The Lord's Believers

"The righteous need not cower before the drumbeat of human progress. Though the song of yesterday fades into the challenge of tomorrow, God still watches and judges us. Evil lurks in the datalinks as it lurked in the streets of yesteryear. But it was never the streets that were evil."

- Sister Miriam Godwinson

The Lord's Believers is a Alpha Centauri faction.

Description
The Believers seek a life of prayer and religious worship. Because of the strength of their convictions, they get a bonus when attacking their enemies. They start the game with the Social Psych technology. The Believers are resistant to probe brainwashing, but their suspicion of secular science retards their research efforts, and their belief that Planet is their promised land sometimes interferes with their ecological sensitivity.

Detailed background
In the final hours aboard the Unity, the ship's Psych Chaplain found herself stranded in a wrecked portion of the ship, wounded and far from the rest of the command crew. At almost the last minute, she managed to cross the exterior of the hull and reach one of the escape pods. The pod was as badly damaged as the Psych Chaplain herself. Hundreds of crew were trapped inside, many of them injured or suffering from radiation poisoning. Even so, when the pod was released, it reached Planet's surface safely. Miriam Godwinson proved an effective leader. Her survivors were the poorest of the stranded colonists, lacking even basic survival necessities. Despite this disadvantage, Godwinson's thorough understanding of human psychology, combined with her profound religious faith, enabled her to keep her "flock" alive and motivated. Within a few years, all of her people had converted to her particular brand of Christianity. They were no longer the dregs of dead Earth. They were the Lord's Believers.

Beliefs
The Believers have a communal vision of an all-powerful and relentless God. In their view, God has a purpose for humanity on Planet, and demands their obedience in fulfilling that purpose.

The Believer ideology is based on two principles: worship and dissent. Believers feel that they are called to build the Kingdom of God within the physical universe. Their goal is a world in which all humans are in tune with God's will, spending their lives in such a way that every activity is a form of worship. The Believers also know that they are God's warriors. They are called on to persuade others through dissent, pointing out the error in godless, spiritually dead ideologies. When persuasion fails and such ideologies threaten the Kingdom of God, the Believers are required to fight in its defense.

Relations With Other Factions
Godwinson and her Believers are the faction most strongly committed to a theocratic state. They hold both democracy and atheistic forms of totalitarianism in disdain. As a result, they are not likely to establish close ties with any other faction, and they are extremely aggressive toward their neighbors. The only way to maintain an alliance with the Believers is to be so strong militarily as to deter any attack (and even this isn't certain).

The Believers are particularly hostile toward the University, which they regard as a haven for atheistic and immoral research. As Planet's history moves on and the University produces a stream of technological marvels, the Lord's Believers become ever more vehement in their "dissent." The Believers also despise the Consciousness, calling the "cyborgs" inhuman monsters that have discarded their immortal souls.

Strengths
The greatest strength of the Believers is their fanaticism. Devotion to their religious beliefs makes them almost impervious to outside persuasion. Believers can be conquered by force, but they are nearly impossible to subvert. Believers are also exceptionally effective in combat, at least when they are on the offensive. Their religious fervor gives them great ferocity when they are pressing the attack against the "godless" members of other factions. When they are defending their own, however, they are no more effective in battle than any other faction.

Weaknesses
Believer ideology is based on divine revelation rather than empirical investigation, so ambitious Believers tend to enter the pulpit rather than the laboratory. Further, the Believers tend to mistrust "secular" science as being contrary to God's will for mankind. In all, they are fairly good at adapting technological innovations developed by others, but their dislike of the scientific method makes it difficult for them to develop new technology of their own. Although the Believers are interested in exploring Planet, they have some difficulty integrating their own activities into the natural ecosystem around them. Believer ideology claims that Planet is a "promised land", a gift from God to be used as they see fit.

Lifestyle
The first Believer settlement on Planet was called New Jerusalem, and that name evokes much of the Believer way of life. It is an austere way, lacking creature comforts and luxuries. Believer art is reserved for the faction's great cathedrals, which are among the grandest and most beautiful buildings on Planet. Instead of wasting time on external comfort or beauty, the Believer focuses on his inner spiritual life.

Believer society is led by its ministers, who provide spiritual and psychological guidance to their people. They are quite effective at this task. Believers are usually able to cope with all manner of misfortunes, calmly certain that God's plan marches on regardless. Believers do not blindly obey their leaders - a fact which surprises members of other factions. The basics of religious doctrine are enforced, but there are often disagreements on how best to obey that doctrine. Ministers are trained in ways to deal with such disputes without imposing a rigid position on others. Believers normally wear simple clothing and carry severely functional equipment. Almost every Believer carries a personal religious symbol, usually a small metal cross worn around the neck.