Humanity's Evolution, Part IV

By Renee Hughes

A deep silence came over the gathering until a Little Dragon sitting on the farthest edges of the crowd broke it. "I am not sure that is the question we should be asking ourselves."

I peered in the direction of the speaker, a young man, whose self-confident air came across loud and clear in the energetic as well as the physical plane.

Ezekiel gave the man an annoyed look. "I am surprised to see you here Gershom," he said.

The name sounded familiar.

"I don't see why. I am very concerned about the information you are giving to the public at large today," Gershom said.

Then I remembered. He is also a historical anthropologist but his specialties lay in societies existing before the 21st century. Gershom is an indisputable expert on the social structures of these prior civilizations. He and I were supposed to do this talk together, but then he declined.

"If you are so concerned, how come you are not up here helping me with this lecture," I said to him.

Gershom them moved through the sea of people until he stood right next to me. "Because I disagree with your entire premise," he said and turned towards my audience. "The planet project is all about the future. These new physical entities should be created and allowed to make their own judgments about morality without any help from us."

I just stared at him stunned by his view. "You should know better than anyone the damage one human can do to another through misguided ideas. Every mistake, every injustice committed will be our responsibility."

"You are absolutely correct," He said staring right at me. "The same can be said for our own Creator. How much guidance were we given and look what we accomplished."

I gave a frustrated sigh. He was dragging out an old argument. Our ancestors believed that the One who made us choose to reveal him or herself to very specific people. Unfortunately, the beliefs formed during these encounters all differed. A unifying idea that all our ancestors could embrace was never given. Instead, terrible conflicts raged as one belief system vied for supremacy over all others. The issue of a person's religion became a truly sensitive topic for our ancestors. Many derived great purpose, joy and peace from their specific set of spiritual rules while others felt ridiculed, oppressed and devalued from the same rules.

The First Age of Enlightenment changed how we viewed religion. People were finally allowed to believe whatever they wanted as long as it didn't hurt others. Disagreements still exist but the notion of free choice is always valued.

"We could have accomplished a lot more, if we knew at our emergence what we know now," I said to him.

"You don't know that," Gershom said. "What if the opposite was true? Knowledge without the experience could have prevented us from reaching the age of enlightenment."

"So you believe that we should allow an entire civilization that we create to grow without a single piece of advice from us?" I asked him folding my arms.

"Yes," he said without flinching. He then turned back to the audience, which had been listening intently to our discussion. "Because any piece of guidance you give them no matter how well-intentioned will interfere with their basic right to choose."

"No it won't," I said. "The new physical entities can decide for themselves if what we say is valuable for them."

"I doubt it," he retorted. "If your god comes down to you at your emergence and tells you what you need to do to achieve paradise, are you going to disagree?"

"Little Dragons aren't gods," I said offended by his analogy. "Nor do we have any intention of allowing them to believe that we are."

"And yet," he said turning back to me. "That is what they will believe because they will be awed by what they don't yet understand."

I hated to admit it, but he had a valid point. Our progeny would probably view us as better than themselves instead of as merely different. "The risk of us becoming gods is very real," I acknowledged. "But that doesn't change my belief that we need to give them some guidance. It is all well and good to stand here and debate what will or will not happen. But the truth is these entities are living breathing people and deserve to know as much as they can comprehend of what we know. I think they can surpass us and be better than we ever were. After all isn't that the reason we have children? Not so they can merely be like us but so they can be even better than their parents."

People began nodding their heads. I could see as well as sense that my argument had won over Gershom's point.

That ends Part IV. Next month is Part V. If you have enjoyed this piece, please consider giving a donation of time or money to your favorite charity. A few worthwhile local organizations are Safe Futures, Inc., Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut and Thames Valley Council for Community Action. Together we can make a difference!