Dune: Appendix II Summary & Analysis

This appendix details the origins and history of “the religion of Dune” before the coming of Muad’Dib.

Firstly, the narrator describes the dominant religious faiths in the Imperium before Muad’Dib’s ascendancy to the Imperial throne. The widespread followers of the Fourteen Sages follow the Orange Catholic Bible’s teachings. There are also many Ancient Teachings practiced widely and based on Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu origins. The Bene Gesserit order is an elite sisterhood founded on religious mysticism and ritual. There is also an agnostic ruling class who view religion as a tool to distract the masses.

There is a fifth religion that stands on its own: space travel. Early interstellar travel troubled ancient notions of Creation, with Genesis re-interpreted to ensure belief of God could exist alongside findings from space exploration. At this time, “sorceresses” also began to gain real power.

The Butlerian Jihad is one of the most significant events in the Imperium’s history. It was sparked by religious and political outrage over “the god of machine-logic” and resulted in the destruction of and total ban of all computers and similar “thinking machines.”

In the aftermath of the violent crusade, religious leaders came together to discuss their beliefs. The agnostic Guild, beginning to gain influence through its growth toward a monopoly over space travel, attended such meetings. So did the Bene Gesserit, who were networking with the sorceresses.

From these meetings, it was agreed that all religions had a common mandate that “thou shalt not disfigure the soul.” The Commission of Ecumenical Translators was also formed as a result of the meetings, with representatives from all the major religious faiths. Its purpose was to prevent aggressive religious forces from using the weapon of “the claim to possession of the one and only revelation.” However, the Commission proved ineffective and soon became a ridiculed organization throughout the Imperium.

Some years later, the Commission of Ecumenical Translators stated that it was producing a book in its efforts to prevent a religious crusade such as the Butlerian Jihad from occurring again. However, their statement that “We are producing an instrument of Love to be played in all ways” resulted in violent riots that killed close to eighty million people. The narrator explains that these events reflect the Imperium’s “psychological tone” and “deep uncertainties” in “striving for something better, plus the fear that nothing would come of it all.” Only the stability of the Guild, the Bene Gesserit, and the Landsraad prevented total lawlessness.

Despite the unrest, the Commission of Ecumenical Translators spent seven years developing a great text. Finally, they revealed the completed Orange Catholic Bible and its Commentaries as “a way to make humanity aware of itself as a total creation of God.” Reception to the Orange Catholic Bible was at first enormously successful, and the Commission became revered rather than ridiculed. The Orange Catholic Bible spread throughout the universe. However, when the Commision’s delegates returned to their respective congregations, many were killed and even more recanted. The Orange Catholic Bible was accused as a text produced by “the hubris of reason”; numerous changes were made to the text to indulge popular bias.

The Commission of Ecumenical Translators Chairman Toure Bomoko admitted that the Commission had failed to prevent ancient narrow-minded religious beliefs from causing harm that could escalate into another violent crusade. He stated that the Commission should not have tried to produce new religious symbols, or “introduce uncertainties into accepted belief,” because this was doomed to fail.

Turning to consider Muad’Dib, the narrator relates the different ways that various groups in the Imperium prophesized and explained his practically unchecked religious and cognitive powers. Muad’Dib likely met such success within Fremen culture because of the Arrakis inhabitants’ reliance on religious superstitions due to their harsh desert lifestyles.