World Views: Chivalry code, Religion, and so on.

[MoonHunter]

Kerren is a world with and without a religion per say.

The primary religion of Kerren is "Preservation." Dedicated to the preservation of society and community, Preservationism has strong roots in ecology movement. As technology that can do more and more, it can destroy more and more.  It is not a religion per say, more of a philosophical focus.  

Preservers have a dispersed structure, much like a network. There is no heirarchy or chain of command. You just are part of it or not. Decisions are by concensus. You may think ecologicially, but you act locally, with the higher ideals in mind.

Though Preservers do not see themselves acting in opposition to older religions or technology. They see themselves as the next step, to ensure the survival of community and society.

One of Preservation's primary goals is the preservation and extension of planetary ecosystems. Having failed on Earth, they are now trying to preserve the new colonial worlds.


Additional thoughts

There are no "clerics" in the Presever worldview.  The Elders were lost early to the first native virus, so the Healers took over their positions.. to educate the young and maintain the group.  

The spiritual side of Preserverism is a set of general beliefs and vauge spirtuality (adopted from some Asian religions). It is taught as part of their culture, rather than a subject to study unto itself.

All Kerrens have a general beliefs

1) The Honor Code is part of the religion tennents

2) People have to live with harmony in nature, you must respect it. They had this idea before they colonized here and learned greater respect for nature when they found out "nature" would casually walk through their city walls and rip people apart. (The first Guliver quote: "See, I told you so.")Kerrens do not build damms or change the environment on any scale. They don't build in flood planes or places where they would be in danger. After all, the world is dangerous enough... why add more danger to it.

3) There is a generalized belief in a blance and flow in the universe. If you are in harmony with the universe, the universe will be in harmony with you. The universe has a plan that you can't see in the chaos of the details, yet each piece of the plan is important to the whole plan.

4) A Karmic ideal is there.. action have consequences both in this life and the next.

5) Afterlife is returning to the spiritual whole. You heal and learn from your experience and then come back some day.

6) Technology is not bad, but it needs to be responsive and appropriate to the world.

Okay... this is sounding like the Force from StarWars... Maybe they rerleased the first trillogy in 2090...

We know the colonists wanted a simplier life, after some technical disaster on Terra (Some nano-tech probably turned a city in grey goop before contained). there was a "lets live simplier and with less technology" movement. I am sure there was some charismatic public figure leading this movements. He did not come along on their ship.

They arrived with this pioneer idealism... and some basic social ideas (though some of these ideas come from their society in the last 21st century). These were the foundation of their cultures.

[MoonHunter]

It is the presence of the honor code that makes Kerren such an interpersonal drama (soap opera). Everyone follows it, to some degree. Only Ryders are held to it.

Honesty :
To self: Since you have to be honest with your self, you find yourself doing and acting on feelings, that other societies would normally suppress (by lying to yourself about their importance)
To everyone: You are supposed to be honest with everyone, yet we we all know how too much honesty can be a problem. This rule is often in conflict with Duty and Cooperation

Co-Operation : Kerren society is built upon the foundation of cooperation. You are bound to help people in need, to do what you can for the wing/ ward/ cluster/ society as a whole. You may hate someone's guts, but when the Zhan are falling, you work with them as a full part of your team. Sometimes people repress honesty to make cooperation possible. Sometimes your need to do what is best for the group, you have to toss personal loyalty out the window.

Duty : Every person has a job to do and they should do it, no matter what. Kerren's cooperative society, everyone does there part. If you have been given a duty, you have to do it... everyone is counting upon you. Some people see this as a need for excellence, however.. the code implies you just need to do the job well... not better.

Loyalty : Loyalty to ones's crew, one's "captain", and one's friends is a very important ideal. However, it creates the conflict when dealing with duty, cooperation, and honest.

"Word" : This is not technically part of the "code". It is a bi-product. It is one's reputation. In a society and as stratified and small as Kerrens, your reputation is how people see you. Since many of the laws and rules are subjective to the Warden (head of the ward), the ward's opinion of you becomes very important. that is why when someone is a bit too honest, duels will often errupt to defend one's word.

Cool little honor system. In theory, a perfect one. Like all honor systems, when you take them a bit farther than they were designed, they can create some strange results.