Praying to be Heard

Nameless

Nameless

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Oct 22, 2015
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At the moment, Adara was still not sure what to make of her religion. For all her years she was a devout Christian, yet at the same time, she was a simple woman with simple desires, nothing grand. To say this was a great departure from what she knew would be an understatement, but she didn't freak out about it. Granted, if she weren't a non-human herself, she might be losing her mind, but the knowledge that there was more than just humans in the world made it easier to ease into this life. It was the same for her beliefs. She had her doubts, for sure, but given the misconceptions she keeps hearing from other people about unicorns, that they fart rainbows or live under them, she always had a sneaking suspicion that humans misinterpreted the greater power they always revered. In that way, at least to her, she believed that there was a higher power, but the way He was portrayed may not be a perfect representation. Now to say there were more Gods, or at least the God she believed in was only one of many, that wasn't so hard to imagine now. "I have sworn myself to God..." it looked as if she wanted to say something else, but something stopped her. Her face was riddled with guilt for a moment. "So long as He allows me, I will continue my services to Him. But I am curious, if the Vatican did know about this island, are they keeping it a secret for a reason?"
 
Romi

Romi

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Why had the Vatican kept it a secret? Angelo's first instinct was to say I don't know and leave it at that, but it felt dishonest to do so. It felt... wrong. Misleading. She'd come to the church to pray, and they'd sat down together to talk, and she had concerns about the island--there was no real point in hiding it, was there? No point in jerking her around and not saying the obvious answer.

"The island... doesn't really conform with the Catholic view. The viewpoint of the Catholic church is that demons cannot be saved. They cannot repent. A demon is a demon, an evil creature that exists only to cause pain to others, and to tempt them to sin. The church is very clear on this. A pope even ruled that the punishment of a demon was eternal, and that anyone who said otherwise was anathema."

Angelo frowned at that. It was all very... very wrong. He'd tried to make it work out, but he couldn't. There were too many flaws. Too many issues.

"But on this island there are demons who are... innocent. Who have done no wrong. Children, born as demons. I can't bring myself to really believe that god would damn them to eternal suffering for the crime of being born, with no chance of being saved."

Angelo looked very far away as he stared towards the front of the church, not quite looking at Adara. He'd all but slapped her in the face with a major theological issue, hadn't he?
 
Nameless

Nameless

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Oct 22, 2015
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Adara was speechless for a while. Not because she didn't know what to say, but she just didn't want to fight. Demons were demons. They were bad. They lead people astray. They desecrate His creations. She felt strongly against demons, but her time around them was... uncomfortable, but they hadn't done anything to her, and whenever they got in trouble in school, it was always because of something mundane. Mostly. Her stance against them may be less guarded, but she was also a firm believer of judging people by their actions. It still felt... actually, it didn't feel wrong. Maybe because they all seemed so human to her, she was just looking past their being demons. After a few more minutes, Adara remained silent, looking off to the side. "I had never questioned it before," she finally said, quietly, and without any follow-ups.
 
Romi

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"There's nothing to question," Angelo said simply. "In the narrow reality, demons are... something very far away. Honestly, I think most people think of them more like spirits, and less like real, flesh-and-blood beings. But then you get to the island, and your neighbour is a demon, and you're left wondering if you're supposed to hate them or not. Maybe your new coworkers is a god, lower-case-G. Are you supposed to hate them for being a false god?"

No. The answer was no.

"This island doesn't really work with the hard and fast rules I grew up with. It defies... every expectation, every slice of understanding. It isn't like it's particularly harsh to Catholicism either. The island does this to every religion."
 
Nameless

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Oct 22, 2015
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"Maybe... no, you have a point." Adara thought about what the officer was saying and it left her unable to retort. He spoke with so much sense, and talked like everything was a matter of fact. Maybe it was. He was involved with this island much longer than she was. Yet, she felt guilty about being taken by his opinions. This was something she needed to think about heavily. "I will take your word." She looked a few months back and remembered when she was told about Manta Carlos. The one who told Penny was the head of the monastery. He knew this place, and yet, he still taught religion. "I knew a priest who knew about this place too... Is there a way I could... contact him? Is it allowed?"
 
Romi

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It was, being realistic, absolute heresy. It was firmly anti-Catholic, if not outright anti-biblical. And he'd just said it like it was nothing.

He'd come a long way, hadn't he?

"As long as you're not trying to break the veil," he said with a shrug. "He knew about the place, so there's no veil to break. You should be able to contact him directly, whether phone or email or whatever, and maybe get a second opinion. I'm not exactly..."

Angelo paused for a moment, grimacing. "I'm not exactly impartial. That was part of why I drifted away. Because I was dealing with people close to me that I was told were evil."
 
Nameless

Nameless

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Oct 22, 2015
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"The veil?" That was the first time Adara had heard that. The priest that sent her there didn't mention anything about it, no one she came across mentioned it either. She was more curious than anything, having been told that since the priest knew, there was no veil to break. So, was it some sort of pact of secrecy? And what's more... what would happen if she broke the veil? Did the letter she wrote to her parents mean she broke it? The officer revealed that he dealt with people who he was told was evil, most likely demons or some other creatures of darkness by the tone of this conversation. "Were they friends? Family?"