Group #: GOI-004, "The Church of the Broken God"
Membership: Three known factions, ~300,000 worldwide
Resources: USD$1-5 billion annually, anomalous capability
Status: Active
Description: The Church of the Broken God is an anomalous religious organization which
worships mechanization and believes flesh and life to be inherently evil or "broken".
Though its origins are unknown, Broken God-related artifacts have been recovered from archaeological
digs dating back to the Greek Classical period, and church dogma asserts its existence predates
the appearance of life on Earth.
Central to their theology is that their deity has been scattered, dispersed or otherwise
rendered inert.
Through the use of technology, often anomalous, Church followers seek to bring together the
components of the body of God, thereby allowing the Divine a physical form to utilize and
bringing about some sort of techno-organic apotheosis.
Several SCP objects have been attributed to this group since its discovery.
Personnel may reference items indexed under "broken_god" for a restricted list.
The current leader of the oldest extant denomination of "The Broken Church" (GOI-004A) is an individual
identified in records as "His Holiness Robert Bumaro, Builder of the Broken God", who apparently
gained the title in 1946.
Foot note 1: Spanish Nationalist records from 1938 mention a civilian mechanic by the name
of Umberto Bumaro, who received several governmental citations for "Miraculous feats of engineering
and mechanical repair in service to the State".
Whether or not this is the same individual, and his whereabouts during the Second World
War, is unknown.
While this sect continues its efforts to reconstruct their deity, the religion as a whole has at
some time in the past century undergone a major schism.
Two significant breakaway movements from the original church have entered into a major
theological conflict.
The "Cogwork Orthodox Church" (GOI-004B) espouses a form of literal religious iconography known
as "Standardization", whereby adherents submit to anomalous mechanical enhancement with the
stated goal of remaking themselves in the image or plan of their deity.
Due to the extent of their mechanical augmentation, members of this sect often emit audible ticking
or tapping sounds, and have been referred to disparagingly as "Tickers" by members of
the other two sects.
Cogwork Orthodoxy deliberately adheres to technological norms of the late Industrial
Revolution, and regard the mass-production of analogue, steam and clockwork-driven machinery
as a form of prayer.
Orthodoxy doctrine is highly centralized and regulated by a group of unknown composition,
known as the Patriarchs.
This body issues detailed production orders and design documents, which form the core
of the group's extremely extensive holy writ.
Orthodox belief decries the use of electronic or digital devices, and views distributed
information sharing and decentralization as tantamount to the dissolution of divine knowledge.
The "Church of Maxwellism" (GOI-004C) represents a modernized, computation and network oriented
means of worship.
No central organizing church body is known to exist.
However, interviews and covert surveillance has determined that all known cells are in
regular contact with one another, and capable of coordination.
Maxwellists favour small-scale body modification through the use of advanced cybernetics and
organ enhancement.
While artificial limbs or reinforced skeletons have been observed, Maxwellist implants focus
primarily on communication, data storage, and networking capabilities, and sensory enhancement.
Maxwellist doctrine interprets the Broken God as a "fragmented" deity, which exists
as disparate data present in the linked technology and cultural zeitgeist of the digital age.
Worshipers approach the divine by embracing their unique traits and sharing their knowledge
and capacity for the good of the collective Church.
By connecting all minds through computer networks, they believe their deity can be "recompiled"
as the aggregate will of humanity.
Due to their use of computer fan noise as a meditative aid, members are often referred
to as "Hummers" by members of the other two factions.