Heretic (The Ten Suggestions)
ARCHIVE EDITOR'S NOTE --- One of the prime comic moments in Heretic, a sequence dripping in sarcastic irony, is when Niki recites The Ten Suggestions - a form of "pledging allegiance" to the philosophy of secularism that is the governing principle of society in the futuristic world of Heretic. Niki rhymes these off in fairly quick monotonistic fashion, in the manner of someone who has learned these by rote in childhood, and in the same way some people zip through "grace" just to get it over with before eating. Some audience members, either due to their location in the theatre or due to background noise, have had difficulty hearing every word of this recitation, and so we have decided to publish it here for everyone to enjoy.
The Ten Suggestions
1) I will never talk on my own, unless it is to myself, nor shall I talk in communion with others as if to some other being or presence beyond this world or in some deeper dimension of it.
2) I will not, either alone or in communion with others, talk with my hands pressed together or my arms raised above me (except at musical, sporting or political events) lest I should mistakenly invoke a sense of a supernatural presence.
3) I will take part in no superstitious rituals unless it is to parody such rituals or to explain them as interesting acts of historical ignorance.
4) I will believe in nothing other than what has been factually proven to be real, or has been commonly agreed as something reasonable to believe in.
5) I will offer no physical, emotional or psychological support to anyone unless I am qualified and adequately insured to do so.
6) I will not knowingly challenge myself or any other in a way likely to cause physical, emotional or intellectual discomfort unless I am qualified and adequately insured to do so.
7) I will not seek to promote the notion that succumbing to temptation is an error of judgement, rather that all desire is reasonable as long as it is within the law.
8) I will not seek to promote the notion that persecution and suffering of martyrdom are confirmation of righteousness.
9) I will not seek to promote the notion that there is a soul or self that can be lost or found, or of birth and death being transitional states of an eternal state of existence.
10) I will embrace and celebrate the contradictory nature of my private and public life.
(The Ten Suggestions ŠNiki McCretton)
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Webpage Last Updated 14 May 2007
