Brethrenism

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Updates on the Society of Brethren in Kalistan
Return of the SP heralds resurgence of interest in Society
Kaliburg, Ananto District
October 12, 4405


Brethren meet in one of the dozens of reorganized Monthly Meetings across the Republic

The Brethrenist Faith has a long history of association with the Socialist Party in Kalistan. Though not officially tied, the impetus for the spread and near ubiquity of Brethrenism in Kalistan was due largely to promotion by the Socialist Party in Kalistan. Several of the SP's Leaders, including Presidents and Premiers, came from the Faith. But when the Socialist Party went defunct over 200 years ago, and folded into a more general leftist coalition led by the Labour Party, the Society of Brethren did not fade away. Instead, it continued to plug along, remaining the default faith of Kalistan's religious population. Brethrenism was so ubiquitous in Kalistan that few stories were written about the faith: To be a religious Kalistani was almost assuredly to be a member of the Brethren Society.

But the Socialist Party has been reconstituted now, and seeks to rebuild its old relationship with the Faith that it once promoted and expanded. As the Socialist Party is being reorganized, we will run a series of articles concerning how the Faith has evolved in Kalistan over the past 500 years, and how it continues to evolve into a worldwide movement.

We decided to begin by visiting a Monthly Meeting in Ananto. The Clerk of the Meeting, Friend Joanna Riggs, was an unassuming woman in her mid-50s. Riggs has spent her life teaching primary school at Kaliburg's PS 052. Her specialty is in Math.

KR: Friend Riggs, You have been the Clerk of this meeting for how long now?
Riggs: Oh, probably 4 years now. I'll be termed out in a couple years, but like a lot of Meetings, it was sort of my turn, if you follow.
KR: Are you a Birthright member?
Riggs: Sure. I don't think there are many who would call themselves convinced anymore. I suppose if some young people leave it behind then come back, you know, they would be called "Convinced," but, no, I've been a member all my life.
KR: Given your proclivity for math, how do you square the logical world of that discipline with the sometimes chaotic or incoherent aspects of the mystical part of the Brethren Faith?
Riggs: I would say, there is no contradiction. There are a lot of things that Math and science can't really explain. We could say that the Inner Light is the product of our social upbringing, and all the lessons we were and are daily taught, and if you think of it like this, you're merely remembering what you are supposed to do in a situation, much like remembering how to solve a math problem. It doesn't make sense and then it does. Just like that. I don't find any difference really, in remembering how to solve some logical problem and remembering how to solve a moral one. At the end of the day it is the same.
KR: Has the Faith changed in your lifetime?
Riggs: Oh, perhaps, in some ways some people got lazy. They observe the word but not the spirit. It is hard to live a simple life, for instance, when you are surrounded by such abundance as we see in Kalistan. I think the separation of the state and the Faith before I was born kind of made adherence lax, and it also made us lazy in paying attention to what our government was doing. I hope the restoration of the Socialists will reinvigorate the civic spirit of the Brethren. Though, I would like to make it clear, not all of us are socialists anymore. I myself, for example, voted for the Dems, though I could have voted for the SP. They need to show what they are going to do before some of us change our affiliation.
KR: Thank you for your time.
Riggs: Absolutely.