Code of Equals

Discrimination is woven into the history of humanity. Our ability to distinguish ingroup and outgroup is legendary and creates much injustice. The Three Unknowable present the following rules for curbing the worst effects of humanity’s instinct for discrimination.

The Firebird

The Firebird forbids discrimination based upon birth. This means discrimination based upon sex and gender expression. To hate women or people who are trans or non-binary is an abomination. This means sexual orientation. To hate people who are gay, or bisexual, or asexual is an abomination. This means skin color and ethnicity. To hate people based upon the melanin in their skin or the folds of their eyes or other features associated with ethnicity or place of ancestral origin is an abomination. This means inborn disability or physical features. To hate somebody due to albinism, or height, or any other feature of birth or inborn genetics is an abomination. We cannot change how we have entered the world. And to hate based upon the mystery of our creation in an abomination.

Sex and Gender Expression

Empire likes to assert that there are two clean genders with clear roles and presentations. Empire likes to assert these things, to control the population. Empire is authoritarian, and authoritarians like to divide the world into the elite and everyone else. Empire asserts that the male is superior, and everything else is inferior or even degenerate. This view exists to maintain the hierarchy and keep population growth high by restricting the bodily autonomy of women. This exists to keep the armies and factories of the empire full of workers and soldiers. Empire values the man, and everything else is inferior.

This binary view of sex and gender is not found in any species in nature. The female evolved before the male, with sexual reproduction being a later development. Empire likes to pretend that any variation from the sexual and gender binary is a recent development in civilization. But this is also false. The Talmud recognizes eight genders. South Asian culture has historically represented three genders: male, female, and hijra. We likewise see more than two genders in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Arabia, and the Americas. The understanding that gender is less cleanly divided than patriarchy asserts is not a new understanding.

The demonization of transfolk, gender fluid folk, those people who do not fit neatly into the boxes laid out by Empire is patriarchy. We do not do the work of patriarchy. Patriarchy is the domain of the Empire. Fear of being attracted to somebody who sits outside the acceptable boxes of gender expression drives much of this sort of bigotry. This is pseudo religious moralizing. It exists to keep you in your patriarchy mandated box and under control. One who found themselves attracted to somebody outside the gender binary might begin to question that binary, and might begin to question other assertions and find them empty.

Empire also likes to accuse of child abuse, those people outside the Gender binary. This is outright lies of course. But by doing this, Empire can make it difficult for children outside the gender binary to find mentors to help them understand themselves. Empire uses those strict boxes to control people, and stepping outside those boxes undermines Empire’s authority.

Patriarchy uses sexism to justify hierarchy and oppression. Male is marked as superior. Female is marked as subservient. And all other expressions of gender are dismissed as degenerate. If those in the lower strata of the hierarchy are treated with kindness might seek to rise above the station where Empire has attempted to place them. Sexual equality, and acceptance of gender non-conformity challenge that hierarchical oppression.

Last, Empire uses scapegoats to divert attention from their abuses of the populace. Marginalized groups are blamed for problems, and their persecution is used to keep the populace looking anywhere but back at Empire. Intolerance of variation serves the Empire. Fear of the unknown serves the Empire.

Hatred based upon sex or gender expression is an abomination.

Sexual Orientation

Sexual Orientation ought to be the business of those who are attracted to you and to whom you are attracted. But humans are noisy about relationships. We are wired for it. Communities will police sexual norms, this is inevitable. So let’s go about it as politely as possible.

To whom a person is attracted says nothing about their morality. There is nothing inherently immoral about attraction between two people, regardless of the sex or gender expression. As long as the attraction is to adults who can consent, there is nothing immoral about sexual orientation.

Empire seeks to subvert consent and replace it with coercive power imbalances. Male over female is presented as the norm. Consent is hostile to the systems of Empire, because Empire is built upon a removal of consent. And so Empire does not respect consent. Instead it prioritizes what it considers the appropriate form for relationships. And that appropriate form is the form which reinforces the hierarchy of Empire: male over female. Thus Empire considers all other types of attraction as degenerate abominations.

Empire has further reasons for prioritizes a heterosexual and hierarchical relationship between a dominant male and a subservient female. Empire needs workers. Empire needs soldiers. Empire must grow. Thus Empire presents reproduction as the purpose of attraction. This is a lie. The purpose of life is not to breed. The purpose of life is to spread the flame. There needs to be a next generation to which the flame may be spread. But you do not need to add directly to that new generation. Thus you do not need to be heterosexual to be valuable to the culture.

And even beyond that, there is nothing inherently immoral about non-heterosexual relationships. Morality in relationships derives from consent. Immorality derives from coercion, from a lack of consent. The ability to give proper consent is the basis for a healthy relationship, not whether that relationship is superficially acceptable to Empire.

To hate based upon sexual orientation is an abomination.

Skin Color and Ethnicity

Humans share a variety of skin colors.This skin color shows the amount of melanin in the skin. Skin color points vaguely to the lands of your ancestors. Humans have been a highly mobile species from the beginning. Human cultures have interbred throughout the entirety of our existence. You may even have as much as two percent Neanderthal DNA. We are a widely ranging species. And we like to get it on with everyone we find. There is no appreciable difference between human ethnicities. There are no superior or inferior races of humans. Where your ancestors were born has no impact on who you are. There is no valid evidence that ethnicity has any bearing on intelligence or capability.

Your genetics, up to and including skin color, are an accident of birth. You do not control your genetic heritage. You cannot easily change your genetic heritage. Prejudice against people based on factors beyond their control is deplorable. There is no nobility in being born a particular way. There is no honor in the randomness concerning the circumstances of your birth. You are formed from a collection of random and haphazard circumstances over which you had no control.

None of that will ever make you special.

The melanin in your skin is a record of your ancestry. And your ancestry is entirely outside of your control. When somebody talks about the superiority of this race or that skin color, they are saying that everything important about them is the result of arbitrary chance. When somebody brags about their race or skin color, they are saying that they have done nothing praiseworthy and nothing worth retelling. Somebody who praises their race or skin color is announcing that they are a failure.

Empire likes to use ancestry and genetic heritage to determine a person’s place in the imperial hierarchy. This is precisely because one cannot change one’s ancestry. This type of hierarchical system exists to prevent social mobility. It exists to trap the lower classes where they are. It exists to preserve the aristocracy and their position at the top of the pyramid. Claims of aristocracy are typically only a record of whose ancestors were the most violent. Most aristocracies begin with a murderer using force to coerce people into servitude. Those who lay claim to higher class, to aristocratic heritage, are admitting that their ancestors were thugs and murderers.

To hate based upon race or ethnicity is an abomination.

Inborn Disability and Physical Features

We are all born with varying capabilities. We are born with varying challenges. Those challenges are physical, mental, and emotional. We are unable to step into the experience of another with full understanding. We do not know their lives. We do not know what they are carrying. We do not know their capabilities.

As with Ancestry, we frequently have no control over the limitations on our capabilities. Many chronic illnesses and disabilities are inherited, the bad luck of the genetic lottery. Judging based upon factors one cannot control is deplorable.

Having limitations is not the same as not having potential. Often the most impressive things are achieved because of limitations. And everyone is worthy of the same basic respect. We are not valuable because of our potential. We are not valuable because of our accomplishments.

We are the flame. We are life in the void of infinite darkness.

That alone is a miracle. That alone is valuable.

Do not judge people by their limitations. You often will not be aware of your own limitations. And you would not like it if others judged you for those things either.

Empire sees people as resources. They see us as laborers and soldiers. Empire judges based upon capabilities and limitations because they intend to use you. Empire is not interested in helping or supporting its citizens. Citizens exist to glorify and expand Empire for the benefit of the few at the top.

The purpose of life is not to expand and glorify Empire. We exist to spread the flame. We exist to nurture each other. And we can nurture regardless of the limitations of others. Empire treats people as tools. Instead, treat people as people.

To hate based upon inborn disability or physical features is an abomination.

The Weaver

The Weaver forbids discrimination based upon custom that harms none, save possibly the consenting adherents. This means discrimination based upon religious practices. As long the religious practice harms none save the consenting adherents, hatred based upon religious affiliation or practice is an abomination. This means political practices. As long as the political practices harm none save the consenting adherents, hatred based upon political practice is an abomination. This means cultural practices and languages. As long as the cultural practices and languages used harm none save the consenting adherents, hatred based upon cultural practice and language is an abomination. Other peoples will adopt a great many methods of living that seem alien and even unnatural to our own eyes. But so long as those practices harm none save those who have consented to participate, then hatred based upon those cultural differences is an abomination.

Religious Practices

Consent is the basis for healthy human relationships. As long the religious practice harms none save the consenting adherents, hatred based upon religious affiliation or practice is an abomination. Many religions will seem strange and may even seem threatening. Do not judge religions based upon your impression of the religion. Judge the religion based upon whether they preserve their adherents’ right to consent, abstain and walk away.

Religion is a method of cultural preservation and transmission. Humans are wired to build religions. Religions will form where there are people. Religion is inevitable.

Religion will preserve and transmit both helpful and harmful culture. But a religion is transmitted by its practitioners. And even if a religion transmits harmful cultural practices, any individual practitioner may practice their religion without harming others. Do not judge a person by the reputation of their religion. People typically acquire their religion at birth, and often only practice the components which make them comfortable. And we do not judge people by the accidents of their birth.

One can judge a religious doctrine based upon the doctrine that it advocates. But one should not judge a person for the doctrine of the religion, without first observing their practice of the religion. Regardless of religion, most people are decent. And most people will avoid the nastiest parts of their religion. Judge people based on what is under their control, not what is not under their control. Religion and its interaction with adherents is complicated, and coming to an incorrect conclusion is easy.

So be cautious, be open minded.

It is reasonable to judge people by their actions and their beliefs. It is not reasonable to judge them by religious affiliation. But it is reasonable to judge them by religious practice.

Hatred based on consenting Religious Affiliation is an abomination.

Political Practices

Again, consent is the basis for healthy human relationships. As long as the political practices harm none save the consenting adherents, hatred based upon political practice is an abomination.

The Empire bases its political ideologies around coercion, even the ones which claim to promote freedom. Imperial ideology is built upon coercive hierarchies. But there is nothing inherently immoral about those political ideologies which preserve their adherents’ consent, their right to abstain, and their right to walk away.

Political ideology exists as an attempt to live together in a group. People have different ideas on how best to live together. You may disagree with the ideas others have regarding how to live. But everyone has the right to choose the group in which they participate. This is true even if we disagree with the choices made by others. Do not judge based on strange practices and ideologies, no matter how distasteful you find them.

Judge political ideologies based upon whether they respect their adherents’ consent. Judge political ideologies based upon whether adherents may abstain or walk away. If others attempt to conscript or coerce people into their group, then their political affiliation is not harmless. A group may evangelize, but it may not coerce or compel. If others attempt to prevent people from leaving the group, then their political affiliation is not harmless. If a group seems harmful to you, but people are participating freely with the freedom to leave, then leave them to their choice.

There is no one right way to live. You don’t get to choose what people think is the best way to live.

Hatred based on consenting Political Practices is an abomination.

Cultural Practices

All groups will develop cultural practices. Groups will develop their cultural practices in reaction to neighboring cultures. People feel a need to differentiate themselves from the other.

Thus, we can expect cultures to be different, even alarming when we venture beyond our own culture. Most cultural practices are harmless to outsiders. As long as the cultural practices harm none save the consenting adherents, hatred based upon cultural practice is an abomination.

Empire will seek to impose uniformity of culture. It will seek to mandate culture from above. Empire needs a uniform culture to help enforce the hierarchy of the Empire. Empire will try to build culture based upon a cult of personality. Empire will try to enforce a mandatory patriotism and jingoism and will attempt to incorporate that into the culture.

All groups require solidarity, but judge harshly of any group that denies members the ability to abstain or withdraw membership. All groups will develop leaders, but judge harshly any group that insists upon adoration and loyalty to a leader or aristocracy. All groups will develop an ingroup loyalty, but judge harshly any group which denies members the right to disagree or dissent.

Cultures may develop practices which are harmful to their members. Rites of passage, for example, can be notably painful. If such practices are practiced willingly, and if members may dissent or abstain, then the practice is not inherently harmful. Judging people based upon cultural practices which are strange or disagreeable to you is deplorable.

Hatred based upon cultural practices willingly consented to is an abomination.

Languages

Languages of groups diverge with time and isolation. One’s native language is a quirk of birth and should not be judged. There is no evil or immoral language. No language is more moral or more sacred than any other language. Your language may seem perfect to you. That is fine. You may not treat others less for having a different language. You may consider your liturgical language sacred. This is fine. But you may not denigrate others for not using the same language in their prayers.

The language one speaks teaches what language a person speaks. The one’s native language teaches is the general cultural group to which one was born. These are factors over which an individual has no control. Do not judge based on factors which the individual cannot control. We do not judge people based upon accidents of birth.

Hatred based upon language is an abomination.

The Great Serpent

The Great Serpent forbids discrimination based upon unreasonable measures. This means discrimination based upon age. To hate based upon the age of a person is an abomination. This means the crimes and actions of family or tribe or nation. To hate a person based upon the actions committed by another person is an abomination. This means poverty or poor circumstances. To hate a person based upon ill fortune or the grinding oppression of an unjust system is an abomination. To hate by association is an abomination, whether grouping by age or economic misfortune.

Age

We are born. And we age. You have no control over your age. Time slows down for nobody. If somebody is good at something, their age is not important. Judge based upon skill. Judge based upon demeanor. Judge based upon actions. Do not judge based upon age.

Do not make assumptions. One can slow down as one gets old. One can become senile as one gets old. But one does not have to do either of these things. One can age well. One can stay in shape. One can stay sharp. Age can also be a marker of experience and skill. Age can be a marker for wisdom and accumulated knowledge. Youth can be a marker of inexperience, but one can master virtually any craft in ten years, and so people of astonishing youth can already be masters of their crafts.

Judging based upon age is an abomination.

Crimes of Others

The crimes of your father or brother or husband are not your crimes. It is unfair to judge anyone for actions which they have not committed. You have minimal control over the actions of others at most. We may judge them for being complicit. We may judge them for hiding information or protecting somebody who has done wrong. We may judge them for hypocrisy or for approving of horrible deeds. We may judge people for poor choices in friends.

But none of these things are the same as actually committing the crime itself. And they must be judged on their own basis. These are themselves the actions of the individual. Judge people based upon their own actions, not the actions of others with whom they are connected.

Empire will seek to brand others for their affiliations. Empire loves to round up friend groups. It loves to arrest whole families and put them on reservations, in rail cars, in concentration camps, in re-education centers. Empire is a blunt instrument. And if people are afraid that they may be arrested simply for who they know, well this serves Empire just fine.

Crime does not contaminate. Crime is not contagious. Judging based upon the crimes of others leads to social ostracization. Judging based upon the crimes of others condemns the innocent.
Judging based upon the crimes of others creates divisions of class. We do not judge based upon accidents of birth.

Judging based upon the actions and crimes of others is an abomination.

Poverty or Poor Circumstances

One does not choose one’s parents or the circumstances of one’s birth. It is deplorable to judge one for circumstances one does not control.

In a just society, poverty is not a concept that is applicable. But in most societies, one can be born into poverty or can arrive there through misfortune outside of one’s control. Poverty on its own is not evidence of a moral failing, no matter what the aristocracy might pretend. We can judge those who became poor through poor decisions, for their decisions, but not for their poverty. The poverty only tells us that they are poor. They may trapped by circumstance or class or legal restriction.

Empire will attempt to inflict poverty upon those it seeks to oppress. Empire will seek to use poverty as a weapon and a punishment. Empire will seek to cast poverty as a mark of laziness or moral failing. Empire will lie to you.

What Empire says, suspect its opposite.

Poverty is a neutral attribute, and nobody is better or worse because they are of limited means. But the decision to allow poverty to persist as a social feature is something we can all judge.

Judging based upon individual poverty or limited means is an abomination.

Caste or Class

Empire will seek impose class or caste restrictions. These restrictions will be arbitrary and unjust in their foundation, because all such class or caste systems are unjust at their core. They are perpetuated across generations. Making one’s class or caste most often an accident of birth. And we do not judge based upon accidents of birth.

Such systems exist to enforce hierarchy. And hierarchy is always unjust. Hierarchy always involves coercion and a restriction or removal of consent. Such systems are the way of the Locust, and we do not walk with the Locust.

Empire will often allow a few people to rise above the class to which they were born. A low caste person will be honored or elevated. This too is to enforce the hierarchy. It is to convince the rest of those relegated to low class or low caste that they might rise if they work hard, or are moral, or lucky. This is to forestall rebellion and revolution against. This is the lottery. This is rags to riches stories. These exist to enforce the caste and class.

All of this is just naked oppression. And to judge one based upon the wrong inflicted upon them is immoral. To judge based upon the accident of one’s birth is immoral. To judge based upon the words of Empire is foolish.

Judging based upon enforced class or caste is an abomination.