Superior Justice (Lake Superior Mysteries) by Tom Hilpert

Author:Tom Hilpert [Hilpert, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Spring Creek
Published: 2013-11-11T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 27

I’m trying not to think of you as a nuisance,” said Alex Chan.

“I wouldn’t bother if I were you,” I said. “It’s better to perceive reality as it is.”

“This from a professional clergyman? I would have thought you’d prefer faith to cold reality.”

I adjusted myself for comfort in one of Chan’s client chairs. He sat across from me on his couch, his elbows bent above his shoulders, his hands behind his head.

“Actually, Alex, all worldviews demand a great deal of faith. If you consider the facts, Christianity doesn’t require any more faith than any other way of looking at the world, and quite a bit less than, say, atheism.”

“How do you figure?” he asked comfortably.

I paused. “Do you really want to get into this?”

“I’m a lawyer,” he said. “I love a good argument.”

“I’m a preacher,” I said. “Ditto.”

“We could be at this for the rest of our lives.”

“I don’t mind,” I said. “As long as we don’t get upset and personal.”

“Go for it,” he said. “I’ll tell you to stop if it’s necessary. You do the same for me.”

“Okay. My point is, ninety percent of what any person accepts as fact is accepted on faith.”

“You’ve made the assertion. You’ve got the burden of proof,” said Alex.

“Lawyers,” I said. “Okay. Do you believe in the existence of atoms, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, or the existence of India?”

“India the country?”

“I thought you were supposed to be well-educated.”

He flashed a quick grin.

“Yes,” I said, “India the country.”

“All three of those things are true,” said Chan.

“You ever seen an atom?”

Chan shook his head.

“Were you there when Lincoln was assassinated?”

“Of course not, and I’ve never been to India. But what does that prove? I’ve met people from India. I’ve read about Lincoln’s assassination. I’ve read about atoms too. Plus,” he said, flashing a quick white grin, “scientists have convincingly demonstrated they can use atoms to blow things up. I’m not going to argue with them about that.”

“That’s my point, Alex,” I said. “Every single thing that is outside the personal experience of your five senses, must be accepted on faith. You believe that the people you met from India are not perpetuating some conspiracy about a made-up nation for geo-political purposes. You trust that those who preserved the memory of Lincoln’s death were, in fact, telling the truth. You’ve never seen an atomic explosion either, I bet, so you trust that when people write or talk about these things, they are, in fact, telling the truth.”

“So what’s your point, Jonah?”

I shrugged. “You just said that you thought I would prefer faith to cold reality. I’m just saying that ‘cold reality’ is actually mostly made up of faith.”

“Aren’t we talking about a different kind of faith here? I mean, isn’t it sort of a happy dream to believe that the Supreme Being in all the universe cares about you, personally?”

“Can you think of a logical reason why that is more of a happy dream than the idea that we have no moral responsibility for anything we do?”

Chan looked at his watch.

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