TWO

"Everyone and everything around you is your teacher"

-Ken Keyes JR, 'Handbook to Higher Consciousness'

Martin sat down slowly, his eyes focused on the Doctor and his casual, yet confident, manner. Who was he? Why did it feel that asking the Doctor about God was going to open a Pandora's box? And why did he feel he would never be able to close it again once he had seen inside?

The Doctor plonked himself down heavily then leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees. His feet were on tiptoes and his legs were bobbing up and down.

"You know for such a small word 'God' has infinite meanings to infinite people hasn't it?" His mouth drooped down on either side as he turned to face Martin. "So do you want to talk about religion or spirituality?" The Doctor said as if asking him if he'd like one lump or two.

Martin let out a laugh, "Well, I thought they'd be the same thing surely?"

"No, not at all" The Doctor said scrunching his nose up as if smelling something unsavoury. "What gave you that impression? No, you see, religion is what a collective group of people have decided to believe in and then they follow strict guidelines passed down through generations. Spirituality is really more about personal experience and growth and looking within for your own truth". The Doctor's eyebrows rose, "Well… you know…" he added, "Apparently".

He shrugged his shoulders as if embarrassed. He almost looked like he'd been caught saying something he shouldn't have said out loud.

Martin smiled, "Doctor, you're just a hippy aren't you?"

The Doctor's laugh was more of a snort, "Well, it has been said on occasion. No, I'm what's called an 'undecider'… And believe me I've seen many things that could make me sway either way". He looked out across the valley once more. "What religion are you, by the way?"

"I was a Roman Catholic" Martin said kicking a small stone gently with his left foot, "I used to go to Sunday school and all that when I was younger. I grew away from it as I got older but I did used to go to an odd service or confession every now and then… whenever I'd been 'bad'", he raised he hands in quote, "And then, of course, I prayed a lot when Nan got ill." His voice lowered to almost a whisper, "Little good that did."

"How old was your Nan?" The Doctor said, his eyebrows in a frown.

"Seventy- four…. And, yeah, I know she had a 'good innings' but she didn't deserve to go like that. She was in so much pain…." Martin leaned back on the bench.

"No, no", The Doctor said suddenly looking thoughtful, "I was just thinking what I was doing when I was seventy four". He stared off vacantly, and then bit the bottom of his lower lip. He shook his head defeated, "Nah, can't remember!"

"Are you playing a game with me, Doctor? Because I'm not really in the mood" Martin stood up to go.

"No, sorry, Martin", The Doctor put his hand on the young man's shoulder and brought him back to the seat slowly. "I say stupid things sometimes just ignore me". He squinted his eyes, "Except, of course, when I'm saying something really important. That's always a good time to listen to me". He tapped the side of his head gently and opened his eyes wide. "I've got the universe in here," he said brightly, "And I'm always willing to talk about it…. and people do say I love the sound of my own voice".

"You do surprise me," Martin said dryly. "So come on, you haven't said, what do you make of the whole 'God' thing?"

"Well," he drew the word out and looked off into the distance, "'God', as some of the religions would have it, is very much about fear, isn't it? I mean sending souls to burn forever in eternal hell fire is a pretty bleak thing for an 'all loving deity' to do, don't you think?" The Doctor nodded to himself and looked deeply into Martin's eyes. "All these different religions declaring 'We have the One True Faith and only ours is the Right One" The Doctor was on his feet now his chest thrust out in a mock, fundamentalist stance, "If you choose the 'wrong' religion 'God' will punish you for all time." He turned to face Martin, his posture relaxed once more and his voice lowered, "Of course there's hundreds of off-shoots of some religions so you can never be quite sure if you're actually even in the 'right' sect even if you're sure you're in the 'right' religion, so your never really know if your on the way to Hell or not…" He breathed in sharply, "But there you go… So, in essence, unfortunately all religion does, most of the time, is create separation. Separation from each other…. a fear of the different. The killing that's gone on in the name of religion over the centuries on this world is beyond appalling…" he searched around as if looking for a word. "It's operant". He almost spat the word out, his face contorted distastefully. He sat down once more pushing his back into the seat. "Yet you lot, you see all this but do nothing. You think religion is sacred and must never be questioned. So you do your best to ignore it's self evident failings. Yet it's killing you." He looked round suddenly puzzled, "What year is this?"

"What year?" Martin said astonished.

"Yeah, what year? It's a simple enough question isn't it?"

Martin signed as he resigned himself to playing along with The Doctor's little game. "It's 2011…. September 2011", his said in his best 'as if you didn't know' voice.

The Doctor winced, he didn't look impressed at all. "Oh, it's a bit of a dodgy one that", he said screwing his face up, breathing in through his teeth. "But, you know, prime example. Muslims.. Christians… Terrorism…. Holy wars…. Jihads … Wars on terror… in fact, great example." There was such energy in his voice now, the subject obviously really fired him up, "How can you lot look at the world right now and not know it's all come about because of what you collectively believe? Your beliefs are destroying you. And the crazy thing is you tell yourselves this is 'God's will! What about humanity's will? What about your will?" The Doctor pointed directly at Martin, his face one of total bewilderment.

Martin looked away from The Doctor as his gaze had become quite manic.

"Well, Doctor, you've made some interesting points," Martin started slowly, his voice was calm and low, "But you've simplified many things. Religion has done such good as well. There are many Christians I know who have done wonderful work for charities and helped many, many people. Same with Muslims. Not everyone believes in 'Holy wars'. In fact, most don't." He used his hands to express himself more fully, "Most religious minded people want only peace and their religion has given them great comfort in taxing times".

He turned to see The Doctor smiling warmly at him. "Good man", The Doctor said his smile had become an almost cheesy grin. "You're defining what you believe and that's good." His face returned to a relaxed smirk, "But I'm not talking about individuals here. They fall under the 'spiritual' banner and we'll come back to them later." He thrust his hands back inside his pockets and stood up once more. "I'm talking about the theology behind religious belief. If you believe you have the one and only Truth and it's your God given duty to make others believe the same thing, you're going to do crazy and desperate things to make that a reality. You will justify killing in the name of God because you believe that's what God wants" He walked casually around the bench kicking tiny bits of gravel up as he moved. "All of your history is based on the fact that God is a god of 'needs' and 'desires' and you've killed your selves over and over again because you disagree about what those 'needs' are. It's madness. You know all this already. All of you do. Yet you all sit back and watch it happen. As long as you've got chips on your table and your TV guide in one hand and your own air of superiority, you don't really seem that bothered".

He suddenly spun himself round in a circle perched on one leg like a crane. Dust flew up from the gravel below his foot. The Doctor lifted his heel and both men stared at the crushed gravel beneath his plimsoll.

"That's what belief in a God of Fear has done for your world," he said through clenched teeth.

Martin stared at The Doctor silently for a few seconds. Who was this guy to speak with such authority? He only looked a couple of years older than Martin and yet his eyes seemed to tell a different story.

"But the essence of God is love, Doctor" Martin said softly and he felt he meant every word. "Where does love come into it?"

The Doctor suddenly stood perfectly still. He looked at the ground once more and his foot found the stone Martin had been playing with earlier. He moved it gently with the tip of his plimsoll.

"Well, that's the question, isn't it?" his voice was measured and smooth. "And you see, that's more in the area of spirituality. That's more about the idea of 'oneness' and how everything in the universe is connected." He said the word 'connected' like it was made out of chocolate.

He then locked his hands together and pushed them out in front of him. He turned his hands palms up and waggled his joined fingers, his smile growing on his face and his eyes wide with intrigue and hidden knowledge. Without looking he fell backwards and landed casually on the bench, the wood creaking beneath his slight frame. He crossed his legs and cupped his still joined hands around the cap of one knee and looked up at Martin expectedly.

"What?" Martin asked, a smile finally appearing on his face.

"Well, you better sit down", The Doctor grinned, "We could be here a while…"

"Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man – living in the sky – who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry for ever and ever 'til the end of time… But He loves you!"

- George Carlin, quote taken from 'The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins