"What's shallow is denigrating the importance of beauty," replied Lady Jennifer. "Beauty is what makes life worth living. If life were nothing more than a chemical reaction, then beauty would be irrelevant. The liberal mindset that distains beauty denigrates our society. This kingdom, on the other hand, is dedicated to the celebration of it. A very important aspect for you to be an asset to this kingdom is being beautiful, just as men are required to be handsome.
"There are many ways to become more of a liability than asset to this kingdom, and losing your beauty is one of them. Then the next thing to determine is whether you will be held accountable for it. If we believe that you allowed yourself to lose your beauty, then you are just kicked out. Since you are all women, you will get your buy out price, which can never be lowered, so don't worry about that.
"If you're not held accountable, such as being badly disfigured in a fire, then you'll become a dependant of the kingdom, much like our children, or say the elderly parents of yours that need to be cared for. As a dependant there are many functions of the kingdom you can participate in, but not any of the members-only-parties or balls where we put on display our liberal sexuality.
"This kingdom is not for everyone, and we will never consider it to be one. If you don't like it, then start your own. This kingdom requires beauty, and because of it, in the not too distant future, either my husband or myself will be declared too old to be attractive, then we both will be relegated to dependant status."
"Sounds Harsh," Allison Lilly said, almost to herself.
"Life's harsh," said Lady Jennifer to Allison. "Just like the punishment you will now receive after lunch for not saying Mistress when referencing me."
She then spoke to everyone, "One of the most important aspects of life that you must come to grips with is that not only is life harsh, but that a great deal of misery has been inflicted on mankind by people trying to deny or avoid this fact.
"I look at most peoples' attempts to live easy and conflict free lives and I just have to laugh. Look at me. Next month I'll be sixty years old, and I still have twenty-year-old men desperate to fuck me silly. Do any of you really think I would live a better life if I didn't have this kingdom demanding that I keep myself sexually attractive? Do you think that if I was told that it's OK if I didn't dye my hair, or wear make-up, or stay in shape, or any of the other things people say are nothing but vain activities that I would be happier, or more satisfied with myself? …Hah!
"The day will soon come when twenty-year-old men won't find me attractive, and I'll be asked to leave this kingdom. So what? Those demands that are placed on me have not only empowered me to remain physically young, but spiritually young as well. And when I say spiritually young, I don't mean spiritually immature. As you will one day learn, there is a very wide chasm between these concepts, and it's the expectations placed on you that will allow you to see the difference.
"So yes this kingdom is harsh… …and it is painful. Yet this harshness and pain allows me to live my life to its fullest, and I wouldn't want it any other way."
"Mistress Jennifer?" Lisa Green asked,
"Yes Lisa," she replied.
"Not that I want to, but has anyone else started their own kingdom like this one? I would imagine that people who have been banished would want to. Life in a kingdom like this has its advantages."
"Several have been tried, but only one has succeeded. The failed ones tried to operate under a more forgiving structure, but they all came apart. The biggest mistake they made was in believing that we were wrong to banish them. They felt this kingdom should have given them a second chance, so they created one that would give people another opportunity. The problem is once you give someone a break for one thing, others start to argue that this other thing should also be forgiven, then the whole thing starts to unravel because you don't have a principled ideal to rally around. Forgiveness is essential for the Christian faith, but it is a lousy model to base a kingdom on.
"Convincing a person that a single slip up will mean their dismissal is much better for them. It doesn't allow them to entertain fantasies about how they might be able to get away with unacceptable behavior. It forces them to stay focused on their advancement into enlightened beings, and not backslide, which could evolve into a bad habit.
"The only group that has succeeded in staying together was not made up of banished people. They were people who left our kingdom because they felt we were not strict enough. They look upon themselves as a warrior class, and have modeled themselves on the ancient Spartans. Their original reason to leave as they did was to deal with the supposed Y2K apocalypse. When that didn't materialize, their fevered delusions found new justifications for their existence in the aftermath of 9/11. They are firmly convinced that the American government will capitulate to the islamo-fascists.
"They are a dark and cruel people whom we look upon as nothing more than a motorcycle gang. They cause us a lot of problems, because many government officials believe we are one and the same. They are not as careful about lying low like we do, and attract way too much attention. One of these days there is going to be a confrontation between them and the law that could lead to some terrible ramifications within our own kingdom."
In the pause that followed, Sandra Nelson asked, "Mistress Jennifer?"
"Yes Sandra," she replied.
"Earlier you said that Master Jacob almost kicked Ally out of the kingdom. Would you have let him?"
After gulping down a mouthful of sandwich, Lady Jennifer said, "Let him?" Then after taking a drink of tea, "Sandra, I don't know how to make this more clearer to you. Men rule in this kingdom. There is no 'letting men' do anything. If he had asked my advice before he had made the decision I would have tried to talk him out of it, but once he makes a decision, that's it."
"But Mistress Jennifer…" Sandra continued. "Of course men have strength on their side, but if we women stick together, we can't be forced to do things we know are wrong."
Lady Jennifer paused for a few moments to consider where to go with her response. She finally sighed, then said, "I normally would not consider punishing a girl for just expressing her opinion, but that kind of attitude needs to be nipped in the bud. I think you will be joining Miss Lilly over the arm of the couch for a sound spanking."
Lady Jennifer paused again to think, and then continued, "This is another topic I normally leave until much later, but considering you are about to get punished for it, I think I owe you an attempt at explaining this to you.
"Let me ask you something. If I were to hear about you nagging your husband, and I showed up at your house to administer the kind of belt whipping you're about to get now, what would be my motivation for doing it?"
Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/2s3yhc/next_generation_christian_kingdom_ch07_marcias