Chapter 10 from Yulia Basharova’s Book “Fayina’s Dream” on Religion

In this article, we present a portion of the book’s chapter where the heroine meets the Archangel Michael and shows him her own understanding of the biblical texts. This is an atheistic view of the Bible, which rejects all metaphysics and sees only the pure essence and allegories in the sacred book’s texts.

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Chapter 10

Apology of Ignorance

She opened her notes and gave the phone to Michael. This is what was written there:

God – People who create and improve the world. People with high moral standards, who are fair, kind, and humanists.

Jesus Christ – People who share useful knowledge, ideas, or their work with others and contribute to progress. Humanists, volunteers.

Holy Trinity – The synthesis of the aspiration for good, knowledge, and action.

Satan – People who destroy the world. Dishonest, evil, selfish people who do not think of others, but act strictly in their own narrow self-interest.

Demons – Assistants to destructive leaders of all stripes. Traitors who band together to overcome honest people.

Man (Human) – People who have no firm position, go with the flow, forgive themselves their sins; in short, the gray mass, neither fish nor fowl. They very often easily turn into demons if they fall under bad influence.

Heaven and Earth (that God created) – Society, the social environment. Heaven – a society where life is easier and simpler, where laws work for the people, and mutual aid flourishes. Earth – a society with savage people, where there are war, devastation, and poverty.

The Casting Down of Satan from Heaven – Righteous people have expelled a destructive person or criminal from society, a company, or a family. The banished person ends up in prison or worse living conditions but does not admit guilt and continues to cause harm, blaming others instead of themselves, turning everything upside down.

Angels – The virtues of a person.

Imps – The passions and sins of a person.

The Word of God – Laws and humanism.

Holy Spirit – Knowledge, intellectual capital.

In the beginning was the Word – This means that your every word shapes the world. There are no harmless words. Every word either destroys or creates. The words of a sinner are the words of Satan. The words of a righteous person are the words of God. If your words drag the world into ruin, you are Satan. If you say constructive things, you are God. If you told your neighbor that war is necessary, then you contributed to the war. Words create events.

Sin – A foolish, short-sighted action that will lead to destruction and complication of life, sometimes only your own, but eventually that of society as a whole.

Hell – A bad life on Earth, resulting from accumulated foolishness and sins.

Heaven (Paradise) – An excellent life on Earth, luck, and joy, resulting from the right choices, reasonable actions, and freedom from sin.

The Apple and the Serpent – Symbols of temptation by pride. The desire to be better than others. The desire to possess an object that will bring them closer to the best. Envy of the best. With these motives, Adam and Eve tasted the fruit through a crime. That is, to disobey God means to commit a crime against humanity.

The Shame of Nakedness after Adam and Eve ate the apple – People began to see that they were worse than others, different in some way, and started to cover up their inner selves with masks. That is, they tasted pride and became sick with this sin. This is a symbol of hypocrisy and the habit of people showing their best sides while carefully hiding and denying their sins.

God’s Wrath for Adam and Eve’s Disobedience – The consequence of a wrong action and people’s reaction to it: anger, a complaint, punishment, or threat.

Adam and Eve’s Denial of Their Sin – This is the behavior of the proud, who cowardly try to whitewash themselves and shift the blame onto another. Shifting responsibility onto others. The meaning of the analogy is that everyone must bear responsibility for themselves.

Garden of Eden – A place where people live comfortably, where there is no evil, no envy, and where everything is given easily to everyone in equal measure. But to live in this place, one must obey the Law of God. That is, to choose good.

Expulsion from Eden – The consequence of denying guilt. A person is entangled in an error, has not repented, has not corrected it, tried to make fools of others, and therefore reaps the rewards; life has become worse and more difficult. And the pile of problems grows every day.

Judas and 30 Pieces of Silver – Any betrayal, not necessarily the betrayal of a comrade for profit. This also includes the betrayal of an ideal, that is, self-betrayal. And the profit here is not necessarily measured in money. It could be a profit in the form of satisfying vanity, for example. And this is practically irreversible. Even repentance and an attempt to return the “pieces of silver” will not be accepted, and the person will destroy themselves, just like Judas, who, in the biblical narrative, hanged himself when the priests refused to take the money back. That is, this is not about actual suicide. It’s about suicide of self-respect, and thus self-esteem. And it is not the priests who will reject the repentance, but you yourself. Low self-esteem further leads to sin and often turns into pride.

The Crucifixion of Christ – The destruction of competitors who are smarter than you. Intolerance toward those who are kinder, smarter, and braver. Envy of those whom society admires. As a result, depriving oneself of a better life in society. By removing innovators from your path, you worsen life and slow down progress. That is, you harm yourself.

Jesus Took on the Sins of Man – A person who takes a risk to correct the errors of society is a hero. They see these sins and risk themselves just to convey the truth to people and save them from the consequences of their mistakes, to stop them. Thus, every opposition figure to a rotten government, every innovator in science, every honest writer — takes on the sin of the people. They process it through themselves. They alone will answer for the common sin; they will listen to criticism of their ideas, but they do this consciously.

The Resurrection of Jesus – A person who made a great contribution to the development of society and entered history. They are remembered, quoted, and books are written about them. This is also a symbol that a correct and honest idea is impossible to kill; it will still be resurrected, sooner or later.

Biblical Prophecies – These are just approximate scenarios for the development of events, depending on people’s behavior.

Prophets and False Prophets – Prophets are revolutionaries who bring constructive ideas, and false prophets are those revolutionaries who bring destructive ideas. An example of false prophets: people who claim that religion was invented for enslavement, although this is delusional nonsense: religion teaches mutual aid and responsibility. Or, a person incites society to war, claiming that war will bring good and benefit to the people. A false prophet pushes society downward, toward degradation.

Eternal Life – Fame, the memory of a person in humanity.

Antichrist – Rotten government that tortures people with wars, robs ordinary people, and turns them into slaves. That is, every society has its own Antichrist. And the Antichrist only comes to sinful people. That is, literally: don’t sin yourselves, and then you won’t elect a sinner as your ruler. Like attracts like.

Apocalypse or Noah’s Flood – Any bad event generated by society itself, such as war.

Blaspheming God or the Holy Spirit – Condemning good deeds, innovative developments, the achievements of humanity, or individual humanist activists. Example of blasphemy: presenting Wikipedia as a propaganda tool of the West for starting wars, even though it is a communal achievement and only brings benefit. Or condemning the Western way of life, its society — that is, deliberately portraying what is good as wicked. Tolerance, for example, is presented as an instrument of corruption. Or, the persecution of the great writer Leo Tolstoy, when he was sent a rope for hanging in the mail, simply because he wrote explanations for the Bible so people could understand and use it more easily. By the way, all sins according to the Bible are forgiven, but this one is the most terrible: there is no forgiveness or salvation for the one who blasphemes the Holy Spirit. And there is a very simple logic to this. Those who do not seek to know the truth are simply impossible to save. That’s all.

God’s Punishment – Society’s response to harmful deeds. For example, you were “punched in the face” for an insult, or your insult was answered in a way that deeply offended you. Or war, in response to the scorn of other nations’ customs. Or prison for theft. You must also remember that one sin creates a chain reaction, and people behave identically. Thus, sooner or later, you yourself usually become the victim of a similar crime or meanness that you yourself committed. This is simply a natural phenomenon, and there is no metaphysics in it. It may not happen, but most likely, it will.

The Last Judgment – The torments of conscience, the drop in self-esteem resulting from wrong actions.

The Dead Shall Rise – An event where people begin to intensively use forgotten knowledge and mention authors or former leaders. This happens during moments of catastrophe or upheaval, when there are division and disputes in society.

Salvation through Faith – If you apply the commandments, it is easy to establish a comfortable life in society and your own personal one. This will simply be the logical outcome of correct, sinless actions.

Asking God for Forgiveness, Repenting before God – Asking for forgiveness from good people whom you have harmed, consciously or unconsciously. And then these people will turn their faces toward you, stop taking revenge, stop insulting; wars will stop if you ask people for forgiveness. That is, God will have mercy. For example, in any war (real or metaphorical), two sides are always to blame, and it doesn’t matter who attacked. They both sin. And it makes sense for everyone to ask forgiveness for their sins.

Signs of the Second Coming of Christ – After cruel events, such as wars, revolutions, and other chaos, presumably, people should become wiser and correct their mistakes. If they correct them, everything will be fine.

The Second Coming of Christ – This refers to the state of society, and under no circumstances should one think this is about the arrival of a specific king or person. It has already existed for a long time in many civilized countries; “Christ” arrived long ago. There are no wars there, there are fair wages, laws work, many people engage in volunteering, the poor are fed for free, etc. For each country, there is its own second coming. In Grabland and Stirland, it certainly hasn’t happened yet.

“The dead shall rise…” Michael thoughtfully repeated Fayina’s words. “Well, for instance, in this war, who hasn’t ‘resurrected’? From Gripperson to Derranger…”

“I see the Bible as a work of fiction. The essence of our life is described there in allegories,” Fayina explained. “And it describes four main types of human behavior. The righteous are God, the brave revolutionaries are Jesus, the gray mass is Man, and the harmful criminals are Satan. These examples show how events can unfold if one behaves one way or another. And the main meaning of the Bible is: serve the people, and you will find happiness; good will conquer evil. That is, serving God is serving humanity. If you read the Bible and keep my deciphering of the terms in mind, there is no confusion, and everything is very easy to understand.”

“I can’t disagree,” Michael nodded affirmatively. “You’ve made a good point: everyone should become Jesus. And share with the world what they are good at. Simply because it’s right and will ultimately improve the quality of your own life as well.”

“Exactly! It’s so logical!” Fayina continued enthusiastically. “The Bible says that our Universe is made by people. And the events on Earth depend on the behavior of each of us, right? When you understand that God is the best part of humanity that created everything around, it’s hard to be Satan and harm God, that is, people. For example, I see a prayer of thanks to God like this: you pay respect to the people who created such a convenient world. It may not always be perfect, but it’s better than caves.”

“That’s right. The Bible describes individualism. The anarchy you’ve read so much about. That is, a person should live so as not to cause harm, and ideally, to be useful and contribute to the progress and prosperity of the whole society. But progress is evident, and that’s encouraging. The words of Matthew, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few,’ are still relevant two thousand years later, but there are more and more laborers, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yes, yes!” Fayina enthusiastically agreed. “If two thousand years ago, Jesus so shocked society with his atypical behavior — when he simply went and started calling on society to be kinder to each other, to help — that they created a MIRACLE and a religion out of him, such things are quite commonplace now. We don’t even pay attention to the existence of Wikipedia, for example. It’s so mundane that only a few percent of users donate money to them! Or artificial intelligence given to people for free. We see the fruits of the labor of these ‘laborers’ at every turn! And they are all Jesuses.”

“To be fair, Jesus is a composite image,” Michael clarified. “Back then, heretics like him were executed almost daily.”

“Heretics?” Fayina asked in surprise.

“Heretics,” Michael repeated, smiling thinly, as if she had asked something very foolish.

“Right!” Fayina slapped her forehead. “He supposedly went into the temples and complained about the commerce there and beat the Pharisees.”

“Pharisaism was a religion back then,” Michael began to explain, “and the Pharisees were just followers of that denomination. There were more of them then, and Christians were a small sect. It was only later that the term came to mean hypocrites who, under the guise of righteousness, don’t see their own sinfulness and smugly, ambitiously judge their neighbors. They are the ones who crucified Jesus himself because he was a heretic and challenged religious dogmas.”

“So, what does that mean…” Fayina was amazed. “It means that modern Christianity is simply an outrage against Jesus himself? They named their new religion after him? That’s Pharisaism in its purest form!”

“More likely yes than no,” Michael replied uncertainly, “if you recall the Inquisition and other deeds of religious fanatics.”

“And now?” Fayina perked up. “Try telling a believer what I’m telling you! They’ll curse you! And start condemning you for daring to discuss holy things at all. They act as if only they understand what’s right and only the chosen are given the ability to understand the Bible. It’s so disgusting to hear. Honestly, as soon as I hear someone boasting that they are observing Lent, for example, that’s already a clear diagnosis — mentally retarded.”

“Indeed, holy things — sanctities — are the very idolatry that Jesus spoke out against,” Michael said with regret. “And foolish people always find a reason to be proud of some absurdity or an affiliation with some movement. They find a reason in everything to exalt themselves above others.”

“Or try to prove to them that Heaven and Hell are in this life, not the next! For them, the fairy tale about Hell and Heaven is also a sanctity! And the Apostle Peter definitely stands there meeting souls at the gates of Heaven! If you say that the Apostle Peter is just an image, they’ll tear you to shreds. For them, he’s a reality, and that’s that.”

“You could try asking them this question,” Michael laughed. “If you seriously believe that Heaven exists, then how is Heaven divided, considering there is more than just your one religion in the world? Do you think Heaven is split into sections, where in one part there is Christian Heaven, in another Muslim Heaven, in a third Jewish Heaven, and in each section stands a character from the holy book? If so, how is Heaven technically divided, and most importantly — by whom? Who divides it?”

“Haha!” Fayina laughed out loud. “Is space being rented up in the sky, like a server on the internet or something? Where does the payment for the dedicated server go? And what’s the cost of the tariff plan?”

“Something like that, yes. That question usually helps,” Michael replied. “In any case, they fall silent and try to change the subject.”

“And I usually ask them this: Well, if the modern God is sitting in Heaven now, then where are the Gods of the past? Do you mean to say that the Christian God killed the pagan Gods? Or did they just leave? But where? Where did they disappear from Heaven?”

“Exactly!” Michael chimed in. “And most importantly, how do you explain the fact that modern religions describe things that were in culture before Christianity? For example, there’s the Epic of Gilgamesh, which describes the flood of sinners. And much of the Bible is borrowed from ancient myths. So, there’s no point in arguing with the ignorant; it’s better to save your nerves.”

“Do you know what one famous military commander said?” Fayina recalled. “The sign of a fool is pride; of people of mediocre mind, it’s meanness; and of a person of true merit, it’s elevated feelings covered by modesty.”

“Suvorov,” Michael nodded.

“You know everything? Absolutely everything?” Fayina clarified.

“No, of course not. You just said that phrase, and I recognized it, cross-checked it,” Michael answered simply.

“Like, you Googled it in the moment?”

“Yes, something like that,” Michael chuckled and pointed a finger to his temple. “I have Google built in here.”

“Here’s another thing that surprises me. The question of reading the Bible,” Fayina continued. “People are sure that some sacred knowledge is hidden there, not accessible to everyone. They say the Bible must be read more than once, and only then will the truth and the mystery of the universe be revealed to you. I’ve heard many times that the Bible must be read diligently for two years and reread many times, contemplating the texts. But I still don’t understand what’s so special to grasp or learn there? It’s just life stories! Pure allusions. Well, that’s how it seems to me.”

“Oh, that’s disgusting,” Michael winced in distaste. “We’re coming back to Pharisaism. The Bible is obvious, and it’s simple to read, like any other book. It is, indeed, a collection of life stories. Each has a setup, plot, and resolution. And the meaning is simple: you sinned — things will be bad; you didn’t sin or you repented — things will be good. You don’t need to pay attention to the details and specifics. Considering those times and the level of societal development, even sacrificing infants on the altar might be depicted as a good and righteous thing. The main thing is what is written at the end, how the story concluded. That is the main moral of the work. Strictly speaking, the Bible itself offers a hint: The Holy Spirit will help you understand the Bible. That is, a person’s inherent erudition. The more a person knows, the easier it is to understand this obvious book.”

“I’ve always been of that opinion, by the way,” Fayina noted contentedly. “But there’s one thing I can’t understand: Does the Bible bring more benefit or harm, considering the Pharisaism it breeds? Was Hopeson right when he tore down churches?”

“I don’t know,” Michael shrugged. “Regarding Hopeson, you’d better ask the dark forces; they are more competent in that, I might get confused in the logical chain. Ask them sometime when you meet them. But as for whether it brings more benefit or harm, well… You answered your own question! You gave the example of people like Jesus, who are increasing in number, and it’s already progressed to free artificial intelligence and encyclopedias available to everyone. That’s the answer to your question.”

“Right…” Fayina agreed. “The Ten Commandments played a very large role here, yes. They are the foundation of many political doctrines, including anarchism. And communism, too. Yes, yes. That was a foolish question.”

“And notice what is happening to you now, here in Ireland,” Michael looked at her with a smile. “Are you aware that you are eating manna from heaven? Which was given to you by God, that is, by people, according to your own reasoning?”

“Wow,” Fayina froze in amazement. “Exactly! Seriously, it’s hard to imagine. I ended up on the other side of the Earth, but thanks to people, I can eat, live under a roof, and in warmth… It’s a miracle!”

“Well, there you see,” Michael replied and gestured with his hand toward the space, specifically toward the supermarket, although it wasn’t visible from there. “You’ve ended up in Paradise and are picking free fruit in the Garden of Eden. You could say that.”

“From Hell to Heaven! What?! Wait a minute… The Stirlandians created Hell for themselves, and the Irish created Paradise for people? Without separating them into their own and others’? Right?”

“Yes, yes,” Michael chuckled. “Everything is simpler than it seems.”

“Wow, that has really struck me. Truly struck me. You took my own line of reasoning to its logical conclusion. And yes, you are right that the foundation of all this is their religious beliefs. There are quite a few believers among them. But I don’t understand… How is it that the Bible is the same for everyone, but the Europeans follow the rules, and our people don’t?”

“Well…” the Archangel mused. “It’s probably a matter of the duration of use. Europe adopted Christianity six centuries before you. And by and large, only a century ago, Europe was not much different from you in terms of thinking, despite being older.”

“That’s very nice,” Fayina sighed in disappointment. “So, we should expect changes in about five hundred years.”

“Things can happen faster. There is the internet now, and it accelerates the progress of knowledge,” Michael disagreed. “Do you know what’s missing in your reasoning? The concept of the Ten Commandments; you haven’t elaborated on that at all. Let me put this in your notes so you don’t forget. It will be important for your work at the ‘sites.’ You need to learn how to explain to people why sinning is unprofitable for them personally. That is the most accurate definition — unprofitable. You need to convince them that sin is what will lead you to rock bottom, one way or another. Or to Hell in this life. I will explain the meaning to you using the example of the ten Christian commandments, according to your own understanding of Bible terminology.”

“Should I really talk about commandments like that?” Fayina wondered. “It’s just that people are unlikely to be convinced by it. Well, if it’s just about one commandment, without explaining everything in detail. Especially if the person has never delved into it and only knows that God is God. And there’s no time to explain in detail…”

“I agree,” Michael nodded. “It’s pointless. Then, use these explanations only in cases where a person has the thought of violating a commandment. That’s when you explain it; they will listen quickly then.”

Michael asked for her phone, opened a new note, and tapped on the keyboard. Immediately, before Fayina’s eyes, a large text appeared, and he handed the phone back to her. Fayina shook her head, and the only thing she could say was, “Well, I’ll be…”

This is the note she saw and immersed herself in reading.