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These are the documents we have found that relate to the history of the laws on religion. Since the Episcopal Courts Building was destroyed in the fire, most of their records were lost. These documents are a collection I purchased some years ago from a collector. He was selling his prizes to pay legal fees related to his own run-in with the law. Contextual evidence indicates the documents are very old, and neither he nor I could explain the preservation of them. As far as I can tell, the book was never published. Had it been, I suspect that the author would have ended up in a cell.
You will find four documents attached. There is reason to believe that they are all related. They are the earliest references we can find on the Episcopapy Laws.
Remember as you read them that they reflect the law that our current system is derived from and that what you see here is a foundation, not a description. Most of these laws are quite archaic and the data about religious practice in the city is quite likely grossly exaggerated. But this is still relevant, especially if you are to consider any changes in the laws.
If you wish, we can continue looking for the book, but I fear the author never completed it. We have no better information about the early days of the Episcopapy Laws and the founding of those courts. It is a tantalizing clue to a buried part of Amber's history.
It is clear that the system that we take for granted today was at one time imposed by Oberon to fulfill some need. Perhaps, considering the nature of it, it should not have been such a surprise that it was not well documented. Several of my predecessors were more interested in politics than in preservation.
I remain your faithful servant,
Nestor, Royal Librarian
Cousin,
You asked me to send you the outline of the book I am writing because you had concerns that I might have trouble finding a publisher for so controversial a subject. While I appreciate your help (both with the political realities of publishing in Amber and with the invaluable aid you have provided on the history of these questions in the city), I must confess that I am naive about the controversy. Is it really so bad there that one cannot even talk about this?
Amber fascinates all of us from shadow -- those of us for whom it is a legendary city that trades with us for riches and those few like you and me who have seen it and even lived there. That I can publish a book on Amber in Yorwick and have it be financially successful is undoubted. That I wish to export that same book to Amber is audacious. Is audacity so despised in the self-described Jewel of Cities?
I am enclosing for your comments the meat of the introduction and the outline and some notes on the current state of religion in Amber. I am expanding the history section to include the corrections and enhancements you sent me on the shorter article I had already written for the Xenocultural Studies conference last June.
I hesitate to tell you this last, Cousin, but by the time you receive my letter, it will be too late for you to stop me. The last chapter was to be examples of religion as it is practiced in Amber. However, I have a lead that may allow me to penetrate an underground cult of Dho'tima Mystics.
They are a splinter group of a minor sect, actually. I think I have another paper out of this, one about how subsects of religions that are passed by or suppressed survive in Amber. Studying religion in the city is like going on an archeological dig through the religious history of many shadows.
These mystics attempt, I believe, to achieve gnosis with their vision of God via dance. Suppressed in their own country, they fled to Amber following the death of their leader at the hands of a mob. Interestingly, they are truly an underground religion in Amber, as they believe that the holy rock came to the Taram from the caves beneath Kolvir.
They ran afoul of Royal Justice and the Episcopapy Laws when they attempted to free several of their members who had been imprisoned for trespass for attempting to enter caves under the castle that they claimed they had seen in visions.
I had the story from one of the prisoners, a man who had been a street preacher in the cults early days who was impressed into the navy. I found him in Yorwick, of all places. He had finished his naval service and was banned from Amber and from Fidere. He was a bitter old man, but he still had his sentencing order from the king's bench. He allowed me to copy it, and I am sending it to you.
When I see you again, Cuz, I shall have cracked these mystics!
My courtesies to your family,
Burtaan
In the name of the King of Amber, Oberon Rex, the King's Bench in the case of Lord Ramos, Royal Warden of the Temple Quarter versus Alaman the Darvash, the King's justice is invoked. All citizens of Amber are enjoined to comply with this ruling.
His Majesty has stated, with respect to the rights and duties of citizens who wish to practice religions: "I encourage my subjects to follow paths that make them happy, and acknowledge that for some, that includes religion. I respect their many beliefs and remind them that the Episcopapy Laws are designed to ensure that no one will force their religious will on another. Amber sits at a crossroad of worlds and sees wonders and glory in them all. It is a place where many come to live and to work and to build their lives in our great prosperity."
It is out of respect for the many citizens who work to better themselves and therefore the realm that I sentence Alaman the Darvash, a street preacher from the Temple Quarter who was previously in my court proven to be in violation of those laws. In mercy and justice, Alaman is sentenced to 20 years service in the Navy and is stripped of his citizenship.
Lord Scralic Mipps
High Justice, Amber Episcopal Court
I shall insert the contents of those previous essays in here. It still has some major holes...
There will be a case study here, of course.
Insert publisher's required generalities and lies here... Note: Use paragraphs below somehow...(new essay?)
The formal practice of religion is uncommon in Amber, however 30% or so of the population belong to a religion and many more have personal beliefs that would in many societies be considered religious in nature. This percentage which adhere to a formal religion varies by class, with 1st and 2nd generation immigrants, the poor, and the unfree being most likely to practice a formal religion. The merchant marine and the Navy have low levels and the officer classes are even lower. There is a smaller percentage among the untitled rich than among the titled and this is because there is a feeling that religion decreases one's chances of being ennobled.
Many of the middle and upper class social functions of religious association are covered through the extensive network of private clubs and societies. These are frequently sponsored by a noble and have a charter, etc. Matrons run the charitable societies for the betterment of Amber.
Some societies have close ties to particular religions and these are frequently given more scrutiny at tax and charter time than others. This is due to the social engineering in the tax law that rewards anyone who proves that a religion is illegally influencing or controlling a society, club or corporation.
The common attitude amongst the government bureaucrats is that religion, like prostitution, is an inevitable evil. It should be controlled and prevented from doing harm, but not prevented from springing up.
In the nobility, religion is not explicitly discouraged and, depending on the age of the noble family, they may have a tradition that stretches back to a time before the current treatment. Some hold titles that were originally religious in nature. Nobles are strongly discouraged from sending 2nd sons into religion in Amber, with a forfeit of a portion of their lands and incomes. The tradition amongst the nobility is to send sons into the golden circle to seek out new honors (and by that I believe they mean new fortunes) for the noble families.
Noble and Royal religious preference is for personal religion -- a relationship between the individual and the sacred. There is widespread tolerance for religions deemed safe, but there is widespread approval of the boot on the neck of the less-savory looking religions.
In a very superficial way, this society does not seem to have many religious tensions, but there are significant ones under the surface. Amber has no tolerance for immigrant misbehavior based on religion. Immigrants and passers through do not fully understand the upper social class bias against religion.
However, the society is in many ways primitive. What is written into law and what is acted upon by the state are both changing things. Some of the laws listed have never been enforced in recorded judicial history. The will of the King is the ultimate deciding factor. It is an artifact of a society where the King is the state and rules to please himself.