Pascal's Error: The Trial Of Mark

[Reverend AtheiStar]

http://www.malevolentdesign.org/mythological.htm

 

What is Malevolent Design?

 

Mythological

 

1 2 3 4

 

Mark rubbed the cross around his neck nervously as he stared out of the kitchen window at his five children playing in the backyard. Was he a good enough Christian to go to Heaven? Would his family join him? How could he bear it if he went without them? How could Heaven ever be the paradise it was described if he knew they were being tortured in Hell for all eternity? Surely his doubts were unjustified. He, as far back as he could remember, loved Christ more than his family, more than his friends, more than his very life as was commanded in Luke 14:26. He knew that Jesus didn’t come to send peace – as was commonly assumed -- but a sword, as was explained in Matthew 10:34. He was ready to pick up his sword for the Lord at any moment. Death was but a doorway to another world. He, paying special attention to the small details, even noted that Jesus desired him to pray in his closet in secret in Matthew 6:5-6. He didn’t want to be a hypocrite like so many of the Christians he had the misfortune to witness. Oh no, when he prayed it was between him and the Lord – no one would ever know, not even his wife, Sarah. His commitment to this ‘radical’ ideal inspired him to start his own church, as he found that all the churches he had been to actually had the audacity to pray publicly! He just couldn’t believe his eyes! Didn’t they read their Bibles?! You might as well fornicate while you were at it! He fought against the displays of the blasphemous so-called ‘Ten Commandments’ (which put him much closer to the Atheists than he cared for). It wasn’t, though, because he cared about the popular myth of church/state separation – he was actually in favor of living in a Christian theocracy. This was ‘One Nation Under God’, after all! What else could that possibly mean?! No, it was because, as any student of the Good Book knows, the real Ten Commandments can be found only in Exodus 34: 1-28. They are the only Ten listed as such in the entire book! He took his children out of school when he realized that they were learning about the Atheist fairy tale, evolution. How dare they teach his children that they came from monkeys?! The Bible taught that the entire human race descended from Adam and Eve and if God said it, well he believed it, end of story. Yes, he was sure they were all going to Heaven.

 

The next day he awoke early feeling much better than the day before, completely refreshed. His lagging doubts were gone. He said a prayer of thanks to Jesus for the blessing. What had he been thinking? Of course they were all going to spend eternity in paradise. How could it be any other way? He looked over at his still sleeping wife with love. She had been a virgin, like him, until the night of their wedding. He saw the token of her virginity for himself as was wisely discussed in Deuteronomy 22: 15-17. He had all his boys circumcised as was commanded in Genesis 17: 11 shortly after each of their births. Their marriage was a shining example amongst a sea of infidelity and chaos. Whenever he had lustful feelings in his heart for other women he would pray to Jesus till they went away. Satan was always trying to destroy what he had built. In celebration, he had a romantic idea; he’d serve her breakfast in bed! Excited, he ran to the kitchen only to find they were out of eggs. He threw on his clothes and hopped in the car, anticipating how happy Sarah would be when she smelled the delicious banquet he had prepared.

 

This was not to be his day, however. In his euphoria, he had backed up without really looking, half in a dream. When he did, what he saw puzzled him greatly. He saw a truck approaching on a collision course with his, but instead of traveling at great speed as it should have been, it was creeping, slow as a snail, towards him. In fact, as he looked around, the entire world seemed to be moving in slow motion! After a moment it stopped completely. The sky then darkened and as he looked around, he saw what appeared to be thousands of angels, with blackened faces and smoky clothes, all heading toward him. The smell of sulphur filled his nose and as they approached he could see that they were all angry. What was going on here? What had he done to displease God? At the head of all of them, was an angel who he knew, somehow, went by the name of Hazrat Izraeel. This was the Angel of Death. As Hazrat got closer, he opened his mouth in a snarl and began to speak in a loud and commanding voice that rattled his very rib cage:

 

“Corrupt soul come out! Allah is angry at you!”

 

Allah? Allah?! How could this be? Islam is a false religion with a false god. It was blasphemous to even consider it being real! This must be a nightmare. He smacked himself in the face and opened in his eyes again. Hazrat was still there, staring at him with his arms crossed as he floated in the air, wings flapping. He shook his head, closed his eyes and started to pray to Jesus. Surely he would help him! But nothing happened. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked over. He was still there and again he opened his mouth and spoke, louder this time:

 

“Corrupt soul come out! Allah is angry at you!”

 

Hazrat then extended his right arm with his palm up and fingers outstretched toward him. He started pulling his hand back toward his body as he slowly closed his fingers into a fist. As Hazrat did this, Mark felt extreme pain course throughout his entire body. It felt like a million hooks on steel cords were being pulled on with increasing pressure. He thought, for sure, all the flesh would rip off his body if it went on for any longer. Yet, the agony increased until he screamed and convulsed uncontrollably. And then it ended. He felt himself leaving his body and gazed down at his limp, lifeless form. As he traveled toward Hazrat he saw time start up again and the world sprang back to life. The truck he had seen coming toward him before, slammed into his car. Metal folded like paper, glass shattered and his body, held in place with the safety belt, was crushed.

 

With his soul in his grip, Hazrat flew up into sky, as did the other angels. As they flew higher and higher the others started to beat him all over his body while cursing him. Mark cried out in anguish as blow after blow impacted with such force, that had he still been alive, he would have suffered many shattered bones. As more and more angels gathered around him, delivering beatings, everything went black.

 

When he came to, to his horror, he was laying in a coffin in complete darkness. It was then that he heard a very loud noise coming from beneath him. The bottom fell out of his tomb and he hit the cold earth below him with a thud. As he looked up he saw two giant black beasts. Somehow, as before, he knew they were named Munkar and Nakir. They had many eyes that seemed to glitter like lightning. They were bright enough to light up the underground chamber with an eerie glow. As Munkar opened his mouth to speak, long, dagger-like teeth were exposed. He leaned over and asked a single question, in a thunderous voice, that shook the ground.

 

“Who is your Lord?”

 

At this point Mark was thinking, the Lord must be testing me. Just like Abraham and his son, the stakes were very high. He would not fail his Master.

 

I’ll surely be rewarded if I answer correctly, he thought to himself. Yes, this must be a test! I’ve lived my whole life in order to succeed in this moment. I will not let my Savior down!

 

He thought of his wife and his children and how desperately he wanted to see them again. With his confidence restored, he got up, stood up straight, looked the monster in its eyes, smiled and said, “Jesus Christ! He is my Lord and Savior!”

 

The dark giant stood up and started to laugh. His friend, also thinking his response was humorous, joined in. Mark was confused. Why was this funny? This was serious and they were making a joke of it all. Now he was angry. As they continued to laugh he got more and more infuriated. Did they know all he’d been through? Did they even care? He couldn’t stand it any more and so he yelled, “I said Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior!!!” With this Munkar and Nakir stopped laughing and their faces returned to their former scowls. It was then that he noticed that they both were carrying huge iron clubs.

 

“WRONG!!!” Munkar thundered, and he slammed the club into the side of Mark’s head, knocking him into the wall. His head pounded as waves of pain shot through his body. He felt the wound cautiously and instantly it was wet with warm blood.

 

Now it was Nakir’s turn. He leaned in very close, his foul breath hitting Mark in the face. It was more than he could take and he vomited right there. Wiping his mouth, he turned to face this evil demon.

 

“Who is your Prophet?”

 

“Jesus! He is my Prophet!”

 

“WRONG!!!”

 

Again the club swung, with great speed, toward Mark’s head, knocking him, this time, to the other side of the cavern. Blood soaked his neck and chest and he saw stars zipping across his vision. His ears rang and he gasped for breath. He felt, now, too dizzy to get up.

 

“What is your religion?” Munkar asked, club raised high above his head.

 

Mark, fading in and out of consciousness, managed to say one more thing.

 

“Christi…an...ity” he sputtered, blood bubbling out of his mouth.

 

The club swung down one final time with a ferocious blow that shattered Mark’s skull, spilling his steaming brains out in a pile on the wet dirt.

 

With a guilty verdict in hand, Munkar waved a hand over Mark’s mangled body. His skull started to reform until there was no trace of the savage interrogation that just took place. The two death angels then slowly raised their hands in a movement that led up to the hole that was his coffin. Mark’s body rose higher and higher, as they did this, till it was back where it began. The splintered base of the coffin reformed and with that, the two dove back into the depths.

 

To be continued...