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The '''Abrigalasts''' (from the Coscivian ''abris galastor'', "submission/surrender to a higher authority") are a movement of Christian religious congregations characterised by their categorical rejection of politics - here defined not only as governmental affairs and elections, but all forms of contentious group decision-making, including in ecclesiastical matters. They are noted for their use of {{wp|cleromancy}} and {{wp|sortition}}, which they believe are the only Scripturally-prescribed method for resolving questions on which there is no clear religious teaching or group consensus. Abrigalasts embrace ideas such as {{wp|Christian anarchism}} and {{wp|Christian pacifism}} in various forms. | The '''Abrigalasts''' (from the Coscivian ''abris galastor'', "submission/surrender to a higher authority") are a movement of Christian religious congregations characterised by their categorical rejection of politics - here defined not only as governmental affairs and elections, but all forms of contentious group decision-making, including in ecclesiastical matters. They are noted for their use of {{wp|cleromancy}} and {{wp|sortition}}, which they believe are the only Scripturally-prescribed method for resolving questions on which there is no clear religious teaching or group consensus. Furthermore, they profess the {{wp|priesthood of all believers}} and have no ordained clergy or ministers in the conventional sense, instead periodically selecting bishops and pastors by sortition. Abrigalasts embrace ideas such as {{wp|Christian anarchism}} and {{wp|Christian pacifism}} in various forms. | ||
Although it is currently unclear precisely where the movement began and who its founders may have been, the movement arose in [[Levantia]] sometime during the [17th or 18th] century AD, and gained popularity in certain remote rural areas of the continent. Suppression by [[Levantine Catholic]] state and clerical authorities were mostly successful, with most Abrigalasts reverting to Catholicism or going into exile in [[Kiravia]] or certain North Levantine countries such as [[Covinia]]. | Although it is currently unclear precisely where the movement began and who its founders may have been, the movement arose in [[Levantia]] sometime during the [17th or 18th] century AD, and gained popularity in certain remote rural areas of the continent. Suppression by [[Levantine Catholic]] state and clerical authorities were mostly successful, with most Abrigalasts reverting to Catholicism or going into exile in [[Kiravia]] or certain North Levantine countries such as [[Covinia]]. | ||
Since its earliest recorded history, the Abrigalast movement has been extremely fissile, sundering into a great many sub-denominations over disputes such as the proper use and methods of {{wp|cleromancy}}, the degree to which Christians are called to abjure from interaction with human laws and governments and those who submit to them, and numerous other issues. Some moderate Abrigalasts, such as the First Submitting Church of [[Primóra]], abstain from voting, military service, and contesting lawsuits, but otherwise abide by civil and administrative laws of the countries where they live. Other groups make greater efforts to avoid interaction with the temporal power, and may object to {{wp|civil registration}}, land registration, and payment of taxes. The most extreme Abrigalast churches seek to live as free from civil authority as possible, and the Kiravian Health Executive estimates that there may over 1,000 radical Abrigalasts living completely {{wp|off-the-grid}} in [[Rhuon]] and the [[Great Kirav#Western Highlands|Western Highlands]] to avoid civil registration and use of government roads or currency. Abrigalasts' drive to detach themselves from political society has pushed them to settle in many remote and inhospitable locations throughout Ixnay. | Since its earliest recorded history, the Abrigalast movement has been extremely fissile, sundering into a great many sub-denominations over disputes such as the proper use and methods of {{wp|cleromancy}}, the degree to which Christians are called to abjure from interaction with human laws and governments and those who submit to them, and numerous other issues. Some moderate Abrigalasts, such as the First Submitting Church of [[Primóra]], abstain from voting, military service, and contesting lawsuits, but otherwise abide by civil and administrative laws of the countries where they live. Other groups make greater efforts to avoid interaction with the temporal power, and may object to {{wp|civil registration}}, land registration, and payment of taxes. The most extreme Abrigalast churches seek to live as free from civil authority as possible, and the Kiravian Health Executive estimates that there may over 1,000 radical Abrigalasts living completely {{wp|off-the-grid}} in [[Rhuon]] and the [[Great Kirav#Western Highlands|Western Highlands]] to avoid civil registration and use of government roads or currency. Abrigalasts' drive to detach themselves from political society has pushed them to settle in many remote and inhospitable locations throughout Ixnay. | ||
==Beliefs== | |||
Due to the absence of a unifying doctrinal authority and an intense proclivity for denominational fission, no creed or confession reflects the beliefs of all Abrigalasts, and the movement is defined more in terms of its practices than its theological tenets. However, several articles of faith are held in common among all but the most heterodox and divergent groups. | |||
Kiravian writers typically classify the Abrigalasts as a {{wp|Proto-Protestantism|proto-Protestant}} or "para-Protestant" movement, rather than Protestants proper, whereas [[Catholic Levantia|Catholic Levantine]] writers typically describe them as {{wp|Spiritual Christianity|"folk Protestants"}}. Over time, many congregations (especially smaller ones outside of the large, established settlement areas) have either drifted toward more conventional Protestant views or formally adopted Protestant creeds. | |||
The default theological foundations of Abrigalast churches are Trinitarian and Chalcedonian. | |||
In general, Abrigalasts conserve most sacraments of the Catholic Church, albeit without a sacerdotal understanding and with radically different implementation. Baptism of infants is universally practised; in the Serikordan Purchases it is a congregational affair performed by the pastor of the week, while in Suderavia it is generally performed by fathers or midwives shortly after birth. Confirmation has special significance, as confirmed believers become eligible for sortition. Reconciliation is a public affair, and confession of sins is made regularly to the assembled congregation in a revival of early Christian practice. | |||
===Justification for Distinctive Practices=== | |||
[Under construction] | |||
==Church and Community Governance== | ==Church and Community Governance== | ||
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*'''Bracketism -''' Use of a {{wp|Bracket (tournament)|single-elimination bracket}} to structure cleromancy, allowing congregations to apolitically resolve complex questions with multiple possible solutions. Most Abrigalasts reject brackets as an innovation that compromises the essence of their religious praxis. However, in congregations that practice communal or coöperative living, bracketism is shown to correlate positively with sustained growth, adherent retention, and various measures of economic prosperity, and to reduce the frequency of congregational schisms. | *'''Bracketism -''' Use of a {{wp|Bracket (tournament)|single-elimination bracket}} to structure cleromancy, allowing congregations to apolitically resolve complex questions with multiple possible solutions. Most Abrigalasts reject brackets as an innovation that compromises the essence of their religious praxis. However, in congregations that practice communal or coöperative living, bracketism is shown to correlate positively with sustained growth, adherent retention, and various measures of economic prosperity, and to reduce the frequency of congregational schisms. | ||
*'''Urrimism-Thummimism''' - Use of light and dark stones to decide upon binary questions. | *'''Urrimism-Thummimism''' - Use of light and dark stones to decide upon binary questions. | ||
*'''Octoglobalism''' - Use of an {{wp|icosahedral die suspended in fluid inside a ceramic orb}} for cleromancy. | |||
Currents related to world-denial: | Currents related to world-denial: | ||
*'''Abiding churches''' - Congregations whose members abstain from voting, political activity, and (usually) military service, but otherwise abide by civil laws where they live, register with the authorities, and pay taxes. | *'''Abiding churches''' - Congregations whose members abstain from voting, political activity, and (usually) military service, but otherwise abide by civil laws where they live, register with the authorities, and pay taxes. | ||
*'''Removing churches''' - Congregations who take active measures to minimise their contact with political society, often by settling in remote and lightly-governed areas, but will comply with the law when asked. | *'''Removing churches''' - Congregations who take active measures to minimise their contact with political society, often by settling in remote and lightly-governed areas, but will comply with the law when asked. | ||
*''' | *'''Defiant churches''' - Congregations who reject the legitimacy of civil authority on principle. | ||
==Abrigalasts around the World== | ==Abrigalasts around the World== | ||
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===Kiravian Federacy=== | ===Kiravian Federacy=== | ||
====Serikorda and the Purchases==== | ====Serikorda and the Purchases==== | ||
The oldest, largest, and most stable Abrigalast communities are located in the mountains of [[Serikorda|Serikorda State]], living in six communities known as the Sortitionist Purchases. The two largest Purchases, Xtown and Ycrest, contain multiple villages and congregations selecting a single bishop, while the rest - Zburg, Qville, Wham, and Ubury, are centred on a single congregation. In terms of religious and communal life, the six Purchases differ from one another in numerous points of detail, but all can be broadly described as practicing a "Traditional Serikordan Abrigalastism" that combines a fairly orthodox Trinitarian theology and a moderately Removalist and Insular stance on world-denial with traditional methods of cleromancy and sortition. Qville is an exception in that it has become an Abiding church in recent years. Ycrest, Zburg, amd Ubury are Integralist, whereas Wham, Qville, and most congregations in Xtown conduct church meetings and business meetings separately. Abrigalasts in the Purchases have traditionally followed a communal agrarian lifestyle, though in the modern era only a small minority are full-time farmers and most men seek employment outside of the community at some point in their lives. Most of the Purchases have worked to start new communal enterprises - often involving handicrafts, artisan food products, and tourism - though Ubury, the smallest and most insular Purchase, has not. | The oldest, largest, and most stable Abrigalast communities are located in the mountains of [[Serikorda|Serikorda State]], living in six communities known as the Sortitionist Purchases. The two largest Purchases, Xtown and Ycrest, contain multiple villages and congregations selecting a single bishop, while the rest - Zburg, Qville, Wham, and Ubury, are centred on a single congregation. In terms of religious and communal life, the six Purchases differ from one another in numerous points of detail, but all can be broadly described as practicing a "Traditional Serikordan Abrigalastism" (''Intîrix Serikordax Abrigalastōrisēn'') that combines a fairly orthodox Trinitarian theology and a moderately Removalist and Insular stance on world-denial with traditional methods of cleromancy and sortition. Qville is an exception in that it has become an Abiding church in recent years. Ycrest, Zburg, amd Ubury are Integralist, whereas Wham, Qville, and most congregations in Xtown conduct church meetings and business meetings separately. Abrigalasts in the Purchases have traditionally followed a communal agrarian lifestyle, though in the modern era only a small minority are full-time farmers and most men seek employment outside of the community at some point in their lives. Most of the Purchases have worked to start new communal enterprises - often involving handicrafts, artisan food products, and tourism - though Ubury, the smallest and most insular Purchase, has not. | ||
These areas were settled by Abrigalast immigrants from Covina and Suderavia in the [DECADES], and were welcomed by the state government to promote development in marginal highland areas. Although they are not municipal bodies, the Purchases have special status under the state's local governance statutes in order to allow them to administer many local services without conforming to normal political structures like town meetings and local elections. This status is contingent on the land remaining owned by a religious body and admitting only members of that body as residents. In 21202, Qville Purchase gave up its special status in order to open some of its land up to real estate development. Over the course of their existence, the Purchases have constantly exported emigrants due to population pressure, economic difficulties, and schisms within the congregations. Some Abrigalasts have settled nearby and remained members of their home congregation, while others have calved off new congregations, many of them scattered further afield. The overwhelming majority of Abrigalast communities in Kiravia can trace their origins back to the Purchases. During the past century the Purchases have experienced dramatic population decline due to attrition from the movement and emigration of members to other areas. Persecution by the Kirosocialist régime, which abrogated the Purchases' special status and refused to make religious accommodations in public administration or allow {{wp|conscientious objection}} to military service, absolutely decimated the Purchases by conscripting or imprisoning much of the workforce, forcing many children into state boarding schools, and inducing many residents to flee to other areas or leave the movement entirely. However, this persecution also had a conservatising effect on those who remained, instilling a greater antipathy towards the State and distrust towards outsiders. | These areas were settled by Abrigalast immigrants from Covina and Suderavia in the [DECADES], and were welcomed by the state government to promote development in marginal highland areas. Although they are not municipal bodies, the Purchases have special status under the state's local governance statutes in order to allow them to administer many local services without conforming to normal political structures like town meetings and local elections. This status is contingent on the land remaining owned by a religious body and admitting only members of that body as residents. In 21202, Qville Purchase gave up its special status in order to open some of its land up to real estate development. Over the course of their existence, the Purchases have constantly exported emigrants due to population pressure, economic difficulties, and schisms within the congregations. Some Abrigalasts have settled nearby and remained members of their home congregation, while others have calved off new congregations, many of them scattered further afield. The overwhelming majority of Abrigalast communities in Kiravia can trace their origins back to the Purchases. During the past century the Purchases have experienced dramatic population decline due to attrition from the movement and emigration of members to other areas. Persecution by the Kirosocialist régime, which abrogated the Purchases' special status and refused to make religious accommodations in public administration or allow {{wp|conscientious objection}} to military service, absolutely decimated the Purchases by conscripting or imprisoning much of the workforce, forcing many children into state boarding schools, and inducing many residents to flee to other areas or leave the movement entirely. However, this persecution also had a conservatising effect on those who remained, instilling a greater antipathy towards the State and distrust towards outsiders. | ||