Chapter 2 - September
The school’s founder was a devout religious man who passionately believed that the word of God was the surest way to instill impressionable young adults with a sense of discipline, structure, and moral character. Religion was ingrained in the school’s ethos and participating in Sunday church services was a long honored tradition. Students were expected to attend a Sunday service of their choice to nurture an educate the soul. I’d always felt a visceral disdain towards the preposterous notion of organized religion and anyone who imposed their beliefs or exposed moral judgment on behalf of God, or Jesus or Mohamed or the Bible or The Koran or The Torah, or any other theological dogma contrived by man’s obsessive need to rationalize the inexplicable reason for being.
I cornered Burke after class in early September in an attempt to convince him that I should be exempted from having to attend church.
“I’m sorry Ryan, but it’s part of the curriculum and it’s mandatory. Have you found a good church yet that you like?”, he asked.
“Like? Well, that’s relative in terms of one’s beliefs but I did tag along with some other kids last Sunday to the United Methodist Church on Main Street.”
“That’s a fine place of worship. In fact, our school’s founder was a Methodist. May I inquire as to why you feel that you should be exempt?”, Burke said.
I cleared my throat and took a deep breath before unleashing an unrelenting, acerbic barrage at Burke.
“The sheer audacity and hubris of mankind to view themselves of such consequence in the grand order of things and the ludicrous belief that some omnipresent, supreme being endowed with unimaginable super powers, woke up one morning with the notion to create a superior life form in his own image and the incomprehensible vastness of the Universe with its infinite stars, and planets, and galaxies, and fundamental laws of physics, and everything that we’ve ever known or pondered or questioned or accepted as a construct of reality. But as miraculous and preposterous as that sounds, our reality and existence took no less than a mere seven days to complete. Seven days to create the wondrous complexity and the mystery of life. Unbelievable, right? It’d be truly comical if not for the unfortunate fact that millions of misguided imbeciles throughout history have fervently subscribed to the narrative, in one form or another - depending on its efficacy - to justify the brutal, senseless slaughter of those deemed sinners, and non believers, and obstacles to truth, and power, and authority, and dominance, and unquestionable obedience. Two millennium of madness unleashed on the world because mankind was told to incontrovertibly believe and trust in the notion of God, and stone tablets, and burning bushes, and miracles, and resurrection. Pause for a moment, and seriously contemplate who or what created the being that created God, and who created the being that created the being that created God?”, I said.
Burke’s pale pasty face began to uncontrollably twitch and contort into a disfigured fiery ball of rage as he squinted, and frowned, and growled in an attempt to intimidate and shame me for speaking my truth. It didn’t work, of course. No, his reaction only served to embolden me with a sense of triumph and supremacy against unquestioned ignorance and intolerance. But as much as I wanted to savor my win, it was undeniable that Burke and I had embarked into the great unknown on a Crusade of Conviction.
Burke looked at me with a condescending and contemptuous gaze that I was goaded into holding up a blank piece of paper and challenged him to rationally explain how the Universe was seemingly created from nothing.
“Ryan, who are we to ask such impertinent questions? The Bible explains God’s virtuous act of creation.”
I looked at him skeptically and scoffed.
“Ryan, it’s not our place to question the word of God but to have faith and believe in a higher power. You’re too young to fully comprehend and appreciate such matters so my advice is for you to listen and learn from adults until you’re old enough to from a coherent opinion,” Burke said.
“I believe that it’s my right to question you, and God, and the Universe! I’m simply curious and want to better understand what the hell is happening. If I’m expected to merely accept what everyone says as truth and reality, then why bother going to school to learn? For example, take you, and me, and Earth. In the grand scheme of things, we’re insignificant and inconsequential among the incomprehensible vastness of everything everywhere. Did you know that in 4.5 billion years, Andromeda is going to collide into the Milky Way? In the unlikelihood that man survives the collision, then it’ll he’ll still be exterminated when the Sun burns itself out in 7.5 billion years. Don’t fool yourself. We’re not special or chosen. We’re simply the consequence of billions of years of chaos and improbable chance outcomes that resulted in our creation on a little blue planet floating in a vast black sea teaming with an infinite number of other planets that, in all probability, also harbor intelligent beings who gaze up at the night sky and ponder the origin of life. The notion that we’re alone in the galaxy and that life was miraculously created in seven days is utter nonsense. Where’s your sense of reason or logic or belief in science?”, I said.
