Religion had always been a contentious topic amongst men, still is. Some extremists have been known to deprecate such beliefs in an egregious manner, while others secretly formed societies that excoriate such faiths lest they be caught and tried and most repeal the actions of such men.
Adler was no such entity. He has witnessed enough sunrises and sunsets to understand the raw beauty of nature. He has often been enthralled by colourful rainbows or felt the the gushing force of waterfalls; the sheer magnificence of nature present yet ever elusive, it was like holding water with his bare hands.
Thus when he was called upon to defend his childhood friend in court, for he had been hauled up; his public speech of blasphemy; he had been shocked. Will he pull himself and Luke out of this seemingly intractable quandary or will they both perish in this uphill battle, for the law was simple; blasphemy equates capital punishment.
"In being present, are you implying that you are of the same mind as your blasphemous friend here?" the judge had asked.
"Your honor, in saying so, are you suggesting that i am as publicly didactic as him when it comes to objurgating the presence of God?" stammered Adler.
"Yes," answered the judge, at the same time as Adler ended his question, though he looked slightly appalled.
With a mischievous grin on his face this time, "Then no, your Honor." The judge stared at Adler for a split second and continued on, a little more ardently.
"Adler pray tell me, are you an atheist yourself?" inquired the judge with a slightly derisive snort, for he knew he has cornered Adler; the attention of the court segued towards Adler now instead of the wrongdoer, Luke.
The silence which followed lasted a moment before Adler nodded and mouthed his answer.
"Your honor, i live a troubled life. My ma is sick, and my da recently passed. I have a little brother and an even younger sister. I work two shifts a day earning a meager sum barely enough to feed the hunger of my siblings. And my ma; after my work, i have to travel a slight journey into the mountain to collect herbs and flowers that would strengthen my ma's health and in so doing, cure her of her disease. So for me, i need something more, more than the comfort of God, to grant me the will to live on and help my family get its substantive needs to survive, especially during this winter season. I have never in my life denounce the presence of a higher entity but do you not see, that i need something more, way more than that to help maintain me and my family's existence in this vast world?"
A soft gasp of awe flowed across the members of the floor. Now all looked back at the judge for what he has to say. With no intent of slowing down his frenetic pace, the judge's strident voice carried on.
"This is no political meeting. So spare us your demagoguery, if you may. Answer me then since you seem so sure of yourself. Do you frequent churches to fi-" Before the judge could finish someone shouted from the back.
"Oh give the boy a break you fool. He barely has enough time to work and aid his frail mother, not to mention feed his siblings and now you are reprimanding him for not attending church services! Have you no heart and empathy?!" A plaudit followed until the guards quietened the now galvanized crowd in the court.
A look of irrevocable intransigence formed on the judge's face as he frantically dictated, " The next imbecile who opens his mouth uninvited shall face ten whips along with these two boys." The whole court was engulfed in silence.
"Now tell me what of your friend? What do you have to say about his blasphemous way? Does he have a sick mother and siblings to feed too? Does he work 10 shifts a day?" his questions now enveloped in anger.
"As a matter of fact, your Honor, his situation is worse than mine but before that. Can i, with all due respect, ask, if whether the accuser has any veritable proof to show what my friend here has done?" Adler's tone seemed unchanged despite all that has transcended.
"Oh you do not have to worry, i have here many witnesses who have exclaimed that they heard what he said-"
"Words only? your Honor. No burning of churches, no beating of faithful followers, no-"
"YES words only but words are enough to show evidence that he denies the existence of God-"
"Then your Honor i have here a palatable explanation to Luke's recalcitrant mannerism toward God and authority, if i may." Adler looked up towards the judge with an ingratiating smile. Without waiting for an answer, Adler continued.
"Unlike me, Luke's father died in war a long time back. And his ma had ran away with another man, leaving him in an orphanage home. We would have thought that he would be well taken care of. On the contrary, he was bullied, by the other children there for he was the youngest. Thus there has never been a day passed where he had stopped questioning God why his father was taken away from him at such an early tender age and why his mother had deserted him just when he needed her the most. Overtime your Honor, these feelings blossomed into a deeply etched hatred, albeit misconstrued. And that is the case that we are all looking at here. Furthermore my friend has never been good with words, a fact supported by the lack of proper guidance since young. He tends to favour emotional talk rather than rationally constructed conversations. Therefore i believe what Luke had on his mind were questions - formed from hurt and disappointment for God has 'taken' away from him what every child should have at such an age; and he failed to understand that sometimes, God works indiscriminately and that his da's death was no punishment nor unfortunate event - which came out wrongly in the ears of the beholders you have your Honor. So the truth of the matter remains which is that he believes in God but fails to understand why this happened to him"
The court burst into applause.
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