[A] Meetings of the Church of Holy Light.

Spoiler:

Rae Wulfgnar wrote:Who may attend?: Priests, Paladins, Draenei, Dwarves, Those of faith, Disciples of Light, Holy Lightbringers.

Rae Wulfgnar wrote:This may start half an hour later (9pm) If it clashes with too many people. Those who can't come will be given a newsletter about what was talked about and conclusions.

Dear brother Jeremias,

It gladdens my heart that the Church is taking unified action against the Dark Arts. The King has given us his command, and the Council has to conform to the wishes of His Majesty and make the best out of the situation.

If you desire, I will meet with you and discuss with you the current form of the draft of the Dark Arts legislation. Church opinion would be appreciated, and I do not doubt that you have questions or simply want an explanation.

As liaison to the Church it is not my place to intrude upon Church meetings and discussions, however I request your permission to attend and observe the meeting on the 22nd either in person or through my secretary.

I am available on Friday evening past 19:00 and the whole Saturday, if you want to set up a meeting.

Light bless you,

Rihani Deephaven,
Trial Minister of Internal Affairs

The following letter is send in an Alliance blue envelop, sealed with a royal lion. It is addressed to High Priest Jeremias Blackwell of the Church of Holy Light.

The soul who dwells in loving-kindness,
who trusts in the Naaru's Teaching,
attains to that state of peace,
the blissful fading away of conditioned things.

By the Naaru, may it be so.

Most esteemed brothers and sisters of the Light,

My name is Huruma. As a Vindicator of the Naaru's Divine Law I have been defending the Faithful for several of hundreds of your human generations. I have brought the Light to dozens of worlds forgotten and have slayed the Legion's infernal pawn darklings on dozens more. I do not say this to brag or intimate – my achievements are the achievements of the Light alone; “No deeds I've done nor thoughts I've thought, save as thy servant, I am naught” - I say these things to establish my credibility, so that you may not discard the following without giving it the serious consideration it is due. My opinion is no doubt a controversial one. I am of the opinion that it is the Light's Will that warlocks, death knights and shadowmongers; i.e darklings,should be allowed to fight and die for the Grand Alliance, and that in denying them this penitent cause, we inflict great injury upon the Light.

Regretfully, I will not be able to defend this point of view in person, for at the time of writing and the time of the appointed meeting I am and will be stationed at the Alliance vanguard in Northrend. As a chaplain of the Alliance and a private in the 157th 'Wild Tempest' company I am almost always fighting at the front, alongside warlocks, death knights and shadow priests that are the present topic of discussion.

Let me begin my argument by saying that there cannot be any doubt that these sinful aberrations are an affront to the Light. In the Army of Light prophesied by the Prophet Velen the Divine, there will be no place for those dark of heart. Indeed, no Believer could possibly condone the dark practices these darklings undertake, and during the Final War, they will have been purged from our ranks – however, that joyous day has not yet come.

Let us take a moment to reflect on the nature of the darklings serving the Alliance military. What is the Alliance warlock like? Most darklings I have fought alongside with consider themselves effective martyrs. They consider themselves courageous for using means harmful to their soul and Being to defend a righteous cause. They suffer the damning touch of Fel to defend their beloved country and people. They will endure any pain and corruption to their soul, as long as it is in service to a cause they deem just. It is a great tragedy, then, that in service of this just cause they reach for the temptation of Fel; for, as we all know, those who think they master demons, are truly mastered by them, and the Demon Lords of the Legion do not give their power away freely. Often these darklings consider themselves, just like the Children of the Light, enemies of the Legion; are they not taming their minions and stealing their flame to use against them? Tricking otherwise noble and courageous mortals into thinking they fight against – rather than for – the Legion is the oldest and vilest trick the Deciever plays on us.

When this false and poisonous belief of mastery (rather than being mastered) over demons has taken a firm root in the darkling's soul, no amount of preaching will purge it – on the contrary, a preaching of the Light's virtues and a rejection of the darkling's damning means will more often than not reinforce and strengthen the darkling's mistaken martyrdom: in making their dark arts darker, we make them even more heroic for suffering its taint. We make them into heroes.

This sensation of martyrdom, taken in itself, is a Lightgiven sentiment. The Light whispers to every heart, subtly urging it to do selfless good and shun selfish evil. Self-sacrifice, the blessed giving without taking - like the shining of a star – is at the very heart of the Naaru's teachings. Assuming these darklings to be genuine in their intentions, as I have often found they are, we can deduce that their motivations are Lightgiven, though their means of achieving these motivations obviously are not. I am not denying that some darklings that serve the Alliance military might be of a deceptive nature; but if we put our trust and faith in the Light, the Most Blessed Sight It bestows upon us will allow us to see clearly, and separate the genuine from the deceitful.

There is a tension, then, a mystery that boggles our mind. How can these souls, who so clearly carry Lightgiven sentiments in their hearts, reach for such corrupted and damning means? It seems contradictory – and in fact it is contradictory and highly irrational. It is an irrational course of action, inspired by an ignorance of the Light's loving benevolence. Though these misguided souls heed the Light's loving call to action, they regrettably rush further into damnation, rather than to climb the stairs of Light. In the terms of the Naaruvada, they hear the Naaru's song but do not recognize it as such. The Sacred Wheel of Deed and Thought has begun to spin: it is seemingly arrested, however, by the false presumption made by a corrupted mind that the means of Fel are the best way to achieve these Lightgiven goals.

How can we enlighten our wayward brothers and sisters, and guide them on a more promising path? Certainly not by denying them the opportunity to aid the Grand Alliance, to smite the wicked and defend the innocent. In order to better understand the Light's loving whispers, one has to perform Lightloved deeds: and in order to know what deeds are Lightloved, one must understand the Light's loving whispers. There can be no doubt, brothers and sisters, that a soul who does good will grow closer to the Light, and that from a soul who does evil the Light will slowly withdraw. For every innocent defended and evil smitten, the Inner Light in the darkling's heart will strengthen.

This is the truth, brothers and sisters: even when their hearts are corrupted and tainted by the damning touch of Fel, the Light will grow in strength when the soul does good. Stronger and stronger the Light shall grow, until It rejects the evil and casts out the corruptions that taint it. Or, in layman's terms: a good person will not embrace evil means – and a person becomes good by doing good and becomes bad by doing bad.

When we cast out the darklings, the opposite will occur. They will fester in the darkness and be drawn to other darklings, banding together in unholy unions to plot the downfall of the Lightloved and righteous. Their 'heroic' help rejected, they will form false beliefs about the supposed wickedness of the Light's chosen and will be chased further and further into the embrace of the Legion. Or, in layman's terms: warlocks rejected from the military will join cults and wage war on the Alliance.

I believe the Human Church of Holy Light knows the virtues of Compassion – the Naaruvada school preaches a similar virtue, that of Patience. Strange and unknown to us are the Light's ways – the elected High King of the Alliance, whose young son has been granted powers that far exceed those of many adult draenei and humans who have spend a life under the Light, condones these vile magicks within His chosen army. The Holy Prophet of the Draenei, Velen the Divine, has also been known to condone darklings within the Exodar. Try as we might, we cannot comprehend that which is far beyond our feeble mortal understanding. Only trough hubris might the Faithful go against the judgement of their elders in the Light. We must accept the judgement of our superiors unconditionally.

We may take an example in the Most Blessed Naaru A'dal and Its Sha'tar – though the crimes of the Scryers were unfathomable and the damning touch of Fel had stained them to their very souls, Its Blessedness A'dal. Light of Draenor, welcomed these darklings in the Light's chosen city. The Aldor priesthood, most enraged by this decision, could only tolerate this seemingly unfathomable injustice.. The Faithful know, however, that the Naaru, as creatures of pure Light and love, are ignorant to evil and cannot commit sin – and lo, the Scryers have ultimately proven themselves as reliable servants of the Light in our united offensive against Kil'jaeden the Deciever – without the mercy A'dal so incomprehensibly gave them, they would not have stood with the Aldor against the Legion, and the world of Azeroth would now have been burning. Do not doubt the wisdom of the Light's chosen, my brothers and sisters!

Another example is the sacrifice of M'uru the martyr, who willingly allowed Itself to be taken by the Elves of Silvermoon to be drained of Its Blessed Essence. M'uru suffered the damning touch of Fel, being drained of His Light and warped into a hollow, void-filled shell of his former self, used as pawn of the Legion. Only, when the Shattered Sun Offensive liberated Him by shattering Its physical coil, did they find the original spark of Inner Light - untouched and as pure as It had been at the dawn of creation – and was the truth layed upon them: that no amount of evil or sin can ultimately banish the Light from our hearts. Even the most revolting and vile darklings might be saved from the damning touch of sin – not by ostracizing and excommunicating them, but by showing compassion for their confused plight, and suffering their sins with blessed patience.

In conclusion, I implore you to reconsider banning darklings from enlisting in the Alliance army. Not only will this vindicate the suspicion that the darklings have of the Faithful that they are unforgiving and unsympathetic to their plight, but it will also cast these sinners into more sin. These darklings need our loving guidance, not our harsh an cold condemnation. They will practise their dark arts regardless of how we condemn them: and if they are to channel Fel, let them do it on the battle-field, away from innocent citizens and under the supervision of the Light's ever-vigilant vindicators and paladins.

I do agree, however, that the people need to be properly educated, and that any talk of the redeeming qualities of the damning touch of sin must be silenced at once. This is, however, is not achieved by ostracizing and shunning the darklings, but rather by leading by example: we must be extra vigilant to act morally superior and act as the guiding beacons of Light that the Church has tasked us to be. Press the darklings gainst our bosom, and show them the splendid magnificence of the Light by overwhelming them with our mercy and compassion. They will be easier converted to the Light on the battlefield, where the darkness is made visible and the Light more visible still, than scheming and plotting in dark robes in some Light-forgotten graveyard in Duskwood, in shadowy crevices where even the Light's redeeming ray cannot reach.

I pray that your will be granted wisdom in your discussion by the Light, and clarity in your judgements.

May the Light embrace you all,

-Vindicator Huruma, 157th “Wild Tempest” Company.

May good befall all,
May there be peace for all
May all be fit for perfection,
May all experience that which is auspicious.

By the Naaru, may it be so.