A Thesis on the Moral Gray

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A Thesis on the Moral Gray

A Constructive Critique on non Virtuous Actions for a Greater Good

 

Written by Acolyte Paco II Antonius “Tonito” Temesch of Acre,
From the Block, to La Pinta, to Church

 

"You should never grade evils, for if one is the worst, then you might be tempted to kinship with the least" - Lector Victor Saltzpyre

 

I bore witness to the evils capable of man in the midst of the Harvest Revolt when capital men would mutilate and slaughter my neighbors. In turn, my neighbors and I armed ourselves and delivered upon our molesters tenfold what they had done upon us. One memory I hold vividly from this war was when I had shot a retreating man in the back with my tool (I lovingly call this my blicky for those in the know). I had wished GOD had interceded and given this man the blessing of zig-zag so that he could have survived to the end of this war, but alas this is separating myself from my own problem. I had given into wrath, like when Owyn striked down his uncle Harren. Engulfed in patriotism to defend my home and a lust for malaligned justice to avenge my tortured countrymen, I rationalized evil to commit upon those who had done evil to me. I shot a retreating man fleeing for his life. And this was not okay - I chose to cap that man. This is not the only act I had committed I think back on, and each day I consider my words on how to justify what I had done when I inevitably receive judgment from our Lord GOD. And this is a futile effort for there is no justification for sin.

 

I’ve monologued my war experiences in this thesis to set the record that I do not argue from a moral, higher ground of pseudo superiority. We are all sinners whether we are lowly peasants to the Kings and Pontiffs. But this equal footing in the grand scheme of GOD’s plan is not a justification for sin and we should all strive to follow GOD’s Virtue set for us. Some may argue they must sacrifice themselves and their morals to achieve greater boones of power or to side with the walking, talking skeleton to face off against the greater demon. And these people are selfish and should not be trusted. There is no actual moral gray. There is what is right and what is wrong. Any exceptions we make to Virtue is a justification for sin.

 

From the Scroll of Spirit - Epistle to the Jorenites, Owyn admonishes the Highlander. He spoke to them, “...thou failest in thy defense of His Word, and indeed, thine own brothers do mingle the word of lesser beings among His, and lapse in His commands in favor of new and foreign ways…Verily, brother, the Lord GOD is the eternal GOD, and He granteth no exception to holiness. His Word is the lasting word, and it is the only Virtue.” The geopolitics and breaking bread with pagan raiders of our northern cousins aside, this epistle can be applied to all walks of descendant life at the individual level by the choices we make. I point to the dragon men of Asioth who seek to break the chains of descendant kind from the aenguldaemonica but in turn mingle with and bind themselves to another lesser being to GOD in the likes of the drakaar Azdromoth. Those who claim to fight darkspawn but will mingle with them to make ends meet. This is the folly of just one band of heretics or heathens that when they are all pitted against each other perpetuate continuous cycles of negativity. The Virtue must be first and foremost what guides us, for it is GOD’s word and his intention is for us to live good lives.

 

Even amongst our faithful, there are those who would break their virtue if it were to benefit them and what they perceive as the greater good. But what means will you go to achieve this good? And is it any good at all if evil was committed to reach this alleged good? As GOD says in Virtue’s Canticle of Faith,  “I am the Lord GOD without peer, and My Word is the holy word, and My path is the virtuous path, and all the blessings of the Virtue shall fall before the righteous who tread it.” According to the Lord GOD, those who live by the Virtue will live blessed. He will protect them as a part of His plan. So why must some insist they can make exceptions to the Virtue in order to achieve their goals? I refer back to the Imperium as an example, although I had lived outside of it when it had last existed, it was recanted back to me as a time of nepotism and treachery where men could not trust one another and simply seeked their own gain and power. A shell and corrupted state using the glories of the past to justify its existence.

 

I don’t regret my six years served as a levyman for it is a GODly duty to defend your home, your community, your neighbor and your liege lord. However after the experience, I only wish I had acted in better faith and virtue during the war instead of succumbing to the primal sin we are tainted with by the Deceiver. It is a humbling thing to recognize the flaws and cracks of myself and how there is much growth I need in spirit still as a lifelong reader of the Canon. I hope that once the dust has settled over the ruins of our country, we may see more good intentions in our world without the sacrifice of good to taint such goals. We do not need more men of the cloth, more so we need more champions of good with the virtue embedded into their spirit. 
 

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Ser Uther gives Tonito a vigorous thumbs-up in approval.