Faraism (Merveilles du Monde Map Game)

Faraism is a system of thought and behavior which originated in southern Africa in the Kingdom of Zimbabwe during the early-14th century. Often described as a series of secular traditions and philosophies, other times as a humanistic religion centered around logic and rationality, and the proper way of interacting with other individuals. The school of thought itself was developed by the Shona scholar Farai waRutendo, a court official native to the city of Manyikeni in eastern Zimbabwe.

As a court official serving as the chief representative of his rulers in the port city of Muromo Wenyika, Farai had spent years interacting with foreigners hailing from various cultures, religions, and regions of the known world. His experiences with them gave him insight on the many ways of approaching topics related to the nature of God, the origin of man, the role of faith and science within human society, the interactions between men of differing backgrounds, and the disparity between peoples of different social classes. Seeking to remedy these issues and bring into the mainstream a motivating force that brought people together rather than drive them apart, Farai began to promote the ideas of individual human value, a quality education for the common people, the submission of a king and his subordinates to their subjects rather than the other way around, and the institution of a merit-based class of administrators and bureaucrats capable of governing the state.

The revolutionary ideals of Farai saw his work immediately surpressed by the king of Zimbabwe and his officials, who pursued Farai leading to his exile to Ilede in 1333. His works were, however, welcomed within the burgeoning intellectual class within the kingdom, as well as among the members of the young bureaucracy which slowly came to govern the state on behalf of the king. Faraism ultimately found its way into the hearts of the lower classes who were happy to support the teachings of Farai, which advocated for the removal of the tyrannical spiritual leaders of Zimbabwe, as well as the improvement of living standards for all those members of the population willing to work toward the overall benefit of Zimbabwe as a whole. By 1340, the organized suppression of Faraism had been dropped by the state, and promoted as the paramount ideology of Zimbabwe under King Chatunga in 1357.

Summed up, Faraism places the benefit of the state, the community, and the family, above that of the individual or any religious teachings promoted by clerics or prophets. This ultimately establishes Faraism as a firmly humanistic belief system. The needs of the people as a social unit are placed above all else, creating a system where the secular needs of the people become the sacred motivating force for man; a man will fight and die to protect those whom he loves, be it his family, his community, or his people, much more so than for any immaterial diety or set of values the man can neither see or feel. Farai's idea was that a simple man or woman is driven by the need to protect and provide for those around them, and once all of the other dividing factors are removed as obstacles, one would quickly find that humanity can get on with the task of developing a truly inclusive society.

Faraism has since developed into the paramount ideology within the lives of nearly all members of the citizenry of Zimbabwe, with a bureaucracy based upon its teachings, a merit-based leadership governing the country, and a strong work ethic based upon the pursuit of the common good for all members of society. Today, approximately 75-80% of citizens profess an adherence to the ideals of Faraism, and many institutions exist which promote the teachings of Farai on a global scale, believing that as more members of humanity adopt his teachings, the more unified they will be once the beliefs and superstitions which held them back and apart from one another will be soon be extinguished.

Chinangwa
Farai describes chinangwa, meaning "purpose", as a motivation for living and to seek a greater purpose outside of one's current conditions. The majority of those he interacted with had expressed a vacuum in their lives, describing it as a longing for that which they needed to truly enjoy their lives. A constant question asked throughout the civilizations of man, Farai called this longing the "lust for purpose mankind has lost", referencing the influence of powerful priests and prophets as having perverted the nature of man's desires for a greater purpose. Instead, Farai states that all men seeking to do something with their lives are those who are ambitious for the improvement of their lot and those of their people, individuals motivated to do good. Chinangwa plays a role in all areas of life, from small to great deeds, be it plowing a field or leading an army, all are done for a common purpose, that being the improvement of life for those within their society. Farai urged his students to accept contentment as a way of life rather than fruitlessly pursuing any and all avenues they erroneously believed would justify their existence, something which needs no justification at all. What gives their lives meaning is the good they do for others, and it can be anything any man can accomplish which benefits society as a whole, whether they know it or not.

Kufanoona
Kufanoona is described as the quality of foresight, the ability to reason on one's actions and take the time to consider what the consequences of said actions would be. Farai documented that if more peopel took the time to think about how their behavior would effect others, for good or for ill, then mankind would not have suffered as much as it did in the past. All to often men allowed religious leaders to do the thinking for them, and infer the desired outcome to absolve men from their actions. In the end, Farai states that a mother doesn't need to wait for her husband's insight to determine if feeding their child is of high importance to their well-being. In much the same way, Farai states that men do not need to wait for God to intervene through a corrupt priesthood to provide guidance so readily available within a close-knit community universally invested in the well-being of its members and those of that of their neighbors.

Kushingairira
The ideas of hard work and prudence were summed up by Farai as kushingairira, meaning "zeal" or "to work hard". The quality of kushingairira was described by Farai as the willingness of an individual to pursue the most good for the most people by doing the most work reasonably possible. He lambasted the old idea that in a commonly-held field, the farmers of the land would push off the work believing that it would be done by their compatriots at the end of the day. By the end of the work day, no work would have been done, as all farmers would have effectively pushed the work onto someone else until which point nothing had been accomplished. By accepting kushingairira into one's life, every individual would instead seek to do what they thought was of benefit to someone else, helping to ease another's burden to the fullest extent possible. Using the example of the farmers yet again, Farai described the result of the men looking out for the other, trying to make the work as easy for each other to which point all were involved and the work completed well before the end of the day, allowing them to enjoy each other's company while there was still daylight.

Nharaunda
Nharaunda, or "community", is the single most important fixture within the lives of all men, regardless of their social status as described by Farai, and the one thing they cannot live without even if they boast otherwise. In a way, all men regardless of their origin, live and die for their communities, be it to defend them from harm, to enrich it through trade, or to operate within it as a father, mother, son, daughter, merchant, farmer, miner, or soldier. To all men, nharaunda is everything to them, and they would do anything to protect it regardless of the losses to them on an individual level. According to the teachings of Farai, nharaunda has no set scale; it can range from a household of family members or a community of a dozen or more people, to an entire nation's worth of people spread from one enough of the planet to the other. Likewise, it can transcend blood relations as evidence by the actions of foreign powers and religions, with the events of the Crusades highlighting the brotherhood between Christians and Muslims who were motivated to do great harm to one another in defend of their shared communities.

When one lives for their people, nothing else matters at all to them, be it gods, religions, doctrines, wars, factions, or even other communities. Farai stated that when one looks for what matters to them and what purpose there is to their life, their community is often the very first thing they bring to mind and which gives them vigor. Soldiers will fight and die for one another long before they will die for any king or god, while husbands and wives will put the well-being of their families and neighbors above that of any national allegiances they may hold during times of crises. Thus, when he was questioned as to how he would reasonably be able to replace religion with secular humanistic ideals, Farai simply stated that such traditions had already been replaced by the communities which comprised them, and it was in fact these very same communities which played a role in such religions being formed in the first place. When all men live for one another, they have no need to live for God.

Kukodzera
The ideal of kukodzera, the quality of being "fit for service", references the concepts of meritocracy and suitability for positions of power or responsibility over other people within society. Too often were men of power raised to positions of leadership based solely on their blood relations or political connections, denying the people of the real leadership they truly desired. Having witnessed competent individuals driven off into exile out of fear of punishment for contradicting the customs of the past or the will of their rulers, Farai promoted the idea that all men with a background worth leveraging for the benefit of society as was the responsibility of all men, was something that ought to be mandatory rather than up to the whims of a monarch or group of oligarchs.

Farai's ideas would be adopted as a system of recruitment for the institution of the Great Officiate within Zimbabwe, which sought out men and women of great intellect and wisdom capable of administering the realm in a manner worthy of true leaders. Because of Farai's ideals, all members of the king he saw at its basest level, were now able to enter into the halls of power, and obtain a name for themselves as leaders and influencers capable of effecting change withing their society. Today, these teachings remain a prominent aspect of African society and culture, with the focus on "getting the best man for the job" influencing the decisions of those responsible for selecting the next generation of leaders for their society.