Ship’s Notes: The Abjuration of Free Will

Magically binding oaths.  Gestler likes them in principle, but does not agree with this usage of them.  Susana dislikes them in principle, but agrees with this usage of them.  And, of course, I do not need to take them, due to having kept my presence hidden.

Gestler, of course, cares about loyalty, and sees such oaths as a natural extension of the oaths he took to serve me, just stronger.  Who watches the watchers?  I do, for now, but Gestler would rather have his security personnel sworn into my service forever, unable to betray me, unable to abuse their power.

He is, however, opposed to members of the crew swearing to fulfill objectives other than serving me.  He asked me how can a person have two goals, and have those goals be equal?  In the end, he believes, one goal will have to be a higher priority, and with the usage of magic, he fears the higher priority will not be the senior officers serving me.

Susana, on the other hand sees the oaths as opposed to free will.  She notes that it is possible to coerce people into taking oaths, and even oaths that include swearing to not reveal the oath.  And, after that, how can the consent of anyone be confirmed?  She also fears what I think to be the exact same thing as Gestler: How far do the oaths reach?  Do they alter your actions in every aspect of life?  Do they change how you hold conversations, causing you to speak in a way that instrumentally harnesses the resources of others to achieve your sworn goals?

On the other hand, Susana sees this particular oath as worth it.  It is a trust-building measure for her, and there is no overtly harmful language in this oath (partly because she carefully went over the wording of the oath, and changed a variety of things to be safe).  And, of course, we agree that all the aims set forth by the oath are worthy goals that we may as well do anyway.

Of the senior crew, only Gestler refuses to take the oath.  Instead, he would like to swear an oath to serve me.

I could order him to take the oath, but in some ways I agree with him.  What to do?