Spectrum 1

Spectrum Submission, Part 1
by Stephen Lazer
16 October 2001

Life in this world is a strange one,
And those who have no chance,
Should they not be given one?
Punishment is meant to teach one how he was wrong,
And then allow him to prove that he has learned,
Why should he not get this chance?
- Excerpt from *Questions*

**Spectrum Submission**

Spectrum Submission gets its name from the fact that the punishment one endures in the afterlife changes like a spectrum. In the afterlife a believer in Submission experiences ten times the pain inflicted on others, while nonbelievers experience a hundred times the pain they have inflicted. However, unlike those suffering punishment in the Christian afterlife, the pain suffered is not eternal. In the Spectral afterlife, the sufferer learns from the pain he endures, and as he learns, the pain lessens. Spectrum Submission teaches that as the afterlife continues, the punishment one endures slowly fades away, and one is finally left with pure happiness ....

....The history of Spectrum Submission begins in Kievan Russia. Early in the second century of the Submissive Era, the people of Kiev were exposed to the teachings of both Submissive Judges from Scandinavia and Ananite teachers from Khazaria, and both religions were winning many converts. Surprisingly, the clashes at first were mostly theological. Many of the wealthier Kievans would call upon both Judges and Teachers to explain their doctrines, and would choose whichever they found most appealing. However, as the number of followers of each faith grew, so did their fanaticism, and by the 120s violent clashes between followers of the rival faiths were taking place throughout the region ruled by the Varangian Prince Oleg. This ended, however, with the appearance of a man calling himself the Next Prophet....

**Next Prophet** .... All that we know of this man's origins is that he was a Viking trader who arrived in Kiev sometime in the 120s during one of the more violent clashes between the Ananites and the Submissives. By tradition, he accidently got in the middle of a fight and the Ananites destroyed half of his goods, the Submissives looting the other half. He then walked dejectedly to a nearby stream where he was spoken to by an angel. The identity of the Next Prophet’s interlocutor is significant, since angels are creatures of Abrahamic rather than Submissive mythology. The *Epistle to All*, also known as *Questions*, is supposedly a record of the Next Prophet’s conversation with the Angel. Many of the sections involve the Next Prophet's questions and the Angel's answers. The Next Prophet was supposedly obsessed with the afterlife, for he had led a violent and debauched life and wished to know how he could save himself from eternal servitude to the Lady Hel. The Angel told him that his punishment would be to suffer ten times the pain that he had caused others in his life....

**Spectrum Submission** ....The ten times punishment, however, is not pure pain. Like life on Earth, it is a mix of pain, pleasure, and neutral experiences, though initially with an overwhelming preponderance of pain. As life after death continues, the pain lessens slowly over time until it finally disappears, and the afterlife becomes one of perfect happiness. Both Submissives and heathen endure the same conditions, the only difference being that the non-believer must endure 100 times the suffering they inflicted on others. That decree came in answer to the Next Prophet's question, "What of those who have not heard, and have had no chance to know? What of those who did not care to listen?" The afterlife is one of the most important aspects of Spectrum Submission, as is how one treats one’s fellow man. Spectrum teaches tolerance for all religions, but defense of the right for Spectrum to exist. This is probably part of the reason that it was so successful in Kievan Russia. In Kiev, the Next Prophet would travel the city preaching and reading from the *Epistle to All*. He quickly gained converts and was soon summoned by Prince Oleg. Most scholars believe that Oleg and the ruling class of Kievan Russia converted in order to end the endemic sectarian violence, which was interfering with the profits from the trade between Constantinople and Novgorod. Spectrum had the advantage over orthodox Submission and Ananism in that it allowed for the salvation of nonbelievers, including the nonbelieving relatives of its adherants. By SE 170 [942 CE] at the latest, Spectrum Submission had become the religion of a majority of the inhabitants of Kievan Russia....

**Next Prophet** ....A central tenet of Spectrum Submission is that Ragnar the Prophet was the recipient of a true revelation from the Allfather. The Next Prophet specifically claimed to be a follower of Ragnar and said that he had done nothing but ask the Angel those questions he felt had not been answered in Ragnar’s *Teachings*. Most of Spectrum is based on Submission, although it does include some Ananist doctrines. Indeed, the Next Prophet claimed that most of *Questions* deals with rules for one’s conduct with peers and subordinates and members of other religions, the afterlife, and personal issues that simply were not mentioned or given enough detail in the *Teachings* ....

**Spectrum Submission** ....prayer is very much a personal thing. The punishment one suffers in the afterlife can be reduced by making restitution to the person one has wronged, and the pleasure one experiences can be increased by respectful and charitable interactions with others. Spectrum is therefore often considered a very pious religion, very given not only to charity but to providing direct assistance. An excerpt from an Angel's answer in *Questions* goes:

"Helping your peer is very important, yes. Giving goods to help a man shows that you are willing to give of your possessions. To give of your time, your skill, your abilities, though. To give of that, will prove how much you really care …."

Very often prayer is conducted with the preacher reading the questions from the *Epistle to All*, and the congregation reading the answer. Other times, it is reversed, based on the preacher’s priorities. The original *Teachings* of Submission are still held in high regard, but as possibly the most famous line in the *Questions* goes: "What is it that is most important in my daily life? Is it my prayer? My spirituality? My belief in Submission?" "All those are necessary. Most important is your care for your own kind."

Of course, that line has caused many controversies. Most modern Spectrum preachers interpret "your own kind" as a reference to all of mankind; others both past and present felt that it meant others Spectrals, and still others believed that it meant family and friends.