The Wayists are an interesting counterpoint to the Nietzscheans, since they are all about chooisng to overcome naturea and put morality above it, vs using pseudodarwinianism as a justification for immoral self interested behavior. Was that a deliberate parallel? What was your thinking behind them?
Yes, that parallel was deliberate. The Wayists in general, and Rev Bem in particular, were supposed to provide a kind of morally and spiritually centered philosophy to contrast with Dylan's secular humanist idealism, Beka's pragmatism, and Tyr's egoism.
My thinking about the Wayist is that they were a kind of eclectic, positive, accepting faith that embraced everyone, judged no one, and, on the balance, were a positive force in the universe.
Though I planned to reveal that Waysim too had a dark side. I intended Rev Bem's army of Magog Zealot Warrior Monks to eventually become a very dangerous, and very morally questionable, part of the story. Alas, twas not to be.
