“Harmful? How?”
“You have pulled me out of productive meditation, you have stolen valuable time from me, and now, contrary to any norm of courtesy, you are forcing me to indulge in a meaningless conversation. Moreover, how did you know the subject of my meditation?”
“I shall answer your question if you promise to be open-minded and willing to entertain ideas that transcend the rules of your logic.”
“I am always open-minded and shall think reflectively and critically on what you say. But I shall analyze what you say according to the rules of human logic because they are the only basis for determining the truth or falsity or senselessness of any judgment or point of view.”
“You are generous and tolerant. First, I am not a spy, and I am not a prowler. Be assured that I shall not, in any way, violate the integrity of your mind or body.”
“But then,” Dr. Athenaion intervened, “how did you know the theme of my meditation?”
“Here comes the rub!”
“What do you mean?”
“I am a god, and as a god, I can assume the form of any human being, animal, plant, and physical or non-physical being. I can be here, there, or anywhere at the speed of light and even faster than the speed of light. I can see through the inner essence of things, mental or physical, without penetrating their doors or windows, or walls, and yet remain the god I am.”
“This is impossible. Even the gods of antiquity did not undergo a transformation of identity. They were created to perform certain functions, and they could not infringe on the functions of other gods.”
“I do not infringe on the function of other gods. My function is to administer the human death of particular people.”
“What people?”
“Genuine intellectuals and those who are truly committed to the advancement of human ideals and especially to their implementation. Any intellectual who plays a constructive role in the development of human culture is a project of the God of Love, my uncle’s adversary. I am my uncle’s assistant. My task is to see to it that the projects of this class of people are aborted before they see the light of day. But I cannot perform my function adequately unless I can undergo a transformation of identity. Anyway, why should you be surprised if you encounter a god who possesses this capacity? As a philosopher, you have all the intellectual and physical powers that enable you to survive. Similarly, as the God of Death, I was created with the capacity to assume any identity I need to perform my function. My uncle is a very busy deity. He frequently asks me to administer the death of die-hard intellectuals. I was able, after a long apprenticeship, to refine the skill of managing the death of such intellectual.”
“What are your skills?”
“I am a corrupter, and my means of corruption is seduction.”
“Seduction?” Dr. Athenaion asked.
“Yes, it is the most powerful method I use to achieve my purpose. There are many types of seduction: pleasure, power, sex, beauty, wealth, knowledge, romance, social glory, success. In short, anything the human heart desires. The means of seduction I employ are always tailored to the needs and intellectual and moral refinement of my clients. I am willing and ready to corrupt any individual by the most effective means of seduction appropriate to the individual. My ultimate aim is to undermine any decision, action, project, or any ideal or work of the God of Love. The God of Love is a god of construction. My uncle, the god of hate, is the God of Perishing. I delight in destruction. I oversee the death of the humanity of the individual, while my uncle oversees their physical perishing.”
“Do you really think,” Dr. Athenaion asked provocatively, “that hate is more powerful than love?”
“Of course!” Mowt replied with a sarcastic, arrogant chuckle.
“Are you sure?”
“Certainly!”
“What makes you sure?”
“I can refer you to the long list of my achievements if you wish, but since you are a philosopher, I shall speak your language. First, it is impossible for the idea of love to exist without the idea of hate, or the idea of construction to exist without the idea of destruction. The idea of love logically implies the idea of hate. In a state of ‘all love,’ any action, motive, goal, thought, or feeling we experience cannot be qualified as either hate or love, and in a state of ‘all hate,’ nothing in this state can be qualified as hate or love. In a state of ‘all love’ hate or destruction would not exist. People would not possess the consciousness of hate or destruction. But such a state never existed and will never exist. Hate has always existed side by side with love. We know the meaning of love as love only because we know, and experience hate and destruction. Therefore, we know what it means for something to signify construction only because we know what it means for something to denote destruction. But love is not only an idea; it is a fact, and it is a fact merely because hate is a fact. Only those who know the true meaning of love, those who Iive it and are devoted to it, know the true meaning of hate. It may strike you as strange if I say that the seeds of destruction are planted in the core of every human being, every plant, every animal, in short, everything that exists, so that the moment it comes into being it begins to pass out of being. Observe the events of nature and the action of human beings as cosmic occasions. Can you, or anyone, overlook the prevalence of destruction in the natural and human worlds?
“Now, focus your investigative attention on the destructive power of hate. Can you deny it is greater than the power of love? Have you noticed that the books of the philosophers, social scientists, and theologians revolve around love, and how the sermons of the priests, the lectures of the philosophers, and the manifestoes of the social reformers, even of some politicians, fill the air with the word ‘love’? But as an honest and accomplished philosopher, have you noticed how the distinguished leaders of your culture manage to appear as disciples of the God of Love while, in fact, they are mediocre, selfish human beings? Love has become a commodity for sale by these leaders. They and most of the people around you wear this love dress in public because it is advantageous and because this is the ‘proper’ way to appear in society. Do they wear it in the privacy of their homes, of their souls? Social workers have long lists of children, wives, handicapped, and old people who are battered at home. Pedophiles run rife in various churches and organizations. Women and children are sexually harassed in schools. Minorities and poor people in the different segments of society are discriminated against, while the degradation of secretaries in the field of private and public administration is prevalent—yes, these social workers can tell how many people in your society wear this love-dress in the privacy of their homes and souls! I assure you that if you enter the minds, souls, and hearts of the majority of your respectable citizens, the only odor you will smell is the odor of selfishness, biological survival, envy, and violence. These are forces of hate and destruction. Moreover, if you examine the processes that microscopically and macroscopically constitute the structure of nature, you will discover that they are processes of change and that they will sooner or later cease to exist.” Mowt stopped, took a deep breath, allowed a sarcastic smirk to hover at the corner of his mouth, and then continued, “I shall not bore you with examples, because you are a highly conversant scholar, but one more example should shed more light on my claim that the power of hate is greater than the power of love.
“Allow your imagination to leave the human world and stand on the peak of the highest mountain that overlooks the course of human civilization from its earliest stirrings to the present. Yes, stand on that peak and survey its course reflectively and critically, as you are wont to say—what does this course look like? You will agree with me that it looks like a series of rising and falling civilizations, empires, and cultures. Each one of them rises, reaches a peak of development or maturation, and then declines, sometimes fast and other times slowly. But they, and every