The Shepherd's Trail, Part 2: The Founding of the Church

The history of the Jerusalemite faith dates to the beginning of the Second Ice Age. Officially starting in 2422, this ice age was the harshest in the geological record. Humanity’s population was devastated, and the results of the mass movement of people towards the equator would fundamentally change human society. Mass famine and conflict over the remaining accessible resources reduced the human population to 2.2 billion by the year 2850. This led to a rise in religious sentiment across all of humanity. Many found solace in the faiths of their ancestors. Nations which had generally pushed back against religious influence in government now found religion taking on a more central role in politics. In 2835. the nations dominated by ancient religions formed the Council of True Faith. Not everyone attached themselves to an existing faith, and new religions sprouted up during the ice age’s early centuries. Described as ‘doomsday cults’ by many, the truth is more nuanced. These new faiths tended to focus on the near apocalyptic nature of the ice age and humanity’s response to it. Some were offshoots of existing faiths which believed their prophesized doomsday had come and gone, while others focused more on the idea that a person is not promised a tomorrow. This latter group was comprised mainly of ultra-survivalists, ready and willing to do what must be done to survive. By the 29th century, these new faiths had become dominating forces in many nations. Three months after the Council of True Faith was declared, the Compact of Revelations was formed to counter it. 

These two factions would wage war almost immediately and throughout the rest of the 4th millennium. This thousand year long set of conflicts would be called the Later Crusades (crusades 9-42 for ease of reference). These conflicts would claim casualties numbered in the hundreds of millions. An early friction point in the Later Crusades was the Middle East, and in particular the areas around Jerusalem due to its ability to support human habitation. To fight off Compact forces, Council nations who adhered to the Abrahamic religions formed an alliance to defend Jerusalem and much of the Arabian peninsula. This alliance would survive for the length of the crusades and, after 1000 years of shared struggle and close cooperation, emerged in a very different state. The lines between the various Abrahamic faiths had been blurred and outsiders simply referred to them collectively as “Jerusalemites”. This name was adopted internally as well and the Jerusalemite faith was born. 

As the ice age ended there was a pushback against religion. The horrors of the Later Crusades saw a rise in rationalism and science as a reaction. This Second Renaissance was a huge boon to humanity, but almost destroyed the fledgling Jerusalemite religion. In order to reorganize and ensure the survival of the faith, leaders from the various Jerusalemite sects met in the ancient Vatican City and hammered out a new organization. The Jerusalemite Church would oversee the myriad sects of the Jerusalemite faith. Each sect would send representatives to an assembly which was overseen by an elected Pope. The Church would become little more than a minor organization even considering these changes, but it did survive.

In 5396 a change in leadership altered the fortunes of the Jerusalemite Church. Pope Adrian XXXIV took office and began a massive outreach and recruitment campaign. In 5415 his plans came to fruition as the Church was able to fund a winning bid for a planet all its own. A flurry of lawsuits by corporate interests tried to block the sale and 15 years of bitter, unending legal action would follow. The Pope was physically and mentally devastated by the court battles. He had said this was his life’s purpose, to see the faith to a new holy land, and he believed he would not see it. The Church was ultimately successful, however, and after 15 long years it was given control of the newly christened New Jerusalem.

Karlos watched as the wizened, sick old man was wheeled up next to his desk. The man looked half-dead already, fifteen long years of litigation having seemed to sap the majority of his life away. His hooded eyes glanced to Karlos as the old man raised his hand in greeting. The wave, if it could be called that, was easy to miss with how little the Pope’s hand moved. As chief counsel of the Jerusalemite Church, Karlos had seen the Pope many times but today he was stunned at the Pope’s condition. He should have been resting at home, especially on today of all days, and yet here he was. They had been notified only hours before that the panel of judges had made a ruling, and it had been a mad rush to get to the courthouse. 

Across the aisle was the lead counsel for the various business entities who had sued the Church. All told, some three hundred separate suits had been filed, all on the same core basis that the Church, as a non-private interest, could not buy a planet, and if allowed to do so it would violate numerous laws that had been written to prevent public groups other than the Human Concordat itself from owning extrasolar territory. They also claimed the sale caused irreparable harm to hundreds of companies which had banked their solvency for the next century on the assumption that the planet’s resources would be open for exploitation. Karlos felt secure that they wouldn’t get anywhere with that second claim, as he had spent the last two years explaining in detail how the laws requiring corporations to allow outside access to their owned planets did not apply to the Church, which was not legally classified as a corporation. The first one bothered him more, because it was technically true. As far as Karlos could tell, the Church did not fall under the legal definition of a ‘private interest’,  But he had been in this fight for fifteen years, and he wasn’t going to give up at the finish line.

Karlos mused on that last point. His firm had represented the Church from the start, and very well. He himself was only a junior lawyer when this started and he now stood as lead counsel in the biggest court case of the last half century. This was the endgame, the highest court and the final panel. No appeals, no kicking it to a higher court, this was it. Karlos began to feel sick. He mused on the years of legal maneuvers, appeals, motions, novel theories, and began to get a headache. His train of thought was cut off as the judges entered the room and everyone rose to their feet. When Karlos sat back down, he felt a slight touch on his arm. Looking to his right, he saw the Pope‘s hand on his shoulder. Pope Adrian looked into his eyes and said “Thank you for everything. No matter what happens, I want you to know that you are a truly good man.” Karlos nodded his thanks as his stomach began to turn. He knew what he wanted to say to the old man, but it would have to wait.

The lead judge stepped forward and began to read off her podium. “In the matter of Adjarii LLC et al. vs the Church of Jerusalem at al., this court has reached a decision. We reject, in full and with prejudice, the plaintiffs’ complaints against the defendant. In this matter…” Karlos’s body went numb. It was over. They had won. With the lawsuits dismissed, there was nothing left to stop the sale. As Karlos looked over to the Pope to shake his hand, he saw a single tear go down the old man’s cheek. The judge continued to speak. “…that while the plaintiffs have shown that the Jerusalemite Church does not qualify as a private interest, they have failed to prove that this necessarily makes it a public interest, and it is therefore not bound by the statutes that would restrict its ownership of extrasolar territory. However, since it has been established that the Church is not a private interest, they are also not bound the statutes that would require them to accept outside investment…” It was as if the weight of the world had just disappeared off Karlos’ shoulders. Realizing now was the best time to say what he had been holding back, he looked at the Pope and smiled. “Happy birthday, Your Holiness.”