The Shepherd’s Path, Part 22: Faith
The Jerusalemite religion is an amalgamation of all the various Abrahamic faiths that existed prior to the Second Ice Age. The main cause of their merging was the threat to the holy land by forces of the Compact of Revelation. The nations dominated by Abrahamic religions formed a military alliance to protect the holy land against this threat. As the centuries wore on, this military alliance became something more. Terminology, ideas, and various aspects of each faith crossed over into each other, further blurring the line between the various religions. It became perfectly normal for a group of nuns led by an Imam to celebrate Hanukkah. When the glaciers receded over a millennia later, those divides had largely disappeared. The adherents of these various faiths considered themselves Jerusalemites.
Those viewing the Jerusalemite faith from the outside would be forgiven for assuming it has an overall Christian leaning, but this is purely aesthetic. During much of its history after the Second Ice Age, the faith was controlled by the Jerusalemite Church, which took its general structure and some names from the ancient Catholic Church. Even after the fall of the Church, its influence is still felt and seen. If one examines the matter in any detail, though, they will find that this appearance is only skin deep. Much of the terminology in use has been subject to significant etymological drift, resulting in greatly changed implications for familiar terms.
The faith is divided, as many religions are, into sects. The three largest sects broadly correspond to the historical religions of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, although many others exist. Each one further breaks down into more subsects and variations. A 5th century Jew, 14th century Muslim, or a 23rd century Christian would all find themselves in a familiar environment within at least a few of the sects that formed from their respective faiths. Jerusalemites don't generally bother to distinguish between sects, but most individuals are aware of their heritage as Jewish Jerusalemites, Muslim Jerusalemites, Christian Jerusalemites, and et cetera. They continue to honor their ancestral culture and practices.
All Jerusalemites however share a cohesive sense of identity and core beliefs. They all worship the God of Abraham, and believe in God's supreme power. Regardless of sect or their individual beliefs, Jerusalemites all view each other as brothers and sisters. The events of the Later Crusades caused the religion to expel the more fundamentalist aspects of each faith, and reject violence except as an absolute last resort to defend oneself. Waging war in the name of God to spread his word became something that the Church rejected. Events like the early Crusades and various religious conflicts in the Middle East were looked back upon as straying from the path of righteousness. Amongst the Post Collapse States, this has regressed somewhat, and most powers use the faith as a call to arms. The Shepherds for their part reject this, and only take up arms for purely secular reasons, seeing themselves as saving lives and protecting the innocent.
Lailah stood up, holding her rolled up mihrab in her hands. She wrapped her rappoldi compass around it. The small circular device’s inner workings always pointed towards the direction of Earth, and like many other Jerusalemites she used it to guide what direction to pray in. Lailah turned around and stepped towards her open locker. She exchanged the mirhab and compass for her combat helmet, placing it over her head and securing it with a few practiced motions. She did one last check of her pilot suit before looking over at the small room’s other occupant.
“Do you need a hand?” Lailah quipped, with a smile on her face. The other occupant was struggling to get her long, voluminous neon pink hair secured in her helmet. The woman stopped what she was doing and glared at Lailah.
“The only reason you don’t have this issue is you wear a hijab,” retorted the other woman. The glare and stern look she gave Lailah broke almost the instant the sentence finished. “Yes please,” she sighed.
“Anna, I never thought I would see your hair in pink. I rather liked the ice blue,” Lailah said as she walked over to her friend. This kind of back and forth was normal between them, and Lailah smiled at the memories. A few quick motions and Anna’s hair was secure. While Anna secured her helmet, Lailah went about doing a check of Anna’s pilot suit. All was in order except for the normal missing glove. Once she was done, Lailah allowed Anna to do the same to her.
“Good to go, Alpha,” Lailah said to Anna.
“You as well, Omega,” was Anna’s reply. The two moved out of the ready room, Anna in the lead. Just before walking through the door, Anna kissed her ungloved hand and touched the mezuzah placed atop the door frame. She put her glove on as the two moved from the ready room to the hanger. They had one last member of their friend circle to find. They found him in the hangar, listening to one of the battalion chaplains give a prayer alongside several other pilots. Anna and Lailah could hear the chorus of “amen”, and a moment later the small group around the chaplain crossed themselves.
“Are you ready to go, Stitches?” piped Lailah.
The man looked at them, laughed and said “Yep, all good with God.” The trio chuckled as they came together in a group embrace before setting off to their respective machines and whatever lay in store for them.
