Enlightenment Movement

When the Healing Wave passed in addition to healing it lifted people off their feet.
Some months later Father Micheal Flynn one of those lifted, was reading the last rites over the body of a young boy. Inspired he changed the ritual, and brought the boy back to life. People went medium crazy. The Vatican spirited Flynn away from the media frenzy only to have Flynn himself spirited away from them.
Julian took Flynn on a mystical journey through The Stacks to meet Yehoshua himself. Yehoshua spoke not of forgiveness, but redemption from the idea of sin. Flynn shed his collar and Catholicism on the way back. He brought forgotten books of the movement the Ancient Hebrew Book of Blessings and the Book penned by Mary The Book of Enlightenment.
He started to seek others of a like mind, he got the record of his interview, the "Yehoshua Video" on the web complete with a magical subscript by Julian that is different for everyone. 
==The Effect== 
The Enlightened, in particular the Gifted, those lifted off their feet by the Healing Wave, can do clerical magic. It doesn't matter their religion or belief system. Holy people are now clerics. This gift did not respect sect or belief, it did not respect knowledge or position. It respected only what was in the heart of the Gifted. Those open to God in what ever image, those that had only charity in their hearts for their fellow men. "The rules" and ones adherence to them was not important.
Official religion has been remarkably silent on the matter of the Enlightened. If the movement is right, they are rendered impotent, unnecessary. Yet the movement is coming out from within such organized religions, and those less organized.
Religious types dedicated to the rightness of their ways, and the wrongness of all others are flummoxed. The Enlightenment favors no one. Condemns no one. 
==The Movement==
Flynn expressed the ideas this way:
*"Enlightenment is Enlightenment. Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Lao Tzu or others, it doesn't matter what tradition you come through. We have been gifted with Enlightenment. We know that the path taken to arrive is not as important as the destination itself. If you search your heart, you'll know it to be true. We Enlightened must support each other and work together where we can.<P>We have a great work ahead of us. We cannot afford to exclude any Enlightened, or any seeker of Enlightenment.</p>Part of being Enlightened is that we know how wonderful and precious life is, how unique and wonderful each human being is. We must put this knowledge to work in our methods of resolving disputes and conflicts.It is not just by exercising our gifts but in living out the basic principles of Enlightenment that we will light the way.And that is our great work. To illuminate the path for Seekers of Enlightenment. To show the great truths that have been revealed to us. If we work hard and are fortunate, we may share our gifts with the world.
*"There is a great change coming. You've already seen the leading edge. Our gifts. A Dragon on the White House Lawn. Non-Human intelligent beings who walk among us as equals. Tanuki people appearing as if from nowhere. If you search your heart, you'll know. A soul is a soul. The value of the soul is not dependent on the form it wears.In time this small trickle will become a wrenching change. A time of massive dislocation and upheaval.Shining the Light of Enlightenment is important. If fear and terror carry the day in this time of change - the carnage will be awful. If our mission is successful, people will be somewhat prepared to enter this time of change and not panic. It is my hope that our message can offer a peaceful, calm and generous attitudes as a critical tool for surviving the coming change.When that change comes - creatures of myths and legends will walk the Earth in the open. Magic will become much more wide spread. Our world will become a place like our neighbor, Greyhawke, where many different races of people live side-by-side. People born here on Earth may become Centaurs, Elves, Dwarves or even strange types of people we don't anticipate.In the Worst Case Scenario, this change happens all at once, tomorrow.In the best case scenario, our descendants 60 years hence look back and find it's already occurred.I do not claim that we Enlightened are the only ones tasked with this mission of preparing people for the change. I don't even claim that we will be the primary people preparing the way.But every person we can shine the light for, is one person who won't greet the change with fear or anger. Every family that knows a soul is a soul is one that can weather the up coming changes.We must carry this message gently but without fear. Enlightenment is actually sort of fun! It feels good to touch the light inside you and shine it for others to enjoy.
The Dali Llama Added
*We live in a blessed time. We have discovered life among the stars, life in the places between the places. Life and joyous life is everywhere. The Holy has been made evident among all beings, and the Holy is not restricted by the small minds of men that would divide people into groups of their own making. There is one Holiness and it is All. There is one Life and it encompasses each of us. Let go of divisions, let go of the parochial. Embrace the Holy and take benefit from its purity and Life. Thus can we all live in peace together as we should.
Suggested Principles:
*We have no leaders except our own Enlightenment. 
*No one Enlightened is more or less than any other.
*Seekers of Enlightenment are just as Enlightened as anyone Gifted.
*No one Enlightened speaks for the Enlightened as a whole.
*There may be groups of Enlightened working together for common purpose. But the Autonomy of the Enlightened, Seekers and other Souls ought to be respected at all times. 
*An Enlightened is Enlightened or a Seeker if he says so. The only requirement is that one seeks to develop one's own Enlightenment.
*Although an Enlightened person may have opinions on outside issues, the Enlightened as a whole do not, Hence Enlightenment ought not to be drawn into public controversy. 
*Unity Among the Enlightened will help us to perform our Primary Mission. 
*"We the Enlightened are Human. Humans are fallible. We must guard against the error of always thinking we are right. It prevents us from adopting better ideas when they come along. Great and horrible evils have been done in the name of an infallible church. Be always ready to admit error in deed or thought then seek to correct it. Be it resolved that the Enlightened are no more or less fallible than any man. The path of one is not the path of all. The Gift is the only sure sign of rightness with God. Be it given or learned. Those that have the gift are walking the path they should.Keep in mind that not all people are burdened with the gift. Those that do not cast by the grace of God are no less enlightened. --Michael Scorsazy
==The Reaction==
Mixed. Religion intolerant, any flavor, is not in favor mainly because they are not the Enlightened and seek to douse the light. It shows them for the douchebags they are. If there is anything a douchebag hates it is having it pointed out.
===Catholics===
The Roman Catholic Church has tentatively embraced the Enlightenment. The current Pope is among the Gifted. He has taken the hard road of moving the Church in the direction he sees as continued viability. In spite of the fact that there is no road, the way difficult and fraught with controversy. the Church has thrived on the rules and now the rules are irrelevant.
The result of the Third Vatican Council have strongly pushed the Catholic Church in the direction of the Enlightenment. No one is being shoved out of the Priesthood, but the evident power of God is Likely a future test of fitness for the clergy. 
Pope Francis is not merely leading he is dragging. There is some protest from the more conservative. But those results. The Bishops that have objected the most strongly have been neutered.
===Protestents===
Protestant Denominations are all over the board. Large organizations such as the Southern Baptist Association have been silent on the matter. Neither disapproving or approving. It has hard to argue with results, but the Enlightened are accepting of things that are not acceptable...But results? People are finding this difficult.
This continues to frazzle apart. Enlightened Congregations go about their business inviting but never pushing. There has been violence by those that simply cannot accept that God has ordained change. The large organized detonations are shedding Churches. The intolerant are nutting up.
===Islam===
Islam, less organized and with even more factions is staying that way. The haters have their panties in a very painful bunch. In places where religion and state are one the situation is coming apart.
With the Middles in chaos things are not good. The Enlightened are fighting monsters awoken by the violence. In other places the institutional means of control are the issue. The Enlightened are not interested in the means of control. 
Places where the Government does not have its claws into Islam are fairing much better. North American and Europe have thriving Enlightened communities.
===Hindu===
Hindu reaction is hard to judge. They have always claimed magic among the gurus. Now there are gurus that can do holy magic. The fakes and real are easy to tell apart. The former are grasping.
Things are settling down here. Brahma and his multitude of kin have spoken. Yea, the Fakers are unhappy, their scams are being outed. The people however benefit.
===Buddhist===
Buddhists have almost no reaction. The "religion" has no god in the purest form, but is a philosophical way of life. Being Gifted is good, not being gifted is not an issue.
===Jews===
Judaism is quietly torn. A religion that at the core is about the law, that the Enlightenment says is not needed. Highly orthodox sects are among the haters. People that demand gentiles follow their rules are not going to be among the Enlightened. They crucified the last guy that suggested rules were not important. On the gripping hand Rabbis that are Enlightened go about God's work and pay them no mind.
An Enlightened school of Judaism is forming as the Enlightened Rabbis band together for mutual support. A number of temples have quietly gone that direction. Little noise, no publicity. Gentle people worshiping God revealed.
===Mormon===
The LDS are being ripped apart. And not by the Enlightenment. Other forces have produced the mythical Golden Tablets and is seems that only the Enlightened can read them, female and male. And they do not say what Joseph Smith claimed. It is ugly and coming apart.
Currently the gross division are four:
*Conservative Later Day Saints -- Holding on to the old ways with both hands.
*Enlightened Later Day Saints -- They have the Gifted among them and possession of the Golden Tablets.
*Fundamentalist Later Day Saints -- A reactionary reaction. Reaching for the raciest and misogynistic roots of the religion. 
*True Fundamentalist Later Day Saints -- This are the criminal rapists and child abuses in the name of Ghodd that were in trouble before this started. The ones that dump their sons on the street to keep the virgins for themselves. They are suffering both official prosecution and raids from The House of Crafters.
===Small Sects===
Small sects are anything from no affect at all, like Scientology, to deeply spiritual. The result among neo-pagans is anything and everything. Some circles have gained real power, others are going through the empty motions as before. Shinto has its share of the Enlightened. The remainder is accepting. 
===Pagans and Neo-Pagans===
The latter are local, and are showing the same percentage of Gifted as other religions. The flavor of pagan matters little. The Wiccans continue their open air practices. he Neo-Greek are building temples again. Voodun is also demostrating the Gifted. Craft or witches are a practice of magic, not a religion. An attempted survey shows that those Craft that are religious do not tend to be gifted, although they tend to gravitate to Enlightened congregations.
The other, plain "pagans" has come to refer to religions from Greyhawke. A number of these have made steady inroads. The House of Crafters, worshiping Anthony allion is the laergest. It exploded out of India ans is surging thoughout the United States. The Order of Magi is teaching magic. They also do other clerical things. The god being Abba Eecreeana. Also seen is the Church of Creation, woshiping a trio of Phoenix gods, Ivan, Havan and Gergori. The Tanuki brought their worship of the Progenator Evan Blackmane. One that curisouly has built no temples, although he is present is Julian Valion. He has a few priests going about holy business.
===Ane===
The Ane claim no Enlightened among them, They have stated that the All is not a belief system in a higher power, not a religion and they did not expect that they would get clerical power. The Aneism Movement has even fewer.
There are a handful of Ane from Greyhawke (They get everywhere) that follow an Ane goddess named Ralan. They have demonstrated power. There are also Ane followers of the Sacred Self.
===Atheists===
It depends on the kind of Atheists you are. True Skeptics, those that measure the facts and form opinion from there follow the axiom that "You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts." They have stopped being atheists. The belief is clearly wrong, god(s) do exist and grant some pretty awesome power to their followers.
They will still scoff at any religion that is not demonstrating divine power. Those are clearly wrong.
Some have joined a Greyhawke sect called the Church of the Sacred Self. A spiritual belief in the divine within all. Gods do exist and the divine within all people can be accessed as well. They are rather Zen in outlook.
Then there are also the so called Strong Skeptics. They are called this because "bone-headed idiot" doesn't sound good in your blog. The Strong Skeptical community resists any evidence that God, however you define that, does exist. They claim that divine magic is arcane magic done by the deluded. If they are willing to accept that magic works at all. the Citizens for a Secular Society straddle the category. Firmly anti-religious no matter what the evidence.
Category:Religion
Category:Culture
Category:Groups
Category:Supernatural