What SOEMT Is

SOEMT is a religious order built on 3 pillars, Enlightenment, Mercy, and Truth, and measured entirely by verified deeds. It does not require belief in a deity and does not prohibit it. Its members may keep any other faith they hold. It is not bound to any place: its Library is a room and it is online at once, and a member anywhere on earth stands on the same footing.

The Order exists for the betterment of humankind and for nothing else. Science saves lives, so the Order learns and teaches. Mercy saves lives, so the Order gives money, hours, and care. Truth builds better lives, so the Order publishes its money, its errors, and its work. Why the Order exists.

What Makes It Different

Most faiths ask for belief and hours of devotion. SOEMT asks for a tithe of hours spent on the work, and it keeps a public record. The unit of the Order is the human hour: an hour learning, an hour teaching, an hour caring for a child or a parent, an hour sitting with a stranger, an hour at the bench or the desk making something true. The Ledger of Work records them, and the Order is judged by that record and nothing else.

The Rule of Showing

The Order never states, and its Code forbids it to state, that it stands above any other faith. What it stands for is shown: what it funds, whom it helps, what it publishes, and how many human hours it returned to the world. A stranger who does not trust the Order does not need to. They can read the accounts and watch the record grow.

Who It Is For

For mothers and fathers whose hours of care have never been counted by anyone. For scientists and learners who want their work to be a form of devotion. For artists, whose work is a road of Truth. For anyone who has finished asking what to believe and wants to be asked, instead, what they did.

The door is a verified high school diploma or its equivalent, at any age. A person who does not yet have one is tutored toward it by the Order and holds a place among the Kindling until the day it is verified.

The Library of Enlightenment

The Order's place of gathering is the Library of Enlightenment. It is a room and it is online at once; the online room is the Order's Discord. Thursday Night is held there every week, recorded, archived where the Order cannot quietly delete it, and open to anyone.

How It Is Governed

The founders govern with the members, not over them, and are themselves subject to banishment under the Code. Leadership by council waits until enough members have earned their Pillars to seat it; when the Council of Pillars convenes, the founders' sole authority ends by the Code's own terms. No road holds more than half the Council, and no officer serves consecutive terms. The Order is not incorporating and is not filing with any tax authority until other members have written the bylaws and shaped the leadership with the founders. A faith should not be founded as one person's company.

Sovereign

The Order calls itself sovereign for a reason. It is not opposed to following the spirit of the law, and it will, so long as the law comports with the 3 Pillars and stands against the 3 Shadows. Where a law enforces Ignorance, does Cruelty, or spreads Deceit, the Order's obligation runs to the Pillars first.

Contact

Write to hello@soemt.org. Every message is read by a person.