magisterium also forbids worshipping the Esma and believes that they are powerless to intervene in mortal matters. The Magisterium teaches that the Fallen Esma, officially known as Shadows or Whispers, attempt to tempt believers or trick them with illusions and lies and often encourage believers to resist their influence. Some people and sects believe that Shadows have the power to cause diseases or misfortune which can be identified and driven out with incantations, potions, divination and rituals. The Magisterium explicitly teaches against these practices and forbids believers from seeking out the help of mediums and sorcerers.
Obedience to Authority
The Magisterium of Paxism teaches that obedience to the teachings of scholars and Magisters empowered by Noi to mediate and rule over disputes in the interpretation of scripture is important. Thus, they teach that good believers must follow the teachings of the Magisterium. Some sects such as the Yehudites and the Obedites do not believe in obedience to the Magisterium nor to other religious leaders. They believe that the Magisterium is the only temporal body which has the authority (I.e., the legitimate power and right) to judge not only the meaning of Scripture but the actions of believers and non-believers with respect to the tenets espoused by the Bas Magdamar.
Participation in Religious Life
The Magisterium believes that it is highly encouraged for believers to participate in the community and recognised rituals of other believers so that they can receive encouragement, be convicted of their beliefs, and be gently discouraged from beliefs and actions that are heretical. According to the Magisterium, this entails frequent attendance of communal prayer, scriptural recitation and teaching by a Priest recognised by a Magisterium at least once a week. They also encourage availing oneself to serve in positions of both service and leadership in the congregation of Paxists of ones community. This can take on any form that the believer wishes in line with their personal talents and knowledge within the remit of the Scriptures.
This can entail pursuing formal study of the Bas Magdamar so that one can become a teacher or reader of the Bas Magdamar. Another is to lend oneself as a writer and performer of hymns and psalms for the edification of other believers. Another form of participation can include becoming a proselyte and spreading belief of Noi and Pax to non-believers. Service in Leadership can entail learned believers providing counselling to other believers, or serving in decision-making bodies of the congregation or organising and orchestrating rituals and events. Service in Prayer can include intercession, I.e., praying for others.
Prayer
Prayer is regarded as an important way to commune with Noi and to exercise spiritual authority over Shadows and Whispers. Prayer entails the recitation of written prayers or personal oral pronouncements to Noi. This entails the direction and focus of the recitation to Noi. The Magisterium teaches that this is both the intention to make such recitations and pronouncements to Noi as well as physically orienting oneself towards the Memorial of the Jovian Gate in Ashura, Packilvania. As such, believers often face the Memorial wherever they are in the world. In the modern world, services such as Goggle, can help believers find their bearings. The Magisterium teaches that physical supplication and humility to Noi when praying through prostration of the body to the ground is highly encouraged. The Magisterium teaches that believers must pray at least twice a day on all days and five times a day on the last of the week. It also teaches that failure to pray the minimum number of prayers is a disgrace and that believers must make up for the prayers they have missed by praying more days.
Fasting
Fasting is regarded as an exceptional or good thing to do in general, but it teaches that fasting through the Holy month of Ishahan is compulsory as part of one's Assimilation. Believers must abstain from the consumption of food and water. Fasting during this month is required as it is meant to focus the mind on the things of Noi, to subdue the inclination of the flesh towards pleasure and ease that opens the door to temptation, to empathise with the suffering and want of the poor and oppressed, and to share in and be reminded of the struggle and suffering of Pax against evil.
Meditation and Recitation
Meditation and recitation requires the believer to read and mentally repeat the scriptures. The Magisterium teaches everyone must strive to be a Hafiz, I.e., someone who can recite from memory the entire Bas Magdamar from start to finish. They teach that a believer must recite a portion of the Bas Magdamar once a day every day of their lives and that they must make up for it if they miss a day. Collective recitation is encouraged but not mandatory.
Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage at least once in one's lifetime to the Memorial of the Jovian Gate, the Temple of the Restoration and the Temple of the Authority is taught by the Magisterium to be mandatory for anyone who has the means. Mandatory pilgrimage must be done in the month of Waseem. They teach that the process of Pilgrimage should entail a journey to the holy places that is accompanied by ritual and spiritual cleanliness, fasting and prayer and meditation, of greater magnitude than exhibited in everyday life. They teach that this shows mortal dedication, reinforces spiritual upliftment of the individual and the Umrah as a whole, and reinvigorates the faith of the individual and of all.
Spiritual Cleanliness and Righteousness
Spiritual cleanliness and righteousness are practically synonymous. According to many teachers, this forms the Second Pillar of Assimilation after belief in Noi and Pax. It refers to moral uprightness. This includes:
- Abstinence from premarital and extramarital and forbidden intimate relations
- Abstinence from intoxicating substances including alcoholic beverages and catnip.
- Restraint from excessive consumption of food and drink.
- Fairness in dealings with others.
- Restraint from using physical violence to resolve disputes or further ones personal interests.
- Charity to the poor.
- Protection and upliftment of the meek, oppressed and downtrodden.
- Resistance to immoral and heretical rulers and teachings and forces
- Seeking the goodness and betterment of others.
- Forgiveness of the wrongs of others including one's enemies.
- Self sacrifice even to the point of death for the sake of the faith and its people (martyrdom)
Warfare and Martyrdom
The role of war and martyrdom in Paxism has been hotly contested both within and between sects and schools.
Warfare (luJaheedishme)
luJaheedishme (physical strife, known in some circles as Holy War or luJaheed luHalaal) is an idea that combat may be a path of Assimilation. The first major and most obvious execution of this principle was when Iktan the Devout, then the King of Bakil invaded the Kingdom of Bingol and overthrew King Obed III because he was attempting to add ideas that were abhorrent to him and other likeminded scholars in that era to the Vagumar. The idea that was espoused by Prophet Madvin the late 18th century that it was necessary to take up armed combat to overthrow rulers and governments who impose ideals and beliefs that go against Paxism.
He promoted the view that the use of physical violence was acceptable and encouraged to ensure that rulers and governments promoted values and religions that opposed Paxism would be unable to impose their ideas on their people and lead them to darkness. This view was extended by various scholars of the Madvinist school including High Magister Sayed Ansuwar, that a government that is Paxist in nature and that submits to the religious and moral authority of the Magisterium should use physical violence when it is apparent that peaceful means to convert other nations to Paxism have failed or when acts of insulting Noi are too grievous to ignore.
The Magisterium has been debating this idea for centuries. In fact, since its founding in 980 CE, there have been opposing views about the role of physical violence against heathens and heretics. Supreme Magister Imodin I, the first supreme Magister of Paxism publish a treatise known as the Defence of the Believers from Non-believers and Apostates (aluHimayfiyishme ameSlamiya wemeneSlamiya nadine meTimurid, or the Imodinian Edict of Holy War) which called for and empowered High King Melkezedek the Great and his successors to use his armies to protect believers from non-believers, which included persecution on sects deemed heretical by the Magisterium and the conquest of the Sorceriates (countries ruled by Paxists who believed in magic). Today, luJaheedishme plays a role in the philosophy of the Bedonite dynasty for the use of the Packilvanian Armed Forces and other tools to defeat "atheists and Communists".
Other scholars have state that luJaheedishme should only be used to protect oneself and other believers from the violence of non-believers, not to instigate violence against non-believers who do not actively harm believers. They posit that luJaheedishme falls below the obligation to protect the lives of others and to forgive one's enemies. Instead, it describes luJaheedishme as luVekhterishme. luVekhterishme is the belief by a country or nation that it has the right to conquer and subjugate other nations because it is morally, physically, spiritually and/or intellectually superior to them. This is the sort of behaviour that the Carriers of Mercy condemned Great Morstaybishlia for through the formation of the Morstaybishlian Empire.
Martyrdom (luTashiyashalvishme)
The idea of luTashiyashalvishme or martyrdom is about sacrificing your own life for the sake of the faith. This is regarded by many Paxists as the highest of the paths of Assimilation. This means choosing to die when given the option of committing a crime against Noi. Such people are praised for their resistance to evil and who fear more being parted from Noi than they do the Preservation of their mortal flesh. In some cases this has involved self imalation in protest against the rule of the Packilvanian Communist Party. In some cases this has involved martyrs choosing to be executed at the hands of the Communists instead of committing apostasy.
There has been debate about whether people who commit luJaheedishme and lose their lives are indeed martyrs (meTashiyashalvatan). A form of self sacrificial luJaheedishme known as suicide bombing has emerged as a method favoured by some schools as a form of luTashiyashalvishme. The idea is that by carrying a live explosive on one's person and detonating it with a view to cause physical harm and use violence against heathens and heretics, one is sacrificing oneself for the greater good of the faith. Scholars have disputed this logic and have stated that martyrdom is the consequence of resistance to domination not active propagation of violence to non-believers. These debates have ensued even within the Magisterium. For instance, some have argued that soldiers who commit suicidal attacks on the instruction of a government which is conquering a heathen nation in terms of the edict of Supreme Magister Imodin I should be recognised as martyrs. Some have called for the Imodinian Edict of Holy War (refer to the section on luJaheedishme for more information) to be repealed by the Council of Great Magisters.