“We got called to a village. Al Qaeda was sort of on the run in the whole region. The sheiks had turned on them. Regular US units were combing out most of the hold-outs, then the ISF would back-fill. One of the US units in the area had been patrolling through the area and found…the village. And they said ‘It’s clear’ and went on. And it was.”
“Al Qaeda had cleared it,” Attie said.
“Thoroughly,” Randell said. “Every living being in the village was dead. Men, women, children. The dogs and the donkeys. We got to bury the bodies. The company commander was a Kurd. Good guy, spoke a little English. I couldn’t figure out how he could be so… The ISF guys weren’t taking it well, but they were so calm about it. I wasn’t. I was screaming to God. The CO told me I had to calm down. He was right that I was setting a bad example. But I asked him how anyone could do something like that? Kill everybody? Hell, even in My Lai there were troops that protected people. There was no indication of that in Al Qar. And his answer?”
“They believed in God,” Barbara said.
“They believed that God told them it was not only right, it was demanded,” Randell said. “‘They believe in God. So anything that they do is right.’ So you could sort of say I had an epiphany. Mrs. Everette, I don’t care if it offends you. There ain’t no God. There’s only the Devil playing at being nicey-nice. God is shit. Do I believe there’s something greater? Oh, yeah. And it’s hell and Satan and that’s the whole ball of wax. It’s nothing but a giant sham to make people do stuff that no human should do to another. Allah and God and Yahweh are all just posers, the same damned-and I use that term with interest-fuckers that all need to just go away and leave us the hell alone!”
“Oh,” Barb said.
“So if God is so high and mighty, how come we have to crawl through this stinking cave to fight these things?” Randell asked. “How come He doesn’t just blast them from on high? How come people had to die so we’d even know they were there? How come those people had to die and those women have to go through what they’re going through? Why, Mrs. Everette? If ‘God is love,’ then why?”
“I could give you the doctrinal answer,” Barb said. “But I don’t think it would make you any happier. Probably upset you more. So…You may feel as you feel, believe as you believe, and I’ll believe as I believe. Suits?”
“Not really,” Randell said. “But I don’t think I’m going to sway you, either.”
“I’m interested,” Attie said. “What is the doctrinal answer?”
“Most people say ‘free will,’ but that’s the children’s Sunday School answer,” Barb said. “Are we anywhere near out of this stuff?”
“Nope,” Attie said, shining a light ahead. “Still a couple of hundred feet, minimum.”
“Sugar,” Barb said. “The actual doctrinal answer goes back to the Fall of Man. The Garden of Eden thing. Part of the separation after the Fall of Angels was that they weren’t confined to Hell, they were confined to Earth. One of the reasons for the fall, according to some pretty good Apocrypha, was that God had created Man ‘in his own image,’ which was what caused that particular rebellion. There were three or four Falls, depending on which texts you believe. But there’s a lot of debate about what ‘in His own image’ means. The fundamental answer is, God is a great big fat guy with a beard. Or at least human looking. The more logical explanation, and the one that fits the translation of the word ‘image’ best, is probably sentience. That is, humans can think, plan and make decisions completely on their own. They can choose to do good or ill. Thus ‘free will.’”
“So what about angels?” Janea asked, fascinated.
“Angels seem to be more like AIs,” Barb said. “Same with demons. They’re programmed to do certain things and that’s that. The more complex they are, the higher in the hierarchy, the more things they can do. But they don’t have free will. If we ever get to the point of being able to actually study them, and I hope we never can, I think that’s what they’ll find. That angels are simply very complicated computer programs. Seen that way, the Fall was something like a corrupted program or a computer virus.”
“That’s not a very believer approach,” Attie said, surprised.
“Depends on how much of a thinking believer you are,” Barb said. “Nothing in that violates any of the Scriptures. It’s just a more advanced way of translating them. Possibly not advanced enough, but probably closer to the truth of the reality. The people who were first trying to understand the Fall didn’t have our level of technology. They couldn’t conceive of a thinking engine like a computer. The point is that both demons and Man were put on earth. God’s apparent intent was to let Man rule the earth, possibly even over demons. Maybe get them back in shape or something.”
“Okay, now,” Janea said. “ That’s very weird.”
“Fits with the scriptures,” Barb said. “Angels are not a higher form. Neither are demons, which are simply corrupted angels. Man is the next highest form after God. Angels are lesser than we, because we have souls. We have sentience. They don’t. The Creation in the Sistine Chapel got that just right. Angels are lower in the mural than Man. Man is the next creation after God.”
“So what happened?” Attie asked.
“Well, the apple thing,” Barb said, laughing slightly. “Women messed it up, according to the accepted texts. Basically, humans rebelled. God said, ‘This is your paradise and all you have to do is not eat of the fruit.’ There’s big debate about what ‘eating of the fruit’ really means. Did we invent agriculture? Writing? Philosophy that rejected the notion of God? But, whatever we did, we upset Him. To the point where he threw us out of the Garden and onto the Earth. Which was the province of demons. So we’re stuck here with the other rebels. This is our Guantanamo.”
“So I was right,” Randell said. “This is Hell.”
“If it were hell, there would be no chance for redemption,” Barb said.
“The thing being that, by our actions, by our faith, and through the intercession of his Son Jesus, we’ve got a chance to get off of this plane of sorrow and bask in His light for eternity. Through love and good works by some choices of faith. Simply by being and not being terrible by determinism. Through confession and being in a state of Grace, according to Jordan. I’m of the informed opinion that if you sufficiently worship your weapons, keep them well, protect the innocent, do not let fear overtake you and die well in battle you’re okay, too. For that matter, ‘an firstly do ye no harm’ seems to work, as does Buddhism, which isn’t even a religion, and the more positive aspects of Hinduism. I have met people that God clearly has touched who come from faiths so divergent from, well, Primitive Baptist, it’s hard to see the connection. Janea is the priestess of a goddess of sex , and God has given her power through my connection to Him. God is love. All the rest is dross. And to find Him all you need to do is truly love. And whenever two or more are gathered in the name of Love, which is His name, then He is there. Janea could probably argue that two people having loving, joyous sex are worshipping God.”
“I was just about to point that out,” Janea said.
“God is on my side,” Randell sang sarcastically. “Still doesn’t explain the demons.”
“But free will does,” Barb said. “Demons, or these Old Ones that I will admit have some non-demonic aspects, need the intercession of humans. God gives us that choice. We can choose to be good, we can choose to be evil or we can do what most of us do, which is muddle along in the middle. But the reason that God does not strike these things down from on high is that He expects His followers to take care of things. Which is exactly why we are here. Humans brought these things into being, and humans, with the help of God-as the evil humans had the help of demonic agencies-are to set things to rights. God helps those that help themselves, if you will. Or would you rather a God who held your hand while you sucked your thumb in a corner?”
“Point,” Randell said.
“The actual point is, Special Agent, that even if you reject God, God does not reject you. If you love and do not hate, if you live by His basic precepts, the Golden Rule, if you will, then you are good. His forgiveness, even for rejecting Him, is infinite.”
“So you’re saying that if I live a good life I’m doomed to play a harp for all eternity?” Randell said. “No, thank you.”
“The harp motif is so fourteenth century,” Janea said. “Back then most people worked hard from sun to sun and died young. Sitting around all the time and not having to work for their food was the only thing they could imagine as paradise. Valhalla isn’t playing a harp. We Asatru are called to battle. I mean, like I told Barb, I tried out Astari, which is all nonviolent and whole-grain goodness, and got really bored. Which is why I’m Asatru. Give us a harp and we’ll try to eat it. Give us a battle and stand back. The afterlife is what you are called to. I know a person who’s pretty certain it’s the chance to meet and talk with people like Da Vinci. Although I think the line of geeks is going to be sort of long.”
