Abrigalasts
| Scripture | The Bible |
|---|---|
| Polity | Connexional |
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 cleromancy and 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 Christian anarchism and 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.
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 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 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 off-the-grid in Rhuon and the 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.
Abrigalasts around the World
Covinia
There are an estimated 30,000 Abrigalasts living in Covinia today, concentrated primarily in Kamslutsky Oblast, Naymheresky Oblast, and Slavskvatsky Oblast.
Covinia was a major destination for Abrigalasts fleeing persecution in South Levantia, and the refugees were welcomed by the Covinian government, which sought settlers willing to cultivate some of the country's more marginal lands.