Greetings from the Xyphokonic Order and Ordinance. We have entered the Xyphojinamic Period of Mauris and have shifted from topics regarding the Self, Love, the Core, and Personality to Xyphoist Philosophy and doctrine. The Commentary written during this period shall range from various philosophical concepts and views from the Xyphoist perspective. Today, the selected coalition will be discussing the very timely topic of overzealous morality; this concept will include narcissism, moral purity, self-righteousness, and god or messiah complexes. Let us begin.

Morality is a complex topic, especially when considering the plethora of religious philosophies or ideologies exist. Religious philosophies usually establish moral codes to base these actions on, while those of secular nature will establish moral or ethical codes based off of real-world experiences, goals of said ideologies, or perhaps out of a fear of outside outcomes. In the case of the Xyphokonic Order, our codes were established by the Lords of the Order itself immediately after Deceptuary’s first rebellion—aptly to establish order. We, as Xyphoites and Xyphodes, follow these codes because we support the Order, its goals, our devotion to the Lords, and to serve our own personal ambitions which line up with those goals. So, it is logical to assume that a Xyphoite would believe the moral codes of the Order; we act on that code in our personal actions and our collective action in the Ordinance.

But do we, as a collective or individually, act on these for others? In short, silently, so long as it isn’t done out of a sense of moral superiority and out of preventing sufferings when applicable. A Xyphoite may stand up for someone who is being attacked by a theigrited assault, not because they see themselves as a moral savior, but because the assault is an act of uncalled evil and our code dictates that we should help prevent the suffering; we, of course, would not mention that our actions are of Xyphoist origin.

At the same time, while we may be personally disgusted in the assailant’s theigrited attack, we are not going to indulge in our own hubris or moral judgement. Luckily, at least in our current location, secular laws will generally cover the consequences for any such assault, although not always.

But then it comes to the point where people take their moral code, however they come to it, and anoint themselves to a status beyond that of everyone else. Not only will they place themselves on a moral pedestal, they will absolve themselves of all consequence or accountability, cast judgement, and will justify all their actions or lack of based on the self-concocted idea that they are morally better than others.

This moral overzealousness is immoral under Xyphoist Philosophy, and covers three of the seven main Acts of Immorality while accounting for the catalyst of Hubris.

Starting at the root, Hubris is innately the greatest shortcoming of most beings but particularly true of Humanity. We are a grouping of mortals who are respectively not the center of all attention. Xyphoites recognize that Humans are significantly less spiritually powerful than Shianikis, and that we are accepting of this reality. It is not that we are weak or incapable, but our spirituality is simply not the same as other types of mortals. The cancerous obsession with human-centric focus—that being that we Humans are the sole or main focus of all of existence, that we are special or “chosen,” or that we should be anointed as the focus of all cause—is one of the leading causes of Hubris among Humans. Humility is a key factor in being a Xyphoite; we don’t place our existence on a pedestal or demand that others revere us as humans.

We accept that Hubris is innately built into our being; we are tasked with keeping it in check less we suffer the consequences of our overzealous action.

This is where the critical problem of moral narcissism comes in. People of all creeds will create this perfect pedestal, this moral superiority complex, and cause havoc and ruin to all those around them and themselves in the process. The most obvious examples are usually religious in nature; religious sects will push their philosophy onto to others, often times with legal or violent force, and cause wars or conflicts that are directly related to religious fighting or heavily fueled by it.

But secular ideologies and groups are not immune. This is very common among political factions and groups, militant groups, other forms of social philosophies and the like. People will group together into camps, surround themselves with likeminded people, reinforce their moral narcissism among each other, and then disseminate out to enact their moral judgement to others. This is proselytizing, a sin in Xyphoist Philosophy.

While it’s never not taken place, we live in an era where information can be spread so fast that we witness moral narcissism ad nauseum; technological advances, the internet, social media, broadcast media, all move moral narcissism so fast it becomes overwhelming. This oversaturation sends people down paths of madness, swirling in their own ideology with no check to the madness. People will be goaded to do or say things they may even consider unethical in separation in the name of this moral narcissism. They may FEEL they are doing a good or moral action, but often it turns out they are actually acting on self-righteousness to bolster their own internal wants.

So then, why would this be against Xyphoist Philosophy? And why should we, as Xyphoists, ensure we do not fall to this same Hubris. How can we prevent ourselves from slipping into the same madness?

First, these actions go against the Sins of Worldly Self-Obsession, Sin of Self-Righteous Punishment, or Sin of Proselytizing. Often, it is all three simultaneously. In order to fall into a state of moral narcissism, usually referred to as a god-complex or a messiah-complex, one would have to be obsessed in the validity of themselves enough to anoint themselves and their actions as morally superior to others. Just the audacity to push judgement openly onto someone else is narcissistic in nature. It is one circumstance to, in private, voice judgements or discontent with others’ moral choices, but to take those private moral judgements and openly cast them upon the public as though you were handpicked from a higher authority to act as an emissary or believe you are the divinity yourself is an act of incredible self-obsession.

It’s clear by now for our readers and Xyphoites that proselytizing is a grave sin. Self-righteous action comes with the territory of preaching and proselytizing to others; the key factor is that these moral judgements are not being kept private and very much are being forced without consent to others.

The Sin of Belligerent Force can apply if this proselytizing is done through belligerent force, naturally. And that would then immediately slide into the final Sin of Self-Righteous Punishment—the act of punishing someone using a moral judgement based of their status or actions, especially through institutional force, violence, intimidation, or threatening actions.

In every sense, moral narcissism or moral superiority is antithetical to Xyphoist Philosophy; one cannot be a Xyphoite and conduct themselves this way for it blatantly commits a myriad of clearly laid-out sins. The Lords were very explicit on these immoral acts. While much of our actions are liberated, the Lords stated that in order to be part of this Order, one should avoid these specific actions, and that each action will cause a spiritual rot that will cast one to Gheisialez as a result. The actions are themselves toxic to the Self and will rot a being from the inside out.

Of course, we as Xyphoites speak freely of our moral codes here in spaces considered Sacred Grounds, but this moral discussion sticks within our walls to our own, not to be pushed or brought to outside these spaces unless explicated wanted or desired or asked for.

Hubris is a hell to combat in our Human status, and it’s very easy to fall into feeling superior or wanting to cast overzealous judgement, but we as Xyphoites have a duty to refrain from those darkest and most toxic of impulses, as such actions are antithetical to our own philosophy in nearly every way possible.

—phX, jzX, kyX, crX