By Sempad Shahnazarian

Chapter Four (Continued)

  However, the human mind, the wisemen of humanity, have unwisely separated these creative energies from one another, abstracting them from fundamental realities by calling them God and Satan, and declaring an eternal feud between them.

   The result?...Bloodshed; destruction; unhappiness.  On top of all this they even hang an eternal threat of Hell over the head of humanity!”

  The whole crowd burst into hilarious laughter.

  “Down with that idea!” roared the cliff. “It is high time to look for the solution to this problem upon which depends the constructive growth of the happiness of mankind. By doing away with these extremes we will be able to help the normal growth of man. Submission to the will of Heaven will hamper it. Human nature has always revolted against oppression. It has always contrived to be free and independent to cultivate his capabilities and potentials.

  Our success or failure in life depends upon us. God is the entire Universe itself. We are parts of it; you and I and everything. He is a complex structure of interrelated elements and forces. He has no knowledge of His own existence. His component parts work according to their properties. They build, they change, they destroy and they evolve, always stimulated by their inherent characteristics. Theologians give us a very poor picture of him by calling him Omnipotent and Omniscient, placing in His hand a horrible but fictitious instrument of punishment.

  Have you ever regarded that punishment is a human or Satanic characteristic and not divine?”

  “Bravo! Bravo!” exclaimed the crowd.

  “Let the theologians trim some of their very abstract ideas to find a common meeting ground with realistic philosophy; with science and concrete logic.  In this way we will be able to draw a new ideology for humanity to enter Heaven by passing the required examinations.

  That is the only way we can populate that desolate place, Heaven. That endless and uninhabited area must be taken over because the underground world is getting far too overcrowded.”

  A deafening applause and cheers shook the ground. Eagles began circling overhead again. The mountains of Moush and Van nodded their consent to one another, and the cliff continued speaking.

  “We have been following from here the antiquated theological discourses recited in churches and temples with great interest and amusement.

  How can you worship an Almighty Being and in the same time preach Democracy?

  How can you preach obedience to a Ruler and at the same time praise the freedom and dignity of the individual? I am against all tyrants. I am against the idea of the Governor of the Universe, who requires absolute submission to His Will.”

  More applause came from the crowd.

  “Every man should be his own master. Burn your prayer books and the theological treatises. They are all against the unhampered growth of your potential. 

  Praiseworthy is the attitude of Satan, as a rebel against the Ruler of the Universe. He too can be blamed for his black and destructive actions. We want a change in philosophy of the administration of the Immensity. We want a harmonious blending of the forces of Heaven and Earth, to bring about a new ideology for human society. That ideology has been in effect, in Nature, ever since the beginning of Time...

  It is only in man where God and Satan have been in constant conflict with one another.”

    On the banks of the Aradzani, festivities burst out like a sudden flight of thousands of pigeons.

    Discus throwers, lancers, wrestlers, racers, swimmers and dancers electrified the atmosphere. Thousands of devils mingled with the crowd, shouting, cheering and dancing.

  The Aradzani river flowed dreamily. The flowers smiled captivatingly in the prairies, perfuming the air with their lovely fragrances. The rocks, firm and proud, stuck out their chests against the blowing winds. Cries and commotions were heard in the canyons. The churches and temples were being blown up in the roaring flames, and the mountains bent down their crests to see what was happening down in the Moush plain and listened to the orator, the cliff.

  “International Conferences are our most interesting diversions. Satan always sits behind every speaker to prompt him with his ideas, and to show him how to maneuver his thoughts. He dies laughing every time the leaders lay their hands on the Bible, pray and cry in silence, for Truth and Justice, while all the time they are sharpening their daggers and cleaning their guns to devastate the green fields and to reduce the towns and cities to ashes.

   Do you approve of this hypocrisy?” cried the cliff.

   The thousands of voices shouted “No! No!...”

  “Wouldn’t you prefer to be your own master?”

  “Yes,” they shouted.

  “We don’t believe in any kind of ruler, do we?”

  “No!”

  “We don’t believe there is an Almighty and Omniscient God, do we?

  “We do believe in God as a Universal Creative Energy. As an endless ocean of forces, with inexhaustible might and power, constantly and eternally at work.”

  “Yes!” We do believe in such a God, they roared. 

  “Do we believe in Satan?

  Yes! We believe in Satan as the negative energy of the Universe.

  Don’t we admire his rebellious spirit against the Ruler?

  “Yes! We do.”

  “We must harmoniously blend their philosophies to draw a new Creed.”

  “Yes!”

  “We must follow the dictates of our minds by destroying the pillars that support Hell, everlastingly, over our heads.”

  “Yes!”

  “Long live the free and creative individualism in a free society.”

  Thunderous music shook the subterranean world, and the mountains began to dance and cheer.

   The pagans and the Christians and the devils in a miraculous metamorphosis fell into each other’s embrace, in a warm and selfless brotherhood and they all began to sing.

  The Sun, our heavenly father, looked down exalted at the beautiful spectacle of Armenia, and breathed the intoxicating fragrance of the flowers, while the clouds danced hilariously with the winds. The Rock roared:  “Let the wine from our vineyards brighten your minds instead of clouding them. Love your country and live for it...because it is the only way to keep your dignity and be happy”

  “Let yourselves be your own masters!”

  The speech vibrated through the Earth, and rang like thunder into the blue space.

  Mountains, with their summits in the clouds, exchanged their views as to the spirit of the speech. They all agreed how unwise the so-called wisemen were. Their conception of Heavenly architecture and its administration had no foundation at all.

  They all roared with their cavernous voices that humanity should make a bonfire with all of its theological literature and smash the chains woven around the human intellect.

  “The mind should be free in its strife with the secrets of Nature. The greatness of the Universe consists of the substance that fills space, and not in something fictitiously super...

  It is high time for humanity to invade and conquer Heaven and to cultivate the virgin soil for its welfare and bliss.”

  The whole crowd cheered wildly and fell into each other’s arms. Flowers danced hilariously. The rocks yelled and rolled like crazed drunkards. The exclamations of the cliffs, here and there, echoed grotesquely in the deep and cool canyons. Forests became a weird sight of thousands of violins, flutes, horns and drums playing a magnificent musical revolt against the tyranny of Heaven.

  A thunderous voice came from Mount Ararat.

  “Mount Arakatz, get on my shoulders.

  Mount Sipan, get on Arakatz’ shoulder.

 You, crazy Mount Andok, get on Sipan’s shoulder.

  Now we are already above the clouds high up in space, face to face with Heaven.”

  Silence!

  Andok cast a look upon the beautiful panorama of Armenia, contemplated the blue space with its revolting eyes and waited for the final order.

  Ararat roared!

  “Zarg! strike!”

  Andok struck at the closed gate of Heaven with its summit, like a powerful ram.

  Profound silence!

  He waited a moment, watching it intently, and then knocked again with more power and force than before.

  Silence again!

 Gathering all of its power, it hurled itself against the blue of Heaven, with all of its strength, and tore an enormous opening, as an entrance to the Biblical Kingdom.

  Millions of devils and human beings immediately rushed out of their holes, in the subterranean world, and invaded the wide open spaces of the Immensity. Stars and suns burst out into an indescribable cheer. Men and women, boys and girls of that unknown world came forth to welcome the pilgrims of the Earth with love and affection. 

  Language barriers were abolished. Conversation was not carried on by words anymore. Multicolored radiation served as a means of communication of thoughts. Rays of different shades of intensity were the words of their celestial language.

  Artists and poets, standing on top of the Universe, etched their creations on the blue canvas of the endless space. Composers, disheveled, stood in the middle of the storm, watched the rolling of the black clouds, the rumbling of the tempest, the deadly but beautiful flashes of lightning, creating celestial symphonies.

  Spirits sitting on the clouds, floated dreamily into the crystalline space, free and immortal, inspiring the people of other worlds to burn their theological books and to throw their ashes to the wind.

  The cliff the orator was silently watching the millions of men, women and devils in their celestial journey. 
 

  To the tune of unearthly music, the mountains began to dance, the subterranean world rumbled with epic poetry, and the cliff, in his cavernous voice, cheered wildly, the birth of a New Era.