The Church of Man

The One True God, Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah, the Abrahamic monotheistic deity of Judaism, Islam and Christianity and other lesser known belief systems is purported to be this same god. However, like many social constructs, this god is not the God of Abraham. This god is not a God at all. This god is an icon meant to serve the role of pacifier for the ignorant masses, giving them hope of a future salvation in return for passive obedience today. The God of Abraham's words have been distorted by the Church of Man to the point that any who preach its doctrines today would have been called heretics by their original organizations. However, the actual God of Abraham has never required full scholarly knowledge of His teachings for salvation. While full knowledge would lead to a correctly formed conscience and enable the believer the best chance at living a good life, what has always been most important is the living of a good life. To that end, the One True God will answer prayers addressed to "the God of Man." But one should not expect clerics of the The God of Man to have any Mystical power derived from the One True God. In fact, any Mystic followers of the The God of Man draw their power from some other source entirely. Other graced priests are actually arcane magic-user who have been given the opportunity to serve as members of the church. They are rewarded with security and life and power in exchange for their freedom and keeping their secret.

The State Religion of Chi Town

Divine Origins

This religion came from C.E. Christianity. During the Great Cataclysm, many people on Earth returned to organized religion for comfort and answers. When Joseph Prosek took over Chi Town and united the civil with the military and ruled with absolute and very strict authority. He ensured the masses were powerless and ignorant. But in order to keep them compliant, he knew he also needed to give the people hope that any suffering they endured in this world would be rewarded; if not by the state then by a religion. He made sure to promote a religion that fosters subservience and encourages believers that suffering is their part in life and that meekness is rewarded. Christianity was almost the perfect tool. It just needed a bit ot tweaking. By the time Karl Prosek came to power in 70 P.A. the Coalition version of Christianity was well entrenched. Any records of pre-rifts Christianity had been forcefully eradicated. In fact, possession of a pre-rifts bible is one of the highest crimes, regardless of the literacy of the person possessing it.

Tenets of Faith

Almost indistinguishable from pre-rifts Christianity, this version believes that the One True God is the God of Man alone. All other intelligent races and species from other planets and dimensions are enemies of God and man. While it does not preach violence against enemies, it does omit some of the statements about loving thy enemy that can be found in pre-rifts Christianity. In fact, it goes out of its way to treat the Temple as an allegory for the Earth and relies heavily on the story of Jesus becoming angry with and tossing the money lenders from the temple. There are many other tweaks and adjustments to what players may know as Judaism and Christianity, and they will be revealed and dealt with as they arise.

Ethics

Consider the Ten Commandments, but only insofar as they were to apply between and among human beings and no others. In other words proscriptions against murdering and theft, for instance, do not apply if the victim is not human.

Priesthood

The Archbishop of Chi-Town is the highest clergyman of the church, although the Emperor is the nominal head of the Church, being appointed by divine will, as proclaimed by the Archbishop. The Archbishop only serves by the good graces of the Emperor. The rest of the clergy resembles that of the Anglican, Catholic and/or orthodox versions of pre-rifts Christianity. The priesthood is made up of two types of people. First there are the common humans. They make up the majority of the priesthood. Second, are the graced. These are people who have access to mystic powers and many are also able to access the arcane energies of the ley lines. The graced either serve in the priesthood or die. Since the onset of arcane powers typically manifests at puberty for humans, citizens have been taught that such an onset might not be the mark of evil, but could be a sign of grace and points to a possible divine vocation for the child. The only way to know whether the child is damned or graced is for the family to deliver the child to the authorities of the Church. This is done freely and willingly and families who have given up a child in this manner are treated preferentially by the church in many ways. A Monk of St. Jerry will usually pick up the child and take it for testing. Those that survive the indoctrination become graced priests, those that don't are never seen again. Soul Shifters are particularly prized for this vocation.
Graced priests serve as exorcists, healers, and undead hunters. There is a monastic order made up of people marked by God. Children born with psi stalker nature are considered a blessing and as soon as they are identified, they are sent to the Abbey of St. Jerry to be raised, trained and indoctrinated into the church and the Coalition. They are known as The Monks of St. Jerry

Granted Divine Powers

None.

Sects

There are some who believe in the dignity of all life, whether it is human or not. These people are considered heretics and will be sentenced to death if they do not renounce their heresy. They are associated with the original holy scriptures from before the Great Cataclysm, whether they be Islamic, Jewish or Christian and as such anyone in possession of such literature is treated as a heretic on the spot.

A priest of the church: