The doctor and the entire
team sat in silence.
“Why on Earth would
Alexander send us back to kill Jesus Christ?” Jude howled. “Are you absolutely sure it is him?”
Irene nodded. “As much as I hate to admit it, it
seems very likely. Same
period. Same location. I mean, Yēšûă is a very common name at
this time, but it also happens to be the Hebrew name given for Jesus. I suspected as much when I began
delving into the material Alexander provided on your target. And then he goes and says that -
straight from the Gospel of Thomas.
That confirms it. He has to be Jesus.”
She searched the faces in
the room and continued. “And the
Maria we met, or Mary, is also a very common name, but there were quite a few
Mary's who were close followers of Jesus, including Mary Magdalene, Mary of
Bethany, Mary of Clopas. And of
course his mother, the Virgin Mary, although that woman was much too young to
be his mother.”
“That does sound like
mounting evidence,” muttered Spider.
“That is the real reason I
came on this trip – to confirm my suspicions, and talk you boys out of it,” she
said.
“Couldn't it just be
another teacher of the time?” asked Jude.
“The name could be a coincidence, you did say it was common, and they
could both just be spouting the same old wisdom of the time. And, are we even sure Jesus Christ
actually existed, let alone is right here right now?”
“There is significant
evidence to suggest he did, Mr. Stone,” Irene said flatly. “More accounts than other historical
figures we take for granted to have existed. Mind you, these other people are more believable because
they don't claim to walk on water before turning it into wine. The usual practice being walking on
grapes, of course. Followed by...”
“Does it matter whether
it is Jesus or not?” Spider spat, standing up and throwing his tattooed arms in
the air. “Killing someone in
history has never been a problem for any one of us bar little miss know-it-all
over there. I mean nobody would be
here, changing the past, if they believed in God or the bible or any of
that. There is no God. He ain't the son of God. And if he were, then he could use his
magic powers to stop us, right?”
Irene shook her
head. “I may think the prospect of
God or a man who performs miracles is very unlikely, but that doesn't mean I
can't see the benefits of the Christian teachings. Teachings that will surely die out if we were to kill him.”
“Good riddance to
oppressive ideology,” scowled Spider.
“That is obviously why Alexander sent us back here. We are here to stop that message from
spreading like the plague and preventing the rot of social and scientific
progress.
“You look in the bible
and what do you see, justification for the crusades, for wars, for slavery, for
murder, for anti-Semitism, and for abuse and torture. What kind of message are you protecting? I mean really, doctor, you know this
better than all of us. For God's
sake.”
“What I know, Spider, is
that human nature is human nature,” Irene started. "People start wars, religion is only a vehicle, a tool,
an excuse to dominate others for resources and power."
Spider groaned. “Not that human nature bullshit
argument. Everything I said is as
clear as day in the bible.
“And don't say that it
did more good than bad either.
Alexander and his researchers are the ones with that hologram
thing. They can see what is best
for the world.”
“I don't care what you
say, killing Jesus is not going to prevent the awful acts justified by the
bible from happening,” said Irene, raising her voice. “But that's not Jesus' message anyway. His message is of love, community
spirit, inclusion, personal and social empowerment, forgiveness, tolerance and
acceptance. It was Jesus who spoke
out against those acts you talk of, and in fact, Jesus who challenged the
religious establishment of the time.
He wanted peace on the Earth.
His influence surely only had a positive effect on the world.”
“He wanted peace on the
Earth?” Spider sniggered, looking at each of his fellow soldiers. “My mum sent me to Sunday school
because it was a cheap babysitter while she went out dating different men each
week, and that's where I learned atheism.
“I remember two quotes
from the 'Prince of Peace' which made
me wonder whether I was the only one in class actually listening to this bile.
“The first says something
like, 'I didn't come to the Earth to bring peace. I didn't bring peace, but brought a sword. I came to divide every family and set
them against each other. He who
doesn't love me more than his children and his parents isn't deserving of
me. Let go of your life and follow
me blindly. Amen.'
“The second says
something like, 'I have come to cast fire upon the Earth, and I wish the planet
was already burning.' Then it goes
on about dividing people, hating everybody including yourself and your own
life, and setting everyone against each other. And finally instructs people to 'sell their coat and buy a
sword. Bla bla bla let's blow
yourself and everybody else up.
Amen.' Sounds like a
message that breeds terrorism to me.
Just as the report we were given said.”
“I know the passages you
talk of,” stated Irene. “They are
from the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew. But when the passages are understood in
context, understanding the occult Hebrew symbolism of the time, they are
actually passages of personal transformation. The bible in my opinion can be split into three areas: the
law of the time, a documentation of the history, and a manual for
self-transformation, often using allegory. This is the latter.
“These passages, I
believe, warn that when you challenge the way most of society think, you will
come up against opposition, even in your family. They state that if you hold strong to these ideals you will
find heaven on Earth. A change in
ideas can change the world around you.
“The reason Jesus was
saying that he is not bringing peace, is because he was coming to stir the pot
with a metaphorical sword, and create an ideological change. He was telling his followers to be
strong, and take the ideas of peace and love to the people with a metaphorical
sword.
“A sword that cuts
through the status quo. You must
remember that at this time in history life was filled with much more terror
than the world we know - at least in most places around the world. That might be a ‘metaphysical’
interpretation, but it is the only one that makes sense.”
She added under her
breath: “If you want to kill anyone, kill Emperor Constantine and all those who
attended the Meeting of Nicea. He
was the one who first used Jesus' teachings to enslave the population, and
outlawed and buried the 'heretical' teachings of empowerment.”
“And your research tells
you that? Or that’s what you want
to believe?” hissed Spider. “It
seems like a long bow to draw, and an interpretation that was lost on millions
of people since.”
Irene shrugged. “Well, maybe we can ask him
himself. But if this wasn't his
meaning, then Jesus must be the most bipolar man in history, because it goes
against everything else he is supposed to have preached.”
Spider grunted. “Whether or not there is a hidden
meaning behind the words that we do not understand in the 21st Century, it was
and is still responsible for atrocity after atrocity.”
She paused, her curly
dark hair bouncing as she took in quick, deep breaths. “It was never the bible that created
the wars or the torture, but mankind ... our greed, perceived lack of
resources, fear of others, innate animal aggression. If there wasn't a bible, they'd be using something else to
sway the masses.”
Spider laughed and shook
his head. “Don't get me wrong, I
am not so ignorant to say that the teachings of the bible were the sole
reason. Naturally, human instincts
and desires have their place. But
convincing the masses to do something awful is a lot easier thanks to this
little phrase, 'it says to do it in the bible'. You'd be hard pressed to find any more used excuse for these
acts.”
“I never knew you were so
passionate about this stuff,” laughed Zhang, an ex-commando, leaning against
the wall. "Especially for
someone whose day job is killing people."
“I'm here to do my job,
and if that means proving this bitch wrong, then so be it. Some noob who lives in her books
instead of the real world won't get in the way of this mission now,” Spider
roared. “The research team have
done months of investigation into the effects of taking Jesus out of history,
and they believe it will be an absolute certain positive effect. And I agree. Getting rid of Christianity will get rid of half the
atrocities of the past two thousand years.
“But you know what? It doesn't matter what this guy did in
my books. Our orders are our
orders. As a soldier, we follow
them, and hope that the guys at the top know what they're bloody well
doing.” Spider got right in
Irene's face. “Tell me,
sweetheart, is there any good reason at all why we should go against orders and
not kill him? Hey? Why your quick assessment and ethic
dilemma should be valued over months of solid research from scientists with
much better qualifications and brains than you?”
“First, they don’t have
better qualifications or brains than me.
Second, you shouldn’t just follow someone because they are supposedly
more qualified to think.” Irene
looked at the hardened faces in the room.
“What I find disconcerting is that I'm the only one here who thinks we shouldn't kill Jesus Christ. This is ridiculous. Think for yourselves for once, guys.”
“There is a good reason
not to kill him,” said Jude, staring at the back of his hands that rested on
his knees. “I lived in a shanty
town run by a drug lord in Brazil.
The easy option was to get into the drug world in some way.
“Christianity seemed to
be the only thing that gave people the faith and strength to choose another
option. The church also was the
only organization I knew of going deep into the favelas to help street kids get
over some of the worst drug addictions you’ll ever see.
"These people
weren't soldiers. These were
ordinary people. Ordinary people
showing extraordinary bravery because they had something to believe in.”
Spider stood still with
wide eyes, a furrowed brow and a gaping mouth.
Jude continued: “As
Doctor Hadar said, you don't have to be Christian to see the value the belief
system brought to the world. You
just have to look past the history books, and to the millions upon millions of
cases where Christianity has helped the individual. You can't measure that.” He paused. “And
it doesn't seem right to kill a man who had this same bravery in preaching
peace during very violent times.”
The room was silent.
“Are you meaning to tell
me you are agreeing with Doctor Hadar?” Spider said. “I knew you were a bit of a loose canon, but this... Nobody else is buying into this quack,
are they?”
There were murmurings in
the room and the shaking of heads.
“I never said I wouldn't
kill him,” Jude said. “Our orders
are to kill him, so we will. I've
never cared about our targets or the reasons behind our missions before, why
should I now? I'm here to do my
job, and so I will.” He
paused. “I was just saying the
doctor wasn't a nut job. But it
would pay, Doctor Hadar, to keep your pretty mouth shut on this theoretical
debate so we can do our job and make the hit.”
Spider grinned and made a
cartoonish sigh of relief. “You
never cease to surprise me, mate.
We'll go ahead as planned. Tonight
Jude will spill Jesus' blood.”
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“Come in Team ‘B’, over,”
he repeated the order forcefully.
Still no answer.
