Solomon's Private File #10
These stories about Stephen and Solomon take place starting in
1950's. Stephen wrote about his life in letters to a penpal, and then
in a secure blog, in case he lost his memory again, in the master
computer in his school for gifted students, which he started attending
in 2016 in a new incarnation, until his death. Now his son Solomon is
attending the same school, and is writing in his own secure blog for
his future incarnations.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Solomon is 11 in this story, in the Summer of 2037.
Solomon's Private File #10 "Religion at Camp"
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One way to study people is to study their religions, and compare what
they say they believe, to how they act about those beliefs. A lot of
difference there. The camp offers religious services to all the campers
and staff. Any kind of religion, if they ask for it in time so
arrangements can be made before camp starts. My preference was unusual.
I wanted to go to whatever they had that somebody was already going to.
Unfortunately, there weren't many. There was Jewish, Catholic, Baptist
(in the nearby town), and Unitarian. All but the Jewish services were
on Sunday, one after the other. Jewish Sabbath is Friday sundown to
Saturday sundown. They can have services all during that time. At the
camp, the Rabbi held services on Saturday at 11am. That religion is
divided up into three major denominations. Reformed, Conservative, and
Orthodox. Our Rabbi is Conservative. Not like Reformed, some parts of
the services are supposed to be sung by a leader, and the males who are
Bar Mitzvahed wear a prayer shawl, and all the males wear skull caps.
The first time, the Rabbi didn't bring his Cantor. That's the man who
does the singing. So the Rabbi had to do it. Not well. We read from the
Torah, in a prayer book. The sermon was related to what we read. There
were what looked like standard prayers, with the Rabbi and the
congregation trading the saying of the lines. Sometimes we stood, and
sometimes we sat.
It was a sober and uneventful thing. After the services, there was
socializing. I mentioned to a camper that I had never been to a Jewish
service before. She brought me to the Rabbi, and told him that. He gave
me a big smile, and said, "Welcome. What did you think of it?" I said,
"Before I say that, can you tell me if this is normal for you?" He
said, "Wise. It is not. It's usually much more of a family and
community thing, with one family providing a kind of a meal after the
services on Friday evening, rotating among the congregation. Saturday
morning is used for classes on Judaism, and preparing children for
their Mitzvahs. And we have a Cantor. On holidays, we have themed
events, and sometimes songs and games for the children. So, your
thoughts?" I said, "I want to go to a real service. I like what I see,
and I want to see more. But I have to tell you I'm going to explore the
other religions, too." He said, "That's good. We Jews value all
knowledge. I would be very interested in hearing what you have to say
after your explorations." I grinned and said, "I think, so would I." He
laughed. I said, "One thing. I've read the King James Bible. The part
that should be like yours, isn't exactly. They changed it?" He grinned,
and said, "I see you understand about us being the first. Yes, they did
change it. I think we have a little, too. We have no way to be
absolutely sure if our understanding of the words we read is the same
as those who first wrote them." I said, "Cultures and languages change.
Yes. Problem for absolutists." He looked surprised, and said, "Yes. You
are knowledgeable beyond your years." I said, "Home schooled by
scientists." He said, "Ah! I should have known." I grinned and said,
"Not really." He said, "Do they have a religion?" I said "They are open
to all religions. More than that is hard to say. It's complicated. And
I think I might not have the right to say it for them." He said, "I
truly respect that, and you. I would welcome your visit to my
congregation as an honored guest." I bowed and thanked him in Hebrew. I
left, hearing some interesting comments about that.
Sunday morning I went to the Catholic service, called a Mass. Big
difference. They brought in a lot of fancy decorations and assistants.
The Priest was really dressed up in rich gowns and drapes. Looked
medieval. They were all very serious, even depressing. The actual
services were a little like the Jewish services, with prayers in
English and another language, which was Latin. There were some people
singing in a chorus, badly. We had to kneel sometimes, which we didn't
have to do in the other service. Then there was the Communion Rite.
That's where they make believe a cracker and wine is the body of and
blood of Jesus, and drink and eat it. That's absolutely disgusting! I
wanted to throw up. I stayed in my chair and didn't do it. When the
service was over, there was a call to Confession. There was a line. I
wasn't in it. One of the Priest's assistants came over to me. I stood
to meet him. He said, "You didn't take Communion." I said, "Yes. I'm
exploring all the religions here at camp. I don't know which one to
join, but I'm not a Catholic now." He said, "Are you a Christian?" I
said "I don't have a religion yet. That's why I'm exploring them." He
said, "So you're an atheist?" I said, "Is that a bad thing?" He said,
"Yes it is, very bad." I said, "So you're deliberately insulting a
guest who might want to choose your religion?" He looked like he was
slapped in the face. Then he said, "Please wait." He talked with the
Priest between confessions. Then he came back to me, and said, "The
Priest would like to talk with you after the confessions. Would you
wait?" I said, "Sure. That's what I'm here for. To learn." He said,
"Thank you." He wandered off, looking thoughtful.
Over an hour later, the assistant came to me and asked me to go with
him. We went into an office, and there was the Priest, sitting. He
didn't offer me a chair. He said, "You had some questions for me?" I
said, "No. This man and I had a discussion. In it were some questions."
He looked at the man, who didn't say anything. He said to me, "Please
tell me what was said." I did, word for word, and said that, too. He
looked at the man, who nodded. He said, "We think being an atheist is
very bad, but it wasn't meant as an insult, but as notice of a
correctible condition." I said, admiringly, "Well done!" He looked very
surprised, and said, "You are more than you seem." I said very
seriously, "All are, and all is. The problem is the seeming." He looked
really surprised. I said, "Point of fact, there is a condition between
not having a religion, and not believing in God, that appears to have
escaped this conversation." He said, "Point taken, with apologies.
Agnostic." I said, "Yes. And willing to upgrade after exploration." He
said, "You have explored other religions?" I said, "I went to the
Jewish service yesterday. They were polite and welcoming. Very nice,
actually. The Rabbi asked if he could be informed of my explorations."
He said, "So I have an advantage in being second, to ask you what you
thought of his service." I said "In a word, boring. He said it's more
interesting in full services in his Synagogue." He nodded, and said, "I
think that would be true, and it's the same for us. What do you think
of our service?" I said, "I don't know how to say it without being er,
impolite."
The Priest laughed well. He said, "I'm not surprised. We tend to
forget that our rituals can look very odd to people who are unfamiliar
with them. You didn't take Communion. One of the negatives?" I said "Oh
yes! People aren't on the list of approved munchies, and I'm not
allowed to drink alcohol." He tried not to laugh, while the other man
was feeling horrified. He said "But such a little bit won't hurt you."
I said "Er, please excuse me, but I've heard that before on the streets
of DC, and it was a powder they were pushing." He said, "Wow!" I said,
"I'm sorry, but you did ask." He said, "Anything else?" I said "Your
chorus. Is that normal?" He laughed, and said, "No, far from it. I take
it you were critical of their performance?" I nodded, and said,
"Painful. They didn't kneel yesterday, but stood to show reverence to
God. Here, we knelt. Why?" He said, "Just custom." I said, "All customs
have reasons behind them, even if people don't know them. I think you
know, or at least suspect." He sighed, and said, "Yes. Subservience."
The other man was startled. I pointed to him and said, "Is this good
for him?" He said "Probably not, but please continue." I said, "For he
who makes another kneel, is the subservience, not God. That's why the
Jews don't do that." He said, "I was aware that they had that reason.
We think differently." I said, "Not completely." He said, "Most of us."
We grinned at each other.
He said, "Confession?" I said, "I don't have anything to confess." He
said, "Really?" I said, "Yes. Name one and see." He said, "Lie?" I said
"I don't. I don't see any reason to lie. You should know by now that
for me, telling the truth is very interesting." He said, "Do you know
what covet means?" I said, "I've read the Bible. Yes. I don't do it. My
parents will give me anything but what I really want, which they can't,
which is people to be nice to each other. I think we could bypass the
adultery issue." He laughed. He said, "Do you honor your parents?" I
said, "I do, and not because I love them more than anything, but
because they are good people who really know what they are doing. All
our friends say that, so it must be true." He said "I think we can
assume all the rest are not a problem. Do you have any more comments
about this day?" I said, "How much of what you do was invented just to
keep you busy and out of trouble?" His jaw dropped open in complete and
utter astonishment. I said, "I'm sorry if I insulted you. I didn't mean
to do that." He recovered with a struggle, and said, "You didn't. I
just didn't expect that. Your intelligence?" I said "I don't know what
it is in real numbers, but high, like my parents. Scientists. I'm home
schooled, mostly." He said, "Yes. You must be." I grinned and said, "If
you say so." He tried to smile. He stood, and said, "You've given me
much to think about." I took it as a dismissal. I said, "For most
another bout with astonishment, "You care?" I said, "Yes. Very much. I
think I did a bad thing in talking to you. I'm really sorry. I should
go before I make it worse. May God take care of you like you want Him
too." He blessed me, too. I left. I could hear him sit down with a
thud.
The next Sunday, I went to the Baptist service. We took a bus there,
21 campers and two counselors. It was a lot more relaxed than the
Catholic service. Nothing fancy, and more personal interaction. There
was good music, and some songs the congregation sang, too. The sermon
was energetic, almost fiery. I liked it. The whole experience. I told
that to one of the counselors. He took me to the Pastor. We said hello
and introduced ourselves. He smiled and said, "Is that a real name?" I
said, "What is real?" He started to say something, and then stopped
himself twice. He caught the counselor grinning, who then said, "He has
a very good reputation at camp. Intelligent, too." I said, "Easily
embarrassed, too. I don't have a religion. I'm trying them all out at
camp. This is the third. I like it." The Pastor said, "Good. I like
that. Would you tell me why?" I said, "The service is more personally
involving." He said, "We like it that way. The other religions?" I
said, "I went to Jewish and Catholic services last week." He said, "And
how did you like them?" I said, "It's not nice to say bad things about
other religions." He laughed really hard.
He said, "It would help me to know, so I can know what not to do in
making my church better." I said, "I think you're not going to pretend
to eat a dead person!" He laughed really hard again, and said, "So you
saw Communion. Did you talk to the Priest?" I said, "Yes. I shouldn't
have. He's a little, hmm, unsettled." He said "Why?" I said, "I had
questions. They needed thinking about for answering. He wasn't used to
that. Er, thinking." He laughed so hard, he had to sit down, rather
than fall down. I said, "I expected that. Rigid hierarchies require
rigid thinking. I didn't expect him to admit it, though." He said,
"Wow! There is more to you than I expected." I said, "There is, for
everybody, if we expect the least. The Priest said what you said, with
a frown. The Rabbi said it with a grin. I think you can guess who I
like better." He said, "Yes. You've got wisdom. Do you have any
questions about our service?"
I said, "I can't figure out the devil. Why would the all powerful God
allow something like the devil to exist?" He said, "I could tell you
what religions say about it, including mine, but in truth, we don't
really know the full answer to that." I said, "You are absolutely not
Catholic!" He laughed hard again. He said, "Yes. They always have an
answer, like they actually know the mind of God." I said, "It's logical
we can't, like an ant can't know ours." He said, "It's not something we
want to agree with, but some of us think it's true." I said, "I think
there isn't a devil. People don't need to be temped to do bad things.
That's what free will is for, for really selfish people. I think people
want to believe there is a devil so they can blame somebody else for
their bad thoughts and actions. I think avoiding full responsibility
like that is bad for people and society."
He just stared at me for a while. Then he said, "Responsibility.
Right. Good thought." Then he stood, and said, "We serve people here.
They need to believe in the devil. Or they won't come. If they won't
come, we can't help them." I said, "Right. I said too much again." I
had some tears. He hugged me, and said, "But we asked. You didn't say
anything that wasn't good. You are not at fault at all. Someday the
world will see that." I said, "And I'll be REALLY embarrassed." He
tried not to laugh. I said "Wow, a vibrator!" He laughed. I said "I
might come back when I can control what I say better. Goes for my sense
of humor, too." He looked surprised, and said, "Your name, you picked
it?" I grinned, and said, "Sure did!" He said "Why?" I said, "My
parents let me pick what I wanted. They like humor, too. Scientists.
I'm mostly home schooled." He said "I don't know about for that, but I
can see in you they are very good people." I said very seriously, "I
thank you for them. Oh, I think they want us on the bus.'"
On the bus, the counselor said, "How much more is there of you?" I
said, "Depends on how much I eat." He grinned and said, "I've seen you
eat. So it's a lot!" One part of my mind was on the pleasant
conversation on the way back to camp. Another part was thinking about a
new research project. I think a lot of religion was invented to scare
children into being "good". But how many adults really fully mature
completely out of childhood? The need to believe in the devil shows
they don't. And if they did fully mature, how could they relate to
children? There should be some way to show all that, scientifically. I
worked on that until we were back in camp. I decided I wouldn't be
investigating and interfering with religions at camp anymore. I didn't
like causing problems. I don't think they liked it, either. Anyway, I
learned more about me, doing that, than they think they did.
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Grant
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