Minkowski Transcendentalism
Central Principles
- The world is tainted by the Adversary, who tore it from Heaven.
- One of the manifestations of this taint is Gravity, which manifests as the temptation of sin as well as physical attraction of masses.
- The world can be escaped by refinement and purification, physical, mental and spiritual.
- In this way one can reach Heaven and reunify with God.
History
Minkowski Transcendentalism, or Cavorism, was founded by the futurist/engineer/mystic Dr. Evan Cavor in the 2040s.
Beliefs
The two most important concepts in Cavorism are 'fundamental sin' and 'ascension'. Fundamental sin can be analogised to the Christian doctrine of original sin, but as applied to the entire universe - all creation in which we live is tainted by the Adversary. This manifests itself in both physical and spiritual dimensions as gravity and temptation respectively. These are to be avoided because they hamper efforts to attain ascension.
Ascension is the process of overcoming fundamental sin, and like sin, it is a physical and spiritual process. The cosmos is physically and metaphysically stratified into multiple worlds which form a ladder of unknowns all the way up to Heaven. To ascend beyond a world it is necessary to refine oneself and society mentally and spiritually, and eventually this will reveal the nature of higher planes and the means to access them. The archetypical example is that of humans, who had to develop civil society and then advanced technology before they could leave Earth for space. Each world entered will seem harsh and unfit for survival at first, but this is an illusion. Each one can become livable, and the process of transforming and elevating society and one's knowledge of the world in a bid to do so is a purifying ordeal that refines the soul.
This belief in multiple worlds is tied into the concept of reincarnation. The state of ones soul at death as determined by its physical circumstances and mental state determines where cosmologically it will be reborn. Pure and enlightened souls will ascend further towards Heaven, and corrupt souls will fall back to terrestrial life or maybe even further. Outsiders to the religion often ask why group ascension is necessary given this ability to ascend upon death by living a holy life, but two factors work against such a collapse into self-centered cosmology. For one, social circumstances have a profound influence on personal qualities and so an enlightened society is all but necessary for an enlightened life, and for another such a personal outlook would itself directly work against ascension. Selfishness is a sin, and a sincere belief in the importance and holiness of the act of ascension is a virtue. To strive to aid your fellows upwards is the most sacred act a creature can perform.
These concepts produce the central emphases of Minkowski Transcendentalism: Colonisation of space, scientific inquiry and communitarianism.
Fundamental Sin and Scientific Enquiry
The universe is corrupt, and it must be studied closely. Cavorism does not see any conflict between these statements. Ones friends and ones self are also corrupt as they are part of the universe, but this does not mean one should not seek to understand and aid them. It is only through knowledge of the universe that one can identify and diagnose its corruption, and discover the purer paths to higher worlds.
That is the pessimistic reading of Cavorite cosmology, but there is an obverse. The world is corrupt because it is tainted by the Adversary from the pure realm of Heaven, but as a corollary the world is sacred, because it is blessed by the Divine from the ultimate negation of the Singularity. By understanding the Universe one can see the hand of Heaven moving even in the darkness that envelops us. To know the universe is to know God.
The Virtue of Suffering
The path to ascension is not an easy one. When early life emerged from the oceans, they were robbed of the enveloping fluid that cushioned them against the prison of gravity. When humanity ascended into space, it was faced with a bleak void filled with predators as comparatively lethal as any creature of Earth had been to its prehistoric forebears. When each person denies temptations and false pleasures they must overcome a gnawing pain in their minds that drags them back down into Sin. But this overcoming makes them stronger. Without emerging from the oceans, life would not have become intelligent. Without ascending into space, we would not have the abundant resources and advanced xenotechnology that is gradually building the next stage of our ascension. Suffering is an inevitable consequence of the conflict between our corrupt nature and the purer world we aspire to. To embrace it as a teacher and emerge from it stronger and wiser is the surest and purest path to ascension, and to the final triumph over suffering itself.
This rather ghoulish doctrine was for most of Cavorism's history deemphasised, appealed to only as a salve for the needy. It was the Magnate War that thrust it into the limelight to compensate for the innumerable stresses of multi-decade total war, and it was the Magnate War that validated it by transforming Minkowski from third-world backwater to high-tech industrial superpower. Liturgical focus on the virtue of suffering has been scaled back significantly since the end of the War, but for a generation of Minkowskans it defined their lives.
A Holy Life
The cardinal sin of Minkowski Transcendentalism is selfishness. To ascend, humankind and individual humans must live in a purer space, understand the universe, and aid their fellows upwards. Greed, malice and pride are all manifestations of selfishness, and gravity represents not just temptation but the hungry selfishness of the Adversary who draws all things towards himself. Indeed, those two concepts are not wholly distinct.
A holy life is defined by knowledge, wisdom, kindness and generosity. When all embrace these principles purely, the path to Heaven will be open.
The Nature of God
The Cavorite God is far distinct from Abrahamic perceptions of an active and personal entity. It is a transcendent nature existing at the top of all worlds. It does not involve itself in the affairs of the lower worlds, because they are defined by their separation from God's perfect nature, and it does not act in the upper world where it resides, because this would imply that an imperfection existed there demanding correction. In extreme conceptions it is barely even a being so much as an ideal concept, that defines the thus-far ineffable goal to which all should aspire.
The Singularity
The Singularity is the victory of the Adversary. It is the ultimate of existence, the supreme material object of this universe, infinite in density and overwhelming utterly the trajectory of anything passing near. And yet, it is nothing. When one is consumed by the singularity one loses all individuality, and when all is consumed all is destroyed. We determine our existence by our relations to the physical and social world around us, and when the singularity makes all one, it destroys those relations, and hence our existence. In seeking to be the supreme object, the very expression of selfishness, the singularity destroys itself.
In this is revealed the fallacy of the heathen project to step into the future on the soil of other worlds and continue with the same lives they always had, rather than embrace the new frontier of space entirely. More severely, we see the threat of Magnate 'science', which in rejecting the spiritual turns understanding of the cosmos to the obliteration, rather than liberation of the soul. Both these things are just expressions of the paradox embodied in the Singularity - without understanding and humility, pursuit of a superior existence leads ultimately to destruction.
As Hawking revealed in the pre-Cavorite days, a singularity deprived of sustenance will wither and vanish. Those consumed by it are gone forever, but their ashes create the potential for new liberation. Such is the grace of God.
Hierarchy
Aphelion
The Space Pope.
Apogees
The council of Apogees is an exclusive, predominantly self-selected group consisting of the high administrators of the priesthood, senior theological scholars and a number of special positions. It elects the Aphelion from among its number.
First Priests
First Priests have authority over multiple Second Priests and tens or even hundreds of thousands of people. They officiate at ceremonies in the grand cathedrals.
Second Priests
Second Priests minister to congregations of thousands.
Third Priests
Third Priests are the lowest level of clergy permitted to hold services. They attend to small groups of people or assist the Second Priests.
Special Orders
Parallel to the standard priesthood are the Special Orders, whose members hold equivalent rank but do not perform services for the general public. Special Orders include the Society of Cavor (intellectual), the Military Order (military chaplains) and the Order of Ether (missionary). The heads of each order sit on the council of Apogees.