Reality versus Religion ~ The Absent Question Mark
Dimension
Image is by Courtesy of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) depicting Philae descending to the Comet from the Mothership Rosetta.
All rights reserved to NASA
OUR SETTING
Taking the Scene depicted by Daniel
in the Book of Daniel Chapter Seven Verse Nine
and
also depicted by the Apostle John
in the Book of Revelation Chapter Eight Verse One
Great Thrones were set in place
Personages entered
The Most High
Ancient of Days
The Books were opened
and the Court was seated
[i]
and there was silence in the Universe
for at least half of one hour
in the manner that Humankind measures time
[ii]
ACT ONE
Scene I
I Stand Before the Court of Universal Opinion
And I Petition on Behalf of Nature no less
The Court is now in Session
Tell me please
What is real
What is fiction
What is actual
What is allegory
Who existed in reality
Who existed in the mind only
Scene II
How does religion deal with science
How can the Ark have actually happened
How true is that subterranean imprint on Mount Ararat
How true are the eight great stone weights strewn around the mountainside
How accurate is that Eight
Scene III
How true is the finding of chariots within coral
on the bed of the Red Sea
Scene IV
What enables us to separate historical fact
from whimsical thinking
History from Folk Lore
Folk Lore from Myth
ACT TWO
Scene I
Thwarted minds implore
Our return
To liberty truth and justice
But as defined by medieval thinking
To the Darkest Age of humankind
Scene II
I warrant thus: [ii]
That this satanic interpretation
is now Accentuated by a quiet landing
330 million miles distant
A mere decade’s distance
A triumph of humanity and true justice
An indelible imprint on this
Scarred and war-torn planet
A coaxing, from Higher Intelligence
To become real
To cast off backwardness
A demand even : desist immediate!
This violence and genocide
So say, in the Name of The Creator
I warrant further that my use of the term ‘satanic’ is, respectfully, pejorative
ACT THREE
Scene I
Will You give us all an answer please
Not in the habit of religions
But in the manner that convicts us
~ Your Spirit with our spirits
~ Your Soul with our souls
Scene II
I know You argue Freewill
But we need assistance from You
And this argument of Freewill …
I’m a lawyer, so permit me just a moment …
Is this Argument from You
or is it the lesser reasoning of mere Humankind
Uncountable millennia ago
Scene III
For I warrant this Universal Court
that nothing has ever entered Your Mind
It is too great a burden
to place upon Humankind
You simply would not do it
I warrant further
That you are not in the least interested
ACT FOUR
Scene I
The Session Adjourns
This Session is now Adjourned
To humankind it seems
a million years in its deliberation!
In reality twas but one second
of time in the manner to which humankind
is able to measure ‘time’
Scene II
The Session Reconvenes
This Session is NOW reconvened
Thank You SO much for revealing
Your Omni-Science
Your Omni-Presence
Your Omni-Potence
in the small matter of
Rosetta
Philae
and a ten year tootle
across some outer edge
of This Magnificent Universe...
Scene III
Just open our minds will You
Move us away from disbelief
and chasing silly notions
Show us in Your Own Time …
… for yes, forgive me,
but even I’ve managed to work out
that You stand Outside Time …
… Yourself in a way that
each and every person
old and young
will realise each in their own peculiar way
that it is You
The Higher Who
speaks to our heart
collectively and separately
You the reason and cause of Nature
Humankind believes that Nature is subordinate,
merely created for Humankind
I warrant that you are of no mind nor interest
Species come and species go
I warrant that the defining line is Nature
Nature brings forth species
Nature removes species
A perennial universal action.
Selah and again Selah
Final Act
You have argued well your case
You have in way offended Us
It is as you testify to Us
Nature is Supreme
Humankind is but an aspect of Nature
A species within Nature
Yes We do indeed stand outside Time
If We could not
Then Nothing as you know and perceive would even exist.
Go on your way.
All Rights Reserved
2 July 2025
Liverpool and Gloucestershire
Composed 12 November 2014 and last published 20 July 2021
© 2025 Kenneth Thomas Webb © 2025 Ian Bradley Marshall
Citations
[i] Daniel 7 : 9
[ii] Revelation 8 : 1
Ken Webb is a writer and proofreader. His website, kennwebb.com, showcases his work as a writer, blogger and podcaster, resting on his successive careers as a police officer, progressing to a junior lawyer in succession and trusts as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, a retired officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and latterly, for three years, the owner and editor of two lifestyle magazines in Liverpool.
He also just handed over a successful two year chairmanship in Gloucestershire with Cheltenham Regency Probus.
Pandemic aside, he spends his time equally between his city, Liverpool, and the county of his birth, Gloucestershire.
In this fast-paced present age, proof-reading is essential. And this skill also occasionally leads to copy-editing writers’ manuscripts for submission to publishers and also student and post graduate dissertations.
