Unanimous Rules for the Church of the Intelligent Multiverse

 

The Church of the Infinite Multiverse (COTIM) is an organization founded under the Default Rules of Procedure, operating as a sedentary order in accordance with the Code for Orders, and maintaining agreement with Theoconsequentialist Doctrine. 

 

Purpose of the COTIM

Our organizational purpose is to offer a refuge for those who seek to escape a society engineered to impose a choice between immorality and adherence to small minded orthodoxies of ancient origin.  We would take in those who long for something better, offer them truth, and help them live better lives by letting them join us as we help each other.  We leave it to individual sectors of our order (and the future order generally) to further build enriching traditions, rituals, and materially beneficial cooperative arrangements.  Over time, we may develop prevailing orthodoxies of our own, and we urge those unable to accept them to start or join other orders.

 

Theistic Requirements

Theoconsequentialist Doctrine claims only limited certainty about theological matters.  A certain amount of individual variance is allowable within those guidelines. We welcome lively debate and innovative speculation.  But anyone who adheres stubbornly to doctrines incompatible with what does appear in our doctrines will be unhappy and unsuccessful in our order.  Specifically, all ratings given shall be justified in terms of the Doctrine. 

 

Sector Nomenclature and Leader Titles

Upon creation, each sector shall be assigned a unique name.  Each council may change its sector’s name by majority resolution.  In addition to individual names for each sector, types of sectors at different levels shall have special category nomenclature for use within the COTIM. 

 

What the Code calls a "basic council" may also be called a panel.  A sector made up of panels may be called a fellowship.  A sector made up of fellowships may be called a chapter.  A sector made up of chapters may be called a circuit.  A sector made up of circuits may be called a district.  A sector made up of districts may be called a province.  A sector made up of provinces may be called a realm. If the order grows even larger than a realm, the high council could add new names and titles for the higher levels, or initially just let them be “department” and “order”. 

 

In addition to other titles they may hold, leaders at different levels may be referred to with the following titles.  The leader of a panel may be called a monitor (mon for short).  The leader of a fellowship may be called a vanguard (van for short).  The leader of a chapter may be called an administrator (admin for short).  The leader of a circuit may be called an inspector.  The leader of a district may be called a director.  The leader of a province may be called an executive.  The leader of a realm may be called a regent.  Rank and file participants may be called initiates.

 

Chapters

In the COTIM, sectors at the chapter level are designated as “congregations” as defined in the Code for Orders.  Chapters may thus incorporate, own property, and secede.  Chapters must be informed of any change to their congregation status and given a month to secede before the change of status takes effect.  Administrators have terms of office like an order president. 

Universal Ritual

At review meetings, before each confessor begins a turn, the assembled members say this prompt together, "Tell us, how have you made the world better lately?  And what have you learned?"  Each member in a panel may bring one visitor per meeting, with the same right to be there as a member.  Immediately following each review meeting for participants, each basic council will also conduct a mock review meeting for visitors before commencing any business meeting.  Visitors will also be given the prompt and an opportunity to confess.   After each visitor confession there will be a cycle of participants doing mock ratings of the visitor, assigning (and explaining) merits and demerits that aren’t actually recorded. 

 

Individual Virtue

In our evaluations of each other, we give participants greater power in our organization based on potential for using that power for the benefit of the organization, and to encourage promotion of a better society while discouraging destructiveness.  Every sector should develop and enforce its own standards that are compatible with doctrine and higher leadership.  These shall take the form of well publicized policies of each council, binding on the sector subordinate to it. 

 

Review Meetings

The places of review meetings are set by resolution of the council meeting.  The following standard times are established for all review meetings, depending on level of council.  Panels normally meet on Sundays at 8 am.  By unanimous vote, a panel may change its meeting time to 10 am or revert to 8 am.  Fellowships meet on Saturdays at 9 am.  Chapters meet on Sundays at 2 pm.  Circuits meet on 1st Saturdays at 2pm.  Districts meet on 2nd Saturdays at 2 pm.  Provinces meet on 3rd Saturdays at 2 pm.  Realms meet on 4th Saturdays at 2 pm.  Times of review meetings are local to the place of meeting.  The senior member present at any review meeting dictates who may be present, except that members have a right to be there, and (on panels) to bring one visitor, and a supplicant to a panel also has the right to attend meetings of the panel.

 

Review meetings consist of two main rounds, which both proceed in declining order of seniority.

The first phase is confessions.  The member whose turn it is, if present, is the “confessor.”  A confessor's turn starts with the confessor responding to the group recitation of the prompt, "Tell us, how have you made the world better lately?  And what have you learned?"  Once the confessor starts talking the confessor may continue until the majority of members present are standing (thus calling for the confession to end).  While the confessor keeps the status of confessor, the confession phase of the confessor's turn is followed by a round of questions and answers. 

 

During a turn to offer a confession, a confessor is expected to recount what actions the confessor has taken since last offering a confession to the council, and to explain the reasoning behind them and lessons learned during the period.  A confession can also serve as a short sermon.  Once a confessor says “confession complete,” there will be a round of questions. 

 

During a question round, each member present (in declining order of seniority) may comment on the confession that has been delivered, or ask the confessor a question.  A questioner’s turn ends when the questioner says “Question Complete” or when a majority have stood at once and then a majority are seated again.  Each question is followed by the current confessor’s turn as answerer.  An answerer’s turn ends when a majority are standing or the answerer says “Answer complete,” and once a majority are seated again the answerer’s turn is followed by the next questioner’s turn.  Questioners and answerers alternate until the most junior member present has questioned the confessor and been answered.  At that time, regardless of number of standing members, the confessor’s turn ends and the next confessor’s turn begins once a majority of council members present are seated.

 

Once a confessor’s turn fully ends, the next confessor’s turn starts once a majority of members present are seated and they deliver the prompt, unless the confessor was the most junior member present, in which case the ratings phase begins. 

 

During the ratings phase of a review meeting, each member present gets a turn as rater, proceeding in declining order of seniority.  The rater is supposed to state what merits or demerits the rater is giving which other members, then explain them.  The first rater (whether leader or not) should start by recounting the superior leader’s rating of the present council’s leader and by declaring the automatic demerits for absent members who were not present when the meeting started.  These should be assumed to happen even if the first rater doesn’t have time to actually get to literally saying them.  Other than those automatic score changes, as stated above the leader of a Council may issue each other member a merit or a demerit and each other member may select one other member to issue either a merit or a demerit. 

 

A rater’s turn ends when the rater says “Rating complete,” or (following the first minute) when a majority of those present are standing.  Every rater gets at least one minute to talk.  The next rater’s turn commences (or the meeting ends if the rater was the most junior member present) when a majority are seated following the end of the preceding rater’s turn. 

 

If a member is not present when that member’s turn would begin, that member’s turn begins and ends instantly and the next member’s turn commences.  Nobody gets a makeup turn later in any cycle because of being absent when called upon.  Use it or lose it. 

 

All members of a council may be present at all council meetings, including review meetings, as may all members of all immediately subordinate councils and the leaders of all sectors the council is subordinate to.   Failure to respect this rule is bad but not void: the Code says the senior council member present can ask non-members to leave.    Only members of a meeting council can have a primary to speak: others are present as observers or supplicants.  Only members can officially be a speaker or rater, though during the questions cycle the current questioner or answerer may freely designate anyone present to speak in support.  Invited speakers offer supplemental speech only.  Supplicants may also have defined rights on panels. 

 

Clarification Regarding Use of the Word “Church”

While “church” is conventionally a term referring to Christian associations, let it be totally clear that we are not a Christian organization.  We use the term “church” because we hope to fulfill the same functions currently reserved for Christian churches in societies using them.  We believe that their doctrines, which we reject, have little to do with what they are about, except that blind consent to them plays the vital role of subverting judgment.  We reject the necessity for that.

 

Politics, Charity, and Social Action

While quantum immortality is compatible with Theoconsequentialist doctrine, we believe this world is what should matter to us.  However, we believe many solutions to the flaws of the world are best addressed by separate political processes, rather than by activism as a religious organization.  We have a different role, improving and supporting our participants who may then impress us by taking action as they see fit. 

 

We offer charity to our participants, not to outsiders.  If you are in need, we invite you to join us.  We believe that is enough to qualify as our duty.  If you are truly in need, you will cooperate.  If you have the privilege to refuse us, we owe nothing.  We realize this misses the opportunity to gain social cachet, but charity for those who don’t authentically need it, given to advance reputation, isn’t really charity it’s publicity. 

 

Rather than joining to march about the issue of the day, we improve the world longer term through living our everyday lives virtuously, contributing to the long-term thriving of humanity in accordance with our gifts and as guided by God and informed by our beliefs.  Too often, activists sacrifice their power in futile efforts against symptoms rather than root causes.  We have our own agenda.  If that's not good enough, our doctrine is not sealed, but precisely because we may differ around reform priorities, yet agree on much else, we believe it is usually most productive to advocate moral humility rather than self-righteousness. 

 

Corporations

The Church of the Intelligent Multiverse is devoted to being conscientious.  Accordingly, far from being a scam to create a fraudulent religious corporation, it will register as a non-charitable not for profit corporation.  Its purpose is a general-purpose cooperative for material and spiritual mutual support.   

 

Supplicants

A panel may designate a visitor as a supplicant.  This is someone being considered for induction, but not yet fully authorized.  Within the panel, a supplicant has rights partially similar to a council member.  A supplicant has a right to attend, comment, confess, question, answer, and count toward standing down, but not the powers to propose resolutions or vote (in business meetings) or to give and receive actual merits and demerits (in evaluation meetings).  Supplicants have a right to attend panel meetings (but not sponsor other guests), but that doesn’t necessarily extend to other councils.   Higher councils may extend supplicants of subordinate panels partial participant rights in their sectors, or not.  A panel may not have more supplicants than initiates and higher sector councils may dismiss supplicants of subordinate panels. 

 

Banning

Deriving from their control of property, the councils of sectors which own property (such as congregations and orders) may ban named individuals (other than participants) from sector property and from admission as participants by subordinate panels.

 

Status of This Document

These rules are adopted by unanimous vote of the high council and may only be altered by another such vote.