Internal Pacifism

Internal Pacifism is one pillar of the Children of Helia's ethnic and national ethos. Put simply, it states that the Children of Helia shall never go to war with each other, and further extends to a general desire to minimize war and violence.

History

Internal pacifism started with the First Thousand of the aven species during the Terran Renewal. At Helia's urging they set down rules which they desired all future avens to follow, chief among them was this one.

The reasoning behind it is readily apparent: The first avens took one look at human history and its legacy of war and bloodshed, and were rightfully horrified, resolving to keep their own species from traveling down a similar path.

When Helia engineered more species, internal pacifism was extended to cover them. The sphinx have taken it so far that they do not bother to write it down, considering it self-evident to any civilized sapience.

Principles

In its strictest form, this custom forbids war between groups of Helians. The terminology is considered critical: while there have indeed been no Helian wars or civil wars, during the Second Interstellar Period there were conflicts and battles between the main Helian nation, the Central Authority, and other Starweb which had avens as citizens, on account of prior emigration. This is not considered a breach of internal pacifism, as the avens in question had little control over the opposing government, detested the war and called for peace, and did not participate in it.

An aven, sphinx, chiran, or other Child of Helia enlisting in the military of a human nation is thus considered borderline taboo; only with the formation of multinational armed forces such as the Star Patrol did this attitude change. (The thinking being the Helians will never do something so bad the Stellar Compact must intervene with force against them.)
Contrary to a somewhat common misconception, internal pacifism does not oblige Helians to surrender when attacked, or to never fight wars period. Defensive wars are considered sad but necessary, and they had a military force during the Second Interstellar Period, the Permanent Militia, which fought numerous conflicts with non-Helian polities. Helian soldiers are their oldest and richest—having benefited the most from their society, they should be first in line to defend it.

Extensions

Individuals

The principles of internal pacifism are considered to extend down as far to interactions between individuals, forbidding the striking of blows or use of weapons in anger, though obviously no species with a capability for evil could ever fully live up to this. Still, violent crime in the Central Authority is very low. Weapons are considered to have no place in Helian society outside of non-functional replicas and historical curios, carrying or owning one is illegal without proper authorization and sufficient reason. Military service is rarely spoken of, a good response to learning of it would be "I'm sorry," as being involved in war is considered deeply traumatic. They know there are cultures out there where violence and war are considered glorious, but can't quite wrap their heads around why anyone would want to believe that.

Non-Helians

The Children of Helia consider themselves perfectly willing to extend this non-violence to other species, it's just that few take them up on it. In the past they were quick to declare neutrality and offer non-aggression pacts when others began fighting. In modern times the marsi, uplifted possums originally created by the American Federation as a servant race, have begun adopting internal pacifism as they devise a culture for themselves.

Enemies

Even in war, it did not entirely cease to apply. Even enemy soldiers are considered victims in a sense that, at least among humans, many are young men brainwashed by some old rich elite to throw their lives away for some specious "cause". In the past, Helians have gone out of their way to avoid engaging with an enemy's regular forces and instead targeted their leadership, to whom they assigned ultimate moral culpability, with extreme prejudice. Surrendered enemy soldiers and POWs will be treated with respect if they disavow their government's participation in war. A Helian soldier will consider it regrettable to kill even a single counterpart in the trenches, but downright laudable to launch a bomb into the ruler's palace. They have no regard for the notion that officers or nobility are somehow more deserving of rights or moral weight than the common soldier, and will happily demonstrate their utter contempt for this idea if given half the chance.