Unifiers

From LanceaSanctum

Excerpted from the Lancea Sanctum covenant book, by White Wolf Publishing:

Unifiers within the Lancea Sanctum take their theme from their stated goals: to promote peace between the factions of the Lancea Sanctum and to unify the covenant’s secular and religious aspects. They seek not only to unify the covenant, but also the factions within each individual Kindred. Only by balancing one’s material and societal needs with the spiritual responsibilities described in the Testament can a vampire become a useful servant of God on earth. Kindred should make spiritual pursuits a top priority, to be sure, but those who make it the only priority risk becoming irrelevant in worldly matters, slipping into reclusion like monks locked up in some distant monastery.

Whereas Hardliners and Neo-Reformists strive to understand, explain and somehow definitively master the knowledge contained in The Testament of Longinus, Unifiers believe it is best to cultivate many different understandings throughout the covenant (though not always the individual parish) so that the Sanctified are well-rounded and well-reasoned. Hardliners see this as a position of doubt and evidence of weak faith. Neo- Reformists see it as a non-committal cop-out by a religious weasels who think they can have all their bases covered with God.

Unifier philosophies often hold that God and His will are outside the realm of understanding by earthly minds. Those who have been touched or spoken to by Him directly, such as Longinus, have a level of understanding far beyond any that can be attained through simple contemplation. Still, by pondering the words of Longinus and the insights of those faithful who have come before, an individual Kindred’s faith can be incrementally advanced along the infinite track towards God. What really matters, then, is the individual Sanctified’s understanding of the Curse and God’s will. Unifiers believe that no one, two or twenty ways of interpreting the tale of the Centurion can be right for all the Damned.

The best any Kindred can do is sample as many interpretations of the Testament as possible and hope that where they intersect some pillar of wisdom can be erected. Of course, the Lancea Sanctum needs Kindred to keep the individual interpretations alive, so that others can come and feed from them. Thus, the covenant needs its Hardliners and its Neo-Reformists, its Mendicants and Evangelists.

Unifiers often own multiple copies of the Testament, containing separate translations or interpretations. Some Unifiers seek out the works of even the most distant or remote Creeds, as well. Certainly there are Unifiers among the Dammitics and the Iblics, just as there are Hardliners and Neo-Reformists in those sects, as well.

For one Unifier's take, see "I am a Unifier."

[edit] Quotes

The greatest wisdom comes with the realization that you do not know anything.

-LS Book

What we desire is the security and prosperity of all Kindred.
The Lancea Sanctum is not your enemy.
In fact, if you heed my words, it could be your ally.
-LS Book

I hold no creed to be more holy than any other, and so I greet all of the Lancea Sanctum as brother. The truth is holy, so trust in the tried. Stand with your brethren and be unified. Stand with your fellow predators, and be Sanctified.
- Archbishop Cassius Callaghan
Diversity fosters Knowledge.
Knowledge provides Power.
Power to understand our fellow Kindred better, that we may help them find their Dark Path.
And Power to know the mortals and how best to drive them back to His Light.
- Bishop J.W. Ghoren of Delaware, from "I am a Unifier."

Basically, throw yourself into the middle of the nearest shitstorm
and try to get the opposing parties to cool off and take notice of the dung they're covered in.
- Bishop J.W. Ghoren on being a Unifier (private conversation)