Religious Homaitism
Religious Homaitism (Drakona: ɔɩ̆ɛɷɿ̆ ʌɷ̆ɔȷɾȷ; Drakona pronunciation: /ˈɑːˌjoʊ.soʊ.zɑː ˈhoʊˌmaɪ.tiː/; Ayosoza Homaiti) is a political ideology derived from a mixture of the political theories of Homaitism and various religious theories, typically from Birahe. Generally considered to be a variant of Right-wing Homaitism, Religious Homaitism is one of the most right-wing sects of Homaitist theory, and roughly comparable to traditional Conservatism in its standing on the political spectrum.
Religious Homaitism has no singular founder like most sects of Homaitism; however, the Church of Bira was a heavy proponent of early Religious Homaitism and in modern Religious Homaitism. As a result of the intervention of the Church, Religious Homaitism tends to be more focused on the theological aspects of ideology than the political aspects of ideology, advocating for Homaitism to be practiced alongside religion. The most bare-bones variants call simply for that and nothing more–variants with more emphasis on ideology are more nuanced. More liberal variants call for the establishment of entire communities surrounding the ideology, with Homaitism being weaved into the ideology itself; more conservative variants may call for certain Homaitist ideals to be practiced along the traditional values of a given church. Right-wing Homaitists typically take this to mean the Church of Bira specifically as Homaitism is a dragon ideology, however Arieles, Stjetim, Aetali, and Chanslinnor variants have been documented, as have variants among Kryfona converts to Birahe.
Religious Homaitism is a relatively small ideology even within the Adborthos Republic, with perhaps 60,000 adherents in modern times. Its existence is virtually negligible outside of the Republic, although sects outside of it are documented as mentioned above. Nevertheless, the RHBH Society serves as a union for the ideology, and it is well represented at the Palidaija. The RHBH Society is represented there by the "Right Wing Bloc" of Homaite Party, which as such represents Religious Homaitists in part.
Origins
Early Religious theory
Although religion and Homaitism had been linked for well over a century by the time of the Biraist Homaitists, there had never been a proper religious Homaitist movement in that time. There had been small-scale efforts to establish a religious Homaitist movement as early as the 1700s, many of which occurred at the whims of the Church of Bira. Yet, almost always, these efforts collapsed just as quickly as they were proposed. The idea came up at least eight separate times on behalf of the Church of Bira during the 1700s, of which only one managed to get past the stage of proposal–that one collapsed when its proposer, Barela Seodi, died of old age. After the eighth failed effort in 1794, the Church ceased funding such ideas. Nonetheless, independent efforts which sought a similar idea continued the efforts where the Church left off.
The first serious efforts by groups other than the Church to establish a place for religion and Homaitism to coexist began in 1803. Homaitist philosopher and noted Biraist Kaghasin Desgorejain proposed that religion and Homaitism were deeply linked and that therefore it would only be natural for the religious to practice it. On the topic, she said:
- The close sense of communalism in Homaitist communities is the sort of communalism the Church [of Bira] could only dream of. It would not be unusual–dare I say natural–for the loosely religious and those truly of the faith to practice some form of Homaitism, be it only loosely or tight as a nail in a board of wood.
- Religion and Homaitism, 3 July, 1803
- The close sense of communalism in Homaitist communities is the sort of communalism the Church [of Bira] could only dream of. It would not be unusual–dare I say natural–for the loosely religious and those truly of the faith to practice some form of Homaitism, be it only loosely or tight as a nail in a board of wood.
Other major philosophers of the time such as Omasem Teik, who would go on to find the Teikist sect of Old Homaitism, concurred. Teik thought of the benefits slightly differently, writing that "...such community [as in Homaitism] is what you would expect of a church like that of the Biraists. It would be wise of them, and certainly beneficial for them, to practice Homaitism in some degree." Soria Berla, who established the Berlaist sect, considered Homaitism to be "the purest form of giving possible, both to the individual and the community," and advocated for the incorporation of the Homaitist ideology into religion.
Disagreement did occur, however; many of the Old Homaitists did not want to attempt to fight such a battle with their close allies in the Church. Although the Church unquestionably backed Homaitism, it was seen as unlikely that they would appreciate being pressured or forced into following Homaitism, much less incorporating it into the religion itself. Thus, when Teik stood on stage at the Homaitist National Convention in 1805 and advocated for such principles, he was booed relentlessly. Berla and Desgorejain were more cautious–although they advocated a similar approach to Teik, they were neither open about it nor convinced it would actually stick. "Besides," spoke Desgorejain on the subject in an 1806 letter to Teik, "such a thing would need to be very slow to be accepted."
Nevertheless, support of Homaitism in religion grew throughout the 1800s and 1810s. Although certainly not widely accepted, by 1815 Teik could at least speak of supporting Homaitism in religion without being booed. Likewise, when a movement which ultimately sought to introduce religion to Homaitism established itself in 1818, far from being vilified, it was actually supported by a fairly large segment of the population. The movement, the Homaitist Religious Society, was the brainchild of Dasoma Pharija, who would himself go on to be a major figure in the Religious Homaitist movement, and quickly became popular within the Church of Bira. The founding of the HRS marked the beginning of a transition from the idea of Religious Homaitism being impossible to the idea of it being easily achievable–on paper, at least.
