‘Well, well, Tom Jefferies, you will turn us yet into a pack of coenobitic monks,’ Crispin said, in his usual jocular fashion. ‘But your declaration of Utopia, or whatever you call it, must not be padded out with your prejudices. If you recall the passage I quoted, to the benefit of everyone, from the good Alfred Wallace’s Malay Archipelago, he states that a natural sense of justice seems to be inherent in every man.
‘That may not be quite the case. Perhaps it was stated merely in the fire of Victorian optimism – a fire that has long since burned itself out. However, Belle and I believe that a natural sense of religion is inherent in every man. Sometimes it’s unrealised until trouble comes. Then people start believing all over again in the power of prayer.
‘The little nondenominational church we set up has been well attended ever since we learned about Olympus – Chimborazo, I mean – and its movements.
‘We are well aware that you are against religion and the concept of God. However, our teaching experience convinces us that religion is an evolutionary instinct, and should be allowed in your Utopia – to which we are otherwise prepared to subscribe. We need you, as chief law-giver, to realise there must be laws that go against your wishes, as there will be some laws contrary to everyone’s wishes. Otherwise there will be no reality, and the laws will fail.’
Belle now turned the power of her regard on me and reinforced what Crispin had said. Tom, our children need guidance on religion, as they do on sex and other matters. It’s useless to deny something exists just because you don’t like it, as we once denied there was life on Mars because it made us feel a bit safer. You have seen and heard the kids with their tammies – a nuisance to us maybe, but seemingly necessary to them. You must listen too to the squeaks of the godly.
‘If we are to live rational lives, then we must accept that there are certain existential matters beyond our understanding – for the present at least, and maybe always and for ever.
‘It is certainly no perversion to feel a reverence for life, for the miracle of it, for the world and for the universe. Doesn’t the discovery of Chimborazo increase our wonder? Into such reverence the idea of God slips easily. Our minds are not quantputers. They work in contradictory ways at one and the same time. It’s for this reason we sometimes seem at odds with ourselves.’
While listening intently I nevertheless noticed at this moment a fleeting smile on the face of Poulsen, who had sat motionless, not shifting his position, making no comment.
Belle was continuing. ‘Those most vehement against established religion are often proved to be those most attracted to its comforts. We exist at the heart of a complexity for which any human laws we promulgate must seem flimsy, even transitory.
‘There was a time when it was bold to take up an anti-religious stance. That time is past. Now we see that religion has played an integral role in our evolution. It has been a worldwide phenomenon for many centuries, and—’
At which point Dayo broke in, sawing the air with one hand, saying, ‘Look, Missis Belle, slavery too was a worldwide phenomenon for many centuries. It still exists Downstairs! Millions of people were snatched from West Africa to serve the white races in the New World – twenty-five million people snatched from East Africa by Islamic traders in one century alone. I have the figures!
‘Slavery isn’t done away with yet. Always it’s the rich and powerful against the poor and powerless! That doesn’t mean to say we don’t need to banish slavery – or religion. Or that these terrible things are good, just because they’re old, does it? Antiquity is no excuse. We’re trying to reform these horrible blemishes on existence.’
Dayo received a round of applause. A look of delight filled his face. He could not stop beaming.
Belle gave Dayo a nod and a tigerish smile, while seeming to continue her monologue uninterruptedly.
‘Life for all generations, more particularly in the dim and distant past, has been filled with injustice, fear, injury, illness and death. God is a consolation, a mediator, a judge, a stern father, a supreme power, ordering what seems like disorder. For many, God – or the gods – are a daily necessity, an extra dimension.