Three Wise Men

It’s was the last Friday evening of the year and Gio was sat in Maggie’s Bar waiting for Michael and Patrick, occasionally sipping from his bottle of Bud.

After a while, Gio spotted Michael coming through the door, stamping his feet heavily on the wooden floor in an effort to shake off the muddy snow caked on his boots. But his futile efforts only gained him a scornful look from Jess as she saw the trail of wet foot prints across the floor.

“Hi Gio, what’s up,” said Michael with his customary greeting.

“Hi, I’m fine.”

“No problem getting a seat in the house tonight, then,” said Michael as he sat down next to Gio ensconcing himself on the bar stool. “It’s quiet here tonight.”

“Yeah. I guess it’s because nobody’s got any spare cash after Christmas, that and the cold weather; keeps ’em indoors.”

“What’ll you have?” said Gio catching Maggie’s attention by raising his half empty bottle toward her.

“A glass of Merlot, please. Winter’s here at last; all this snow gets you down after a few days; muddy slush everywhere.”

Gio noticed the pool of melted slush now forming under Michael’s bar stool which looked like he’d been caught short.

“You know when my kids were younger, they’d go crazy when they woke up and looked out the window and saw the first snow of the winter,” said Gio. “And, even now I still enjoy seeing the freshness the first snow brings; a glistening white blanket carpeting the land. But after a week of it you’ve had enough of freezing hands and feet, and when it thaws there’s slush everywhere.”

“Ah! Here’s Patrick at last,” announced Gio turning round to Maggie. “Could I have a Jameson on the rocks as well for the old man here?”

“Hi guys, and less of the old man,” said Patrick.

“Thanks, Gio. Cheers,” said Patrick picking up his glass. “Always quiet this time of year, isn’t it? Everybody’s away.”

“Or saving the drinking for New Year’s Eve tomorrow night,” added Gio. “And then it’s the start of dry January next week for many.”

“Well may be for some, but not for me. It’s more of a damp January for me,” said Michael thinking of Amanda’s futile efforts at keeping her past New Year’s resolutions to give up drinking.

“That’s my approach too. My philosophy in life is everything in moderation,” added Gio nonchalantly picking up a large fistful of the pretzel bar snacks.

“Did you guys have a good break?” asked Patrick. “My mother-in law came to us on Christmas Day which put the dampers on the day a bit, but the kids enjoyed their grandma’s company and Sarah did a lovely big roast goose for dinner with all the trimmings.”

“Hard luck,” said Gio sympathetically. “No big family gathering for us this year. We had ours back on Thanksgiving with Gemma’s parents. Me and Gemma’s mum don’t see eye to eye on most things, so we have a sort of unspoken agreement that she keeps away at Christmas. So, there was just the two of us this Christmas and of course the kids; Marco and Mia.”

“Hey, did you guys watch any of the big movies over the break?” asked Patrick.

“No, I’ve seen ’em all before; all repeats,” said Michael.

“We all sat down and watched the Godfather. Seen it before, but it’s still a great movie to watch again,” said Patrick.

“The scene where the Hollywood mogul wakes up with the dead horse’s head in his bed is the one that gets Emma, frightens the life out her every time she sees it. Even though she’s seen it a million times,” said Gio. “And I could never understand what Marlon Brando was saying half the time; always mumbling with all that cotton wool stuffed in his cheeks, and I know Italian.”

Gio puffed out his cheeks, “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

“You know what Gio, you’re not the Godfather, but you know Fredo; one of his sons. When I was watching the movie, I thought that’s Gio; you look just like Fredo,” said Patrick.

“No way. I look nothing like him.”

“Now you mention it Patrick, you do Gio; you’re Fredo’s double,” said Michael.

“Well, if I’m Fredo, Patrick, then you remind me of Hagrid out of the Harry Potter movies, you know the tall guy with the long beard; we watched it with the kids over Christmas.”

“Ha, you’re right,” said Michael. “You could be Hagrid, Patrick, you’re just like him. But you’d have to grow your hair a bit longer and put on a Scottish accent. So, you guys. Did you watch any James Bond movies over the break – do I maybe remind you of James Bond by chance?”

“No way Mikey. You flatter yourself,” said Gio. “You’re too tall and skinny for James Bond. Though you have got the Aston. No, you’ve got to be Gordon Gekko out of Wall Street.”

“Huh, same name as me; Michael Douglas. So, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“But you’ll need to get some wide braces to hold up your pants and no more long loaded lunches with wimps,” said Gio.

“As if I ever do. Lunch is a grabbed Subway sandwich at my desk these days.”

“So, Mike?” asked Patrick. “How was your break?”

“Oh! Just the usual, the same as every year. Having no kids and both our parents having long since gone makes for a quiet day. I got up a little later than usual, I must admit, and made Amanda a champagne and smoked salmon breakfast in bed followed by the present giving. She always has a knack of guessing correctly what I’m giving her but she always has a gift that surprises me. Then I went out for my ritual Christmas morning run through Central Park, came back and showered. Then it was time to crack open the second bottle of champagne for the day.”

While there was a lull in the conversation, Michael thought about how much Amanda had drunk on Christmas Day and her growing alcoholic problem. By mid-afternoon she was totally drunk; wide eyed and legless as they say. She had become increasingly argumentative as the day wore on and by early evening she was crashed out on their bed. But it wasn’t just at Christmas; it was becoming a regular occurrence almost every weekend now. He knew that in the new year he would have to confront her about seeking help; a task he was not looking forward to. But he knew something had to change to save their rapidly deteriorating relationship due to her drinking.

It was Gio who brought him out of his reverie.

“At this time of the year you always wonder what it’s all about and why we celebrate Christmas. It’s a great time for families, and don’t get me wrong, me and Emma always have a great time, but it’s more for the kids nowadays. All the religion’s been forgotten. And I’ve often wondered if it’s coincidental that Christmas is on the 25th just after the midwinter solstice, the shortest day of the year. You know those mid-winter blues that everyone gets around December, especially when the cold weather’s dragging on and it seems a long haul until the spring. I guess Christmas all started when folks celebrated the passing of the shortest day and it was all downhill from then; an easy ride to the end of winter.”

“All very true Gio, but we forget that Christmas is a Christian festival celebrating the birth of Jesus,” corrected Patrick with a school masterly tone. “Christians believe that God came into the world in the form of man, that is His Son, Jesus, to make amends for the sins of humanity, and this was the main reason for celebrating Christmas. But, to answer your question, as there was no record of Jesus’ birth date, the Church fixed the date much later in the fourth century as December 25 which corresponded to the date of the winter solstice on the Roman calendar.”

“But something interesting I learnt from one of the Arabic plumbers at work,” said Gio. “Most Orthodox and Arabic Christians hold Christmas not on December 25 but later, on January 7. And two of the guys are Russian and they also celebrate Christmas later. It always causes me a real headache every January with manpower shortages, as it’s one of the busiest times of the year with central heating systems breaking down and thawing pipes leaking. The phone never stops ringing – but I shouldn’t moan; it’s all good business.”

Patrick momentarily raised his eyebrows in surprise at this snippet of information from Gio and wondered if he was aware that the Coptic Arabic Christians in Egypt, Sudan and Libya were one of the earliest Christian communities from the first century far preceding Islam in those countries by hundreds of years. But he mentally pigeon holed it for a later chat with Gio and went onto explain. “That’s because most Orthodox Christians follow the Roman Julian calendar, rather than the Gregorian calendar that was adopted in Europe in the late 1500s. The dates of several other Christian holidays, including Easter, also differ between the two Churches.”

“But, celebrating the winter solstice was not unique to Christianity and was recognized before by many pagan peoples and had been for thousands of years,” said Michael.

“Yes, that’s right,” agreed Patrick. “What I do know is that leading up to the time of Jesus, the Romans celebrated midwinter with at least five days of feasting and partying.”

Michael picked up the thread, secretly pleased to have the opportunity to demonstrate his knowledge of the ancient cultures and mythologies. “Yes; it was called the Saturnalia, in honor of Saturn, chief of the Roman gods. It was a time when all the usual rules about rank and etiquette were overturned. Slaves were served at meals by their masters, gambling; which was usually forbidden, was allowed, and instead of white togas or dresses everyone wore bright party clothes. Public feasts were followed by celebrations at home with songs and poems, and people exchanged small gifts or jokey presents.”

“Sounds like my kind of fancy-dress party,” said Gio.

“And Patrick, while you lived in London did you ever visit Stonehenge?” asked Michael. “Because that has its foundations in the ancient celebrations of the summer and winter solstices around June 21 and December 21. Incidentally, not to be confused with the spring and autumn equinoxes which are when the nights and the days are twelve hours each; from the Latin for equal night. They equinoxes occur normally around March 21 and September 23.”

“Yes, Stonehenge’s not far out of London on Salisbury Plain, and we did have a day trip out there one summer. From what I can remember, you’re right. The stone pillars of Stonehenge align with the Sun on those solstice days. Surprisingly it was free to visit and you could walk right up to the stones which are absolutely massive. But I’ve heard it’s all fenced off now and you have to pay to get in. The ancient Britons somehow dragged some of them hundreds of miles from Wales. We didn’t stay long though, because the place was surrounded by hippies camping out and getting ready for the Midsummer festivities that evening. Also, my dad wanted to visit a tank museum nearby, which to be quite honest as a ten year old kid and just getting into war games, I found far more interesting. Oh! and my dad knew a good old English pub in the local village, which had a reputation for serving good Irish Guinness and was probably the real reason for us visiting that neck of the woods in the first place.”

“It wasn’t just the hippies and the present day Druids who celebrate the Midsummer’s Eve at Stonehenge,” explained Michael. “It’s thought that the Stone Age people also held feasts there on the solstices. You know, it was first started some 5,000 years ago which pre-dates many other historic monuments, with the main circles being built 2,500 years ago. It’s in the top ten ancient monuments in the world in terms of age and completeness.”

Michael took a sip of his Merlot before carrying on, while Gio continued munching on the pretzels.

“But when we think about ancient religions we often think of the Egyptians and their pyramids rather than little old Britain. At around the same time, 5,000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians worshipped a sun god called Ra, who had the head of a hawk and wore the Sun as a blazing disk in his crown. He was the ruler of the heavens. At the winter solstice when Ra, that is the Sun, began to recover from his illness, the Egyptians filled their homes with green palm branches, which symbolized for them the triumph of life over illness and death.”

“But it wasn’t only the Egyptians, many other ancient people believed that the Sun was a god and that winter came every year because the sun god had become sick or weak. They celebrated the winter solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would begin to get strong again. Evergreen branches reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong enough to allow summer to return,” explained Michael.

“Yes,” said Patrick, “But coming back to Christmas and its religious beginnings, which is where we started this conversation. Moving on a bit from ancient times to the Middle Ages. In the northern hemisphere, midwinter was a natural time for a feast. In the medieval farming communities, the harvest work was finished for the year and there was nothing left to do in the fields. So, it was a great opportunity for people to celebrate. The Church had a far greater influence on people’s lives than it does now so the midwinter and religious festivities became entwined; with twelve days of Christmas festivities, reaching a peak on January 6, the ‘Twelfth Night’ when presents were exchanged. The religious celebrations commemorated Jesus Christ’s birth with Christ’s Mass; which of course got shortened to the one word, Christmas. Medieval celebrations also combined the pagan feast of Yule, which celebrated midwinter, with the Roman Saturnalia antics of role reversal of servants as masters, and gift giving, which you mentioned Mike. During the feast of Yule, a large log was placed on the fire and evergreens were brought inside to decorate the houses. And we still eat Yule logs at this time of year.”

“So do you start to see the picture now of how Christmas and Christmas decorations evolved from pagan midwinter celebrations?” said Patrick, looking at his two friends for confirmation of his conclusion. “The actual Christmas tree tradition first started in the 16th century in Germany when Christians brought trees into their homes but it clearly derives from the pagan practice of bringing greenery indoors in midwinter starting with the Egyptians and then with the Europeans in the Middle Ages.”

“What about Santa Claus then, where did he come from?” asked Gio. “Was he originally a pagan god?”

“No not exactly. Santa Claus is a direct descendent of England’s Father Christmas and he and his other European variations are based on old pagan ideas about spirits who traveled across the sky in midwinter,” said Patrick. “

“So now I see how Christmas has its origins in the midwinter solstice celebration,” summed up Gio. “And it’s interesting to hear how some of these religious festivities started and the history behind them.”

“You know guys,” said Michael pausing momentarily for an intake of breath, “last week we were talking about God and Jesus and the reasons why people are religious and so on, and I feel a bit guilty. I was going on a bit and doing all the talking; probably had a drop too much of the old Merlot, and I didn’t give you guys much of a chance to talk. It’d be good to hear your thoughts, Patrick; being a man of God. You studied religion at college, didn’t you? So, tell us about the history surrounding religions. You’ve certainly heard what I think about God and Jesus and we’ve talked about the reasons for religion and for Christmas and so on, so perhaps you can tell us how religions evolved? Hit us with a few facts about the age of religion and how they spread around the globe.”

“And Gio, please play the devil’s advocate and jump in anytime,” said Michael instantly regretting what he’d said as it came over more as an afterthought.

“Yes, that’s right, I think I mentioned last week, didn’t I? I studied Theology at college along with Biology of all subjects; which tends to give you a balanced view of how science and religion co-exist. And I also tend to read a lot of historical articles in the church magazines at St Joseph’s, which I occasionally write for, and you pick-up a lot from chatting with the other church goers.”

“And who knows? Maybe I can persuade you Mike, that science and religion can reside comfortably together in the same room.”

“Science will fly us to the stars, but religion into skyscrapers,” said Michael humorously. “Something I heard one of the guys at work say once, when we were shooting the breeze about religion.”

“So now, where to start? What are the main religions? Where did they start and how did they spread around the globe?” said Patrick more to himself as he gathered his thoughts. “You know, religions they tend to fall into two categories; monotheism and polytheism. I know it sounds a little deep, but bear with me and let me explain. Monotheism is the belief in the existence of just one God, and polytheism is the belief in the existence of many gods.”

“The major religions in the West which includes Islam, Christianity and Judaism are monotheistic religions. They’ve been in existence from about 2,000 years with Islam as the most recent having been founded by Mohammed just 1,400 years ago. Though as you mentioned Mike last week, their roots can be found in the ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman mythologies and religions. Islam of course is also prevalent in many Asian and Eastern countries; including the Indian sub-continent which collectively has the largest Muslim population in the world followed closely by Indonesia.”

“Apart from Islam, the other major South Asian and Eastern religions tend to be polytheistic but in many cases one god tends to be worshipped much more than the others. For example, Shiva is the main deity in Hinduism. Generally, these eastern religions are far older than our western religions; Hinduism is believed to be 4,000 years old.”

“In South Asia, in addition to Hinduism the other major religions are Sikhism and Jainism.”

“Moving further round the globe, the major Eastern religions include Chinese Confucianism and Taoism, the Japanese Shinto religion, and Korean Shamanism which is one of the oldest at about 5,000 years old.”

“There’s also Buddhism, which is the world’s fourth largest religion, which is followed throughout Asia and is unique in that it’s a nontheistic religion. What does nontheistic means? It means a religion that’s independent from the belief in a god. Buddha, who lived 2,500 years ago, is seen as the teacher of Buddhism and not as a god. He’s the original enlightened one. The aim of a Buddhist is to rid yourself of the delusion of ego and to free yourself from the chains of the mundane world. If you’re successful in doing so you will overcome the round of rebirths; reincarnations, and to have achieved enlightenment. You’ll have also no doubt heard of the Dalai Lama who’s the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists and was forced into exile in India when the communist Chinese annexed Tibet in 1959.”

“However, these religions are mere upstarts when compared to some of the mythologies practiced more than 10,000 years ago which, in the wider sense of the word religion, could be considered to be the religions of that time. Certainly, some of those ancient mythologies were the forerunners of modern religion, and their beliefs and practices were adopted into modern religions.”

“So, what’s the difference between mythology and religion?” asked Gio.

“Good question and it’s not clear cut. Mythology refers to a collection of traditional stories, usually called myths, hence the name. The myths are often about gods, that have been passed down from generation to generation. For a typical example think of the ancient Greek mythological stories; fables as they’re often called, describing the gods residing in Mount Olympus. The gods were worshipped as were the later Roman gods; and both could be considered to be the religion of the time.

But there’s a common misconception that a mythology is a religion which is no longer practiced, which is true to a certain extent, but isn’t always the case. Also, the word ‘myth’ is also commonly used to mean a story which is false, and that tends to cause more confusion. Even more confusing is the that generally, there is a lot of overlap between mythology and religion.”

“To explain a little more; religion in the broader sense is a specific system of beliefs and worship, but it does contain myths. Take for example the story of Adam and Eve in the Bible which is a ‘myth’ and considered to be unrealistic by most Christians these days, though having said that, it is still held to be true by some Christians. So, the Bible maybe one of the pillars of Christianity but it’s recognized in the Church that it contains myths; implausible stories.”

“To a believer in a particular faith, the religious stories given in the holy books are holy scripture; narratives used to support, explain or justify a particular religious system’s rituals, theology and ethics. But to an outsider, and this is crucial, they are myths. So, for example, a Hindu would view the scriptures in the Bible as untrue and consider them myths. So, the question as to whether a religion is truly a faith or a mythology is very subjective and depends on where you stand; inside the faith or an onlooker from outside.”

“But, in the context of the comparison of mythologies and religions that I’m talking about now. In simple terms, the old mythologies are beliefs which are no longer part of modern day cultures or religions, and the mythological gods of those beliefs are no longer worshipped. I’m typically talking about the ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman mythologies. And nobody today in the Mediterranean believes in the Egyptian, Greek or Roman gods”

“And in Scandinavia there was the mythology surrounding the Norse gods; Tyr, Odin, Thor and Freyja, from which we get Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,” added Michael.

“What happened to the weekend?” asked Gio, unwittingly changing the course of the conversation.

“Saturday comes from the old English word for the planet; Saturn’s day, and Sunday comes from the old English word for the Sun’s day. And Gio, if you’re wondering why we have seven days in the week, it originates from the Babylonian calendar, which in turn is based on the Sumerian calendar from the 21st century BC. Seven days corresponds to the approximate time it takes for the Moon to transition between each of the four phases: full, waning half, new and waxing half. But the lunar cycle is actually slightly longer than 28 days at 29.5 days and so odd days were added to the ends of certain months. That’s a rather simplistic explanation for the different lengths of the months and the evolution of the lengths of the months is more complex, but that’s for another day.”

“Patrick, sorry I interrupted you, please tell us some more about the origins and spread of religion,” Mike apologized.

“No worries, it’s always good to hear your thoughts. And you’re right. The Norse gods are another example of an old mythology which has died out……” Patrick paused for a second.

“So, that’s probably a good overview of the main types and origins of religion. But if you want me to carry on, I can give you a potted history of the spread of modern-day western religions around the globe …...” Patrick paused for another second.

“Fire away, Patrick,” said Gio.

“Well, it’s been a constant throughout history that religion was usually spread by the dominant countries who conquered other weaker nations. The minor indigenous religions in these conquered countries were not allowed to survive and the local people were indoctrinated with the religion of the conquerors. For example, Christianity eventually became the dominant religion in Europe under the Roman Empire, and Islam became dominant in the Middle East, north Africa and most of Spain under Mohammed’s followers.”

“Christianity initially spread from the Holy Land, that was the biblical Land of Israel and together with the Palestine, into Europe and Asia Minor in the first century; with the apostles Peter and Paul being the two main protagonists. As an aside, as these two guys and their followers spread Christianity, they ran into people living by a variety of local religious beliefs. Christian missionaries called these people ‘pagan,’ which is related to the Latin word meaning ‘field.’ The word makes sense because early Christianity developed in the towns, while paganism persisted longer in the rural areas.”

“The Romans initially spread their pagan beliefs and gods across the Roman Empire but, in later centuries, were tolerant of other religions, culminating with Emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity followed by the Roman Empire becoming Christian in the fourth century. So after initially being persecuted in the arenas, Christians were allowed later to spread Christianity through the Roman Empire. This was the mechanism for the spread of early Christianity though out Europe.”

“Later on in the early Middle Ages, Christianity was being spread beyond mainland Europe to the farther northern and western corners of Europe. During the same period, in the seventh century, Islam was being spread throughout the Middle East and across the Mahgreb in north Africa by the Arabic tribes under Mohammed’s leadership. Later, Islam spread into near Asia and, as a result of the Moors conquest, all of central and southern Spain and Portugal.”

Patrick paused to take a large sip of his whiskey and then carried on speaking.

“Later still, starting in 1492 with Columbus, and for the next 400 hundred years, outside of the Old World, the European nations; initially Spain followed by Britain, France and the Netherlands spread Christianity throughout their empires across the globe often by the colonial subjugation of a country by means of brute military force. Look at South America where the main religion is Catholicism and was originally spread by the Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors and their priests. In Africa, apart from the north and sub-Saharan regions, Christianity was spread by the European empire builders and their missionaries.”

“Judaism is perhaps the exception in that the Jews never conquered foreign lands, but it was spread by trade. Judaism originated with Abraham and Sarah; members of the tribe of Israelites, about 4,000 years ago who lived in the part of the Levant which is in the Eastern Mediterranean. Jews spread outside of the Levant by settling in other countries in Europe and Asia where they traded; often to be expelled later by conquering empires and antisemitic persecution. They were frequently cast as the scapegoats for tragedies such as the Black Death in the 1300s. Though the root cause of the antisemitism was often due to jealously as the Jews disproportionately held large parts of the wealthier businesses in Europe; typically, the banks and the money lenders. The world’s largest bank; Rothschild was started by the Jewish family in Europe. Even today the Jews run many of the gold shops in London and the diamond shops in Amsterdam.”

“The largest Jewish population in the 1800s was in Imperialist Russia and the programs there in the late 1800s and early 1900s caused many Jews to emigrate. And of course, the Nazi ethnic cleansing programs started in the 1930s, culminating in the concentration death camps of the Holocaust during the Second World War, caused many Jews to flee to safer lands including the US.”

“Changing topics slightly,” said Michael. “It’s surprising, given that fundamentally religion is supposed to mean goodwill to all men, that there’s been so many wars and persecution over the centuries caused by religion. The history of the Middle East and Europe up until the 1800s seems to have been be one long round of religious wars with atrocities and bloodletting on all sides – all in the name of religion.”

“Yes, if you look back over history, there was the Roman barbaric slaughter of Christians in the coliseums,” added Patrick. “Then there were the Crusades in the Middle Ages; when Christians and Moslems fought for control of the Holy Lands. And in Europe there were the Religious Reformations when Protestant ideas started to gain a following, which led to the European religious wars during the 16th to 18th centuries. At the start of these reformations the Catholic Church began the Counter-Reformation against the growth of Protestantism. Did you know that a third of Germany’s population was killed during the subsequent Thirty Years War? And when the ideas of Protestantism spread to England, during the English Reformation, many Catholics and Protestants met painful deaths during the Tudor reigns of Henry VIII, followed by ‘Bloody’ Mary I, as the power flipped between Protestants and Catholics. Burning at the stake was a common punishment for the non-conformist heretics.”

“What an absolutely horrific way to be put to death,” said Gio. “It’s amazing how barbaric and unforgiving they were in those days; all in the name of religion.”

“Unfortunately, religious wars are still with us in modern times,” said Michael. “And just as bloody. Look at all the Arab-Israeli conflicts in the Middle East after World War Two between the Jews and the Moslems.

“Yes, you’re right,” said Patrick. “When we were in London, I remember there was The Six-Day war in 1967 when the Israelis blitzed the Arab armies. Then in 1973 the Egyptians and Syrians caught the Israelis off-guard during their religious festival of Yom Kippur. And a few years later there were the Israeli-Lebanese conflicts.”

“And it hasn’t stopped; the Israelis and Palestinians are still bombing each other, and Iran is threatening to annihilate Israel,” added Michael. “And look at the recent troubles in Northern Ireland which again was Protestants against Catholics, wasn’t it Patrick?”

“Yes, but the troubles in Ireland really started back in the 1650s when Oliver Cromwell and his Parliamentarian army squashed the Catholics; who were by far the majority in Ireland. Cromwell passed the Penal Laws against the Catholics and confiscated large amounts of their land and gave it to British Protestant settlers. And we’ve never forgiven the English since. Incidentally, we usually think of England as a civilized monarchy but under Oliver Cromwell it became a republic when they beheaded King Charles 1. But it didn’t last long; only eleven years until 1660 when the English grew weary of the strict puritan government and welcomed the King’s son, Charles II, back from exile.”

“And during the Northern Ireland troubles in the last century I was fortunate enough to grow up in the more peaceful city of Dublin in the Republic of Ireland which is the far larger southern part of Ireland. It’s also predominantly Catholic. But Northern Ireland has always had roughly a 50:50 split between Catholics and Protestants. The Catholics there naturally want Northern Ireland to unite with the Republic of Ireland. The Protestants want it to remain part of the United Kingdom and, as you can imagine, that has been the main cause of the troubles. But the sectarian killings between the two parties in Belfast were constantly on the news, and we never got used to the constant threat of bombs whenever we visited relatives in Northern Ireland. The fear was always there hanging in the background like a dark cloud, putting everybody on edge whenever you entered a Protestant area or a crowded shop or stadium. But as a kid I think you tend to accept this danger and learn to live with it more easily than adults.”

“Thankfully, later on my father, who was a chemical engineer, got a job with one of the oil majors and we all moved to London when I was ten. But things weren’t that much safer there. The IRA; the Irish Republican Army, were constantly bombing the mainland England in the 1970s and 80s. They set off many bombs in London’s buildings and on the trains and killed and maimed many poor innocent people. So, travelling on the London subway always made you nervous of any unattended packages. There were also pub bombings in the provincial cities of Guildford and Birmingham which made you wary of drinking in public places; something which my dad always bitterly complained about. And they almost killed the Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher in 1985 in a bomb attack at a party political conference in a Brighton hotel.”

“But Mike, coming back to your point about religious wars, many of these conflicts were also about the conquest of countries and territorial land grab and only carried in name out under a religious banner.”

“Yes, that’s true, territorial gain was certainly one of the causes of many of these wars and they often started due to a number of complex reasons but usually religious conflict was the major contributory factor,” argued Michael. “You have to remember how deeply religious most people were centuries ago, and how much more powerful the church was than today. In the past the church was very influential in a country’s decision to impose its religion on its neighbors. But what is really astounding is how many people have been killed in the name of religion over the ages; in religious wars or put to death because of their religious beliefs. It runs into the hundreds of millions and unfortunately it hasn’t stopped; they’re still dying in religious conflicts around the globe even today.”

“They say thirteen Christians are killed every day worldwide because of their faith,” said Patrick. “But, bloody as religious wars have been and how many people have died for their religious beliefs, I’ve said it before, Mike. One thing is certain; there will always be religion. People will always want something to believe in, to have faith and to follow a religion, even though it’s bloody at times,” said Patrick.

Sensing that Patrick was tiring of listening to Michael’s anti-religious rhetoric and was trying to bring the conversation to a close, Gio diplomatically announced, “Time for me to go guys.”

“Sorry, Gio,” said Michael apologetically. “We started talking about Christmas and the movies and ended up talking about religion yet again. My fault.”

“No, no, don’t get me wrong. It’s been great listening to you two guys. But we’ve had two weeks of religion; can we possibly give it a rest next Friday and talk about something else?” asked Gio.

“Certainly Gio. Time for me to go as well,” said Patrick. “Good night all and may your God go with you whoever He may be.”

One of Patrick’s favorite sayings, thought Michael as they all strode in single file toward the exit door led by Patrick, the tallest with Gio, the shortest bringing up the rear.