一个无神论者与神的对话 （下）

我与神的对话越来越深入，涉及到科学与宗教的关系，宗教作用和神对人类的期待等等， 没有掩饰，没有夸张。 本人当时就想，宁愿冒犯，也要把真实想法陈述出来。神对每一个问题都作了回答，这些答案有的可以用智慧和常识去领悟，有些则超出了本人的智慧。本人把这一切都仔仔细细的记录下来，也许有着更高智慧的读者能从本人与神明对话里领悟出本人力所不能及的东西。

“Can I conclude hitherto that you don’t have religious preferences?” I ask.

“Do you? ” Mite asks.

“I don’t, I am an atheist.”

“Preference is a favoritism, poisonous and destructive. Sibling strife comes from parental preferences, societal divisions are the result of ruler’s preferences.  I maintain absolute neutrality over the theoretical narratives of me as long as the doctrines are genuinely inspiring.”

I say: “Religious hatred has caused a great pains and sufferings in the human history and the sporadic spots of flaring around the world seems to intensify in recent years. I fear that we are heading to a modern dark age.”

Mite says: “yes, unfortunately. The brushfires were ignited by devotion but the flames are fueled by greed and profligacy disguised as religious passions.”

Darwinism is the deepest convictions to me. In early years of my life, I was actively involved in church activities, but stopped short of being baptized for being unable to reconcile the creationistic doctrines with my Darwinistic believing. The hurdle is intellectually insurmountable. I tell Mite the story and say: “choice is already made, but I would still love to hear your perspectives.”

Mite becomes serious: “Evolutionary theory is an empirical study of the natural adaptive process evidenced by archeological discoveries and other findings. It is a great achievement but with questions unanswered。  The transitional link between maritime lives and amphibious lives  is the missing link. This problem has been criticized scientifically and religiously. In 1990s on your calendar, fossils of the species called Tiktaalik were discovered and partial links were built, but not conclusively. Darwinism itself is a work-in-progress. Science and religions are evolving over time.”

I ask: “you mean religions shall evolve along with scientific developments?”

“Yes,” says Mite. He snaps his fingers to the sentinels. The guards open the doors of the small rooms, all of them. I see one person in each room, dressed in ancient attire, writing manuscripts on cloth paper rolling down to the floor, very long. These people look familiar, but I can’t remember their names. I turn to Mite: “are they amanuensis? ”

“They are saints, messengers or intellectuals of great influences in the human history. They have been working continuously for thousands of years to annotate human enlightenments.”

I look for Confucius but am unable to identify him.

 
I watch these great souls solemnly: “They are giants!” I say to Mite.

It is time for the most interesting and challenging question: “do you answer prayers?”

Mite pauses for a few second, raises his head, thoughtfully: “I hear every prayer from everywhere at all times. But only answer pious and sincere cries for spiritual guide and comfort. Calls for help are answered collectively. I never leave empirical evidences behind for you people to trace the grace.”

I say:“are you suggesting that human beings should become self-reliant and solve problems on their own?”

Mite says: “I am not suggesting, I am challenging human brains to explore the expanse of universe I created for their own benefits, philosophically, religiously, scientifically and technologically. Use whatever methodologies applicable and available, no restrictions. Your curiosity in macrocosm and microcosm does not impose a slightest threat or sacrilege to my supremacy. Environmental problems shall be solved ecologically, health problems neurologically, gynecologically, orthopedically, surgically, so on and so forth. When you enter an impasse, a dead end, exhausted, desperate, you come to religions for spiritual rescues and inspirations.”

I say: “There is a British philosopher called Francis Bacon who summarized it beautifully in the sixteenth century. Let me quote it for you: ‘It is true, that a little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion.’”

Mite says: “well said indeed. There are brilliant human brains who proved to be closer to me than his fellows. They are human lighthouses built on my divinity power.”

I ask: “Can you name one?”

Mite doesn’t  hesitate, “Albeit Einstein. He blends science and imagination seamlessly to discover a relative realty of a universe of absorbing time and warping space, a close proxy of the Cosmo of my creating.”

I am ostensibly delighted. Einstein is known as agnostic, skeptical of any deity. Mite’s acknowledgement of Einsten’s scientific achievement proves that he is fair-minded.

I ask: “Any advice to the everlasting political saga on earth? ”

Mite says: “Solve your differnce wisely!. It is a wish, but this wish has gone to deaf ears. Miseries and sufferings caused by political strife are the results of human own stupidity. It is not my curse and I am saddened by it. It is a painful learning process for human beings and I choose not to intervene. ”

I ask: “Is there an afterlife? ”

Mite voice becomes stern: “You are nosy!” Seeing me staring at the brightness behind him, he knows I looking for my mother and my grandmother, his voice softens: “Eternity is an extension of a finite life.”

I nod and lower my eyes. Knowing the end of the conversation is near, I ask the last question: “How to live an atheistical life decently”

“Live as if you never die, don’t die as if you never lived.”

I stand up, bow slightly, walking slowly backward toward the wooden door.

“That dove is a magician trick,” Mite raises his voice, jubilantly,  “Dave Copperfield’s trick. ” Although unable to see Mite’s face, I can feel his smile. I smile back…

邂逅到此就结束，灵魂回到了躯体。 疑虑依然存在，信念也没有改变，可心灵得到了一次从未有过的震撼和洗涤，轻松了，愉快了，升华了。。。