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pastor
excuse me it seems that mrs johnson
forgot her purse
oh oh thank you uh she's probably still
in the parking lot i'll go run it out to
her
no need she'll be back to get it in
exactly three
two one
how did you she's actually going to wait
here
for approximately five minutes because
it's going to start raining
in three two one
my god god
ah like a prophecy
perhaps it may seem that way to you but
no
i'm from the future that's how i know
i came back in time to seek counsel
from a man of god counsel
the future oh
look uh i i i don't um i'm not asking
you to take it on
faith pastor i'll take you
into the future with me i'll show you
myself
and then i'll bring you back to the here
and now where you belong
we desperately need your advice can we
go now
so
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wow where are we when are we
we're about 3 500 years into the future
uh year 5520 in a place
you once knew as texas
texas it it seems so primitive
most of the world is compared to your
time
what happened war starvation
disease you name it it happened my god
that's why we need you pastor you see
we don't know what to do about what
uh in particular well from a moral
standpoint we're at a loss pastor
you see we embraced moral relativism
long ago but there are those of us who
question whether that was a wise course
of action
question whether that was actually what
led us to these
trying times so we came back and
retrieved you
because we seek the advice of someone
who believes
in moral absolutes oh well
well in that case i i i'd be more than
happy to advise you
subjective morality is is foolishness
and and and i'm willing to bet it is
almost certainly what led you
uh uh to to whatever tribulations affect
you right now
very good that is
our dilemma that village over there
is filled with all kinds of people
what about them look to the horizon over
there
do you see that band of marauders in the
distance
we have the ability to stop them
from what they're about to do but we are
uncertain if it would be
moral to interfere you see they're going
to attack
the people in that village and utterly
slaughter them they're going to kill
most of them
they're going to kill children toddlers
and even babies they're going to plunder
pillage and rape they will take some
people
as slaves the rest will be killed
and then they'll burn that place to the
ground
should we stop them pastor or should we
leave them
to this awful fate huh
a wise man of my time
once said that the only thing
necessary of for the triumph of evil
is for good men to do nothing
so we should stop them are you saying
that would be the moral thing to do yes
there's a definite right and a definite
wrong
and and they correspond with god's very
nature to to to to to allow
babies to to be butchered is objectively
against uh what is moral
interesting so when we alter the time
variable you pass the test
test what are you talking about we
adjust
multiple variables to test your
consistency
you weren't the only one brought here
pastor
we placed your wife and child amongst
the people
in that village so your decision
determines their fate as well
we then reveal this fact to you as i
have just now done
and then observe how the personal stake
affects your moral decision
okay um i see
well um uh
my decision stands um and i'm i'm i'm
glad i made the right choice so
uh as you can see my moral choice
remains consistent
uh sir please end this
now i i i wish to return home
to my family are you sure about that
pastor
are you certain there is no circumstance
when it is moral to butcher
babies my god what a question of
of course there's no such circumstance
look
you asked for my counsel as a man of a
better wiser time
a man of god who believes in the
morality you
people seem to have abandoned and now
i'm
giving you that counsel do not allow
those
children to be slaughtered sir do not
allow
my family to be killed so
you changed your mind then interesting
my hypothesis was correct
what do you mean i'm a time traveler
pastor
i've asked your opinion about this
before
what happens now will not be based upon
your current
council but upon your previous
council when you thought these children
and babies
should be slaughtered what
what are you talking about i don't know
i don't i don't believe this
this this has to be a mistake i would
never
give such advice why why why
why would i change my mind so
drastically because
i changed a key detail of our situation
you see we did not actually travel
3 500 years into the future
we traveled 3 500 years into the past
those people are the midianites
who you believed were slaughtered by the
israelites on god's command
in the book of numbers chapter 31 a
command
to kill every male adult
child and baby to slaughter
every non-virgin female and then to take
the virgins
and plunder for themselves
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i'm sorry you cannot interfere
you're here as an observer only and
cannot physically interact with them
you are imperceptible to them
please stop this look at them pastor
is this objectively moral
i was with you amongst the people in
your congregation
long ago you were asked about this you
told us that this was justified because
the midianites convinced some of the
israelites to believe in other gods
but is that not what all religions do do
those who proselytize deserve to have
their children
butchered you come from a time and place
that values freedom of religion
so which is it you told us that god
commanded them to slaughter these people
because they led
god's people astray but isn't that
exactly
how terrorists justify their violence
look at them you told us that the
slaughter of these
children was a gift to them because it
sent them straight to heaven but is that
not a justification
to kill every child
you told us it was not rape
because the israelites married their
captive women
but do you think women so freely desire
to have
sex with the men who killed their
families
you want me to stop it now that it's
before your very eyes
pastor now that it's your family
but when it was just in your holy book
you said it was
okay and you were so quick to make
excuses for it
watch as they kill children blameless
children your child and then remember
that you yourself already
justified it all while claiming to have
the
moral high ground an objective moral
standard rooted in god's nature watch
if you can justify this as moral
then what can't you justify pastor
your disgust and shame and
horror right now is born of a moral
direction
that emerged not because of your
religion
but despite it please stop it
listen to what i'm saying now
i don't i don't give a damn what i said
in the past i
i i wasn't i was making excuses before
but
because i wanted to keep believing but
because i wanted
others to believe but but this isn't
right
take my counsel now and stop this
other people gave a damn other people
took it to heart
pastor your words affect
people your words have consequences
beyond yourself i
can't stop it pastor because it
already happened you can't
change the past but you came
you came from the future and brought me
here
that's changing the past isn't it no
pastor
i'm not just some man from the future
you see as it turns out i
am god after all
and as god i am merely an extension
of your ego in other words
i am you and that's how we know each
other so well
listen to my voice pastor and hear your
own
speaking for god is the easiest thing to
do people have been doing it for
thousands of years invoking god
to justify their actions don't worry
your family is fine
we didn't actually go anywhere
it's always the present
you can't affect the past but you can
affect the future so if you don't want
genocide to happen again the first thing
you should do
here and now is stop
justifying it
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you