Topic of the day...

 Catherine was watching the missed reactions on Philip's face, "are u a believer, Mr. Philip?" She suddenly asked.   The question startled him. The earnestness in Catherine's voice was even more disarming than the inquiry. Am I a believer?

He had hoped for a lighter topic of conversation to pass the trip but this question, no he didn't ask for it.

    A spiritual conundrum

, Philip thought. Never! He never respected the power of faith, the benevolence of churches, the strength, religion gave so many people and yet, for him, the intellectual suspension of disbelief that was imperative if one were truly going to "believe" had always proved too big an obstacle for his scientific mind.

"No," he heard himself say.

Catherine's reply carried no judgement or challenge. "So why don't you believe?"

He chuckled. " Well it's not that easy. Having faith requires leaps of faith, cerebral acceptance of miracles - immaculate conceptions and interventions and then there are codes of conduct. The Bible, the Quran, the Buddhist scripture... They all carry similar requirements and similar penalties. They claim that if one does not live by a specific code, one would perish forever. I can not imagine a God who would rule that way."

"The way you dodge questions are shameless."

The comment caught him off guard. "What?"

"Mr. Philip, I did not ask if you believe what men say about God. I only asked if you were a believer. There is a very big difference. The holy scriptures are stories.....legends and histories of man's quest to understand his own need for meaning. I am not asking you to pass judgement on literature, I am asking if you believe in God. When you look up to the stars, do you sense divinity? Do you feel in your gut that you are staring up at the work of God's hands?"

  Philip took a long moment to consider it.

"Certainly you must debate issues of your faith with your fellow scientist."

"Endlessly."

"And you play the devil's advocate, I imagine. Always fueling the debate," Catherine said.

" Did you hear the news about the Talibans, Ms. Wilson?"

"Call me Catherine, Wilson makes me feel old."

"Catherine," Philip said. "I am Godsent."

"You had a question."

"Yes, as a physicist, a scientist and a Christian, what do you think about the Talibans?"

She had a smile on her face. "Talibans? The people who took over the Afghanistan?"

"Yeah."

"The anti - Christ."

"I do not understand you."

"The anti - Christ," she said aloud.

Philip laughed. "Anti - Christ?"

"Yes."

Something in her voice told Philip she was not joking.

"Why do you say so?"

"Anything or anybody that is against Christ is an anti - Christ, an illuminates and a pagan."

" You must be referring to me."

"If you say so."

 Philip was confused. " Every scientist is an illuminates_"

"Every scientist?"

"Yes. Haven't you heard of the Illuminati's history?"

"I haven't but I look forward to hearing it."

"You are an illuminates."

"I forbid."

"It's not a choice, it's a must."

"Absurd."

"You think so?"

"I know."

"Illuminati are scientists."

"Barely a story."

Philip frowned. The Illuminati's history was by no means a simple one. I'll freeze to death trying to explain it.

"So who are the Illuminati?"

"The anti - Christ."

"Lies," Philip said. He was once a teacher. He read books. He wrote books. He had occasionally read about the Illuminati. He had tried to put write ups together to form a story: "Chronicles of Illuminati."

"Since the beginning of history," Philip explained, "a deep rift has existed between science and religion. Outspoken like Copernicus_"

"Were murdered," Catherine completed."

"Murdered by the church for revealing scientific truths. Religion has always persecuted science," Philip said. "But in the 1500's, a group of men in Rome fought back against the church. Some of Italy's most enlightened men - physicists, mathematicians, astronomers - began meeting secretly to share their concerns about the church's inaccurate teachings. They feared that the church's monopoly on truth threatened academic enlightenment around the world. They founded the world's first scientific think tank, calling themselves "the enlightened ones."

"The Illuminati?"

"Yes," Philip said. "Europe's most learned minds.... dedicated to the quest for scientific truth."

Catherine fell silent.

"Of course, the Illuminati were hunted ruthlessly by the Catholic Church. Only through rites of extreme secrecy did the scientists remain safe. Word spread through the academic underground and the Illuminati brotherhood grew to include academic from all over Europe. The scientists meet regularly in Rome at an ultra secret lair they called the church of illumination."

Catherine coughed.

"Many of the Illuminati," Philip continued "wanted to combat the church's tyranny with acts of violence but their most revered member persuaded them against it. He was a pacifist, as well as one of histories most famous scientists." Philip was certain Catherine would recognize the name. Even non - scientists were familiar with the ill-fated astronomer who had been arrested and almost executed by the church for proclaiming that the sun and not the earth was the centre of the solar system. Although his data was incontrovertible, the astronomer was severely punished for implying that God had placed man kind somewhere other than the centre of His universe."

"His name was Galileo Galileo," Philip said.

"Galileo was an illuminates?" Catherine asked.

"Yes and he was also a devout Catholic. He tried to soften the church's position on science by proclaiming that science did not undermine the existence of God but rather reinforced it. He wrote once that when he looked through the telescope at the spinning planets, he could hear God's voice in the music of the spheres. He believed that science and religion were not the same story, a story of symmetry and balance..... Heaven and hell, night and day, hot and cold,  God and satan. Both religion rejoiced in God's symmetry... the endless contest of light and dark." Philip paused gulping down some air.

Catherine simply stated.

"Unfortunately," Philip added, "the unification of science and religion was not what the church wanted."

"Of course not_"

"The union would have nullified the church's claim as the sole vessel through which man could understand God. So the church tried Galileo as a heretic, found him guilty and put him under permanent house arrest."

"Galileo's arrest threw the Illuminati into upheaval. Mistakes were made and the church discovered the identities of four members, whom they captured and interrogated but the four scientists revealed nothing..... even under torture, Philip's voice intensified. "They were branded alive on the chest with the symbol of a cross. Then the scientists were savagely murdered, their bodies dropped in the streets of Rome as a warning to others that would think of joining the Illuminati. With the church closing in, the remaining Illuminati fled to Italy."

    Philip paused to make his point. He looked directly into Catherine's dead eyes. "The Illuminati went underground, where they began mixing with other refugee groups, fleeing the Catholic purges_ mystics, alchemists, Muslims, Jews, occultists. Over the years, the Illuminati began absorbing new members. A new Illuminati emerged. A dark Illuminati. They grew very powerful, employing mysterious rites, deadly secrecy vowing someday to rise again and take revenge on the Catholic Church. Their power grew to the point where the church considered them the single most dangerous anti - Christian force on earth. The Vatican denied the brotherhood as shaitan. It's Islamic, it means "adversary"... God's adversary. The church chose Islam for the name because it was a language they considered dirty. It is the root of an English word.... Satan."

   An uneasiness crossed Catherine's face. Philip's voice was grim. "We are all Illuminati."

"I don't believe that. That is absurd."

"Suit yourself Ms. Catherine."

"If you don't mind me asking Philip, how did you get yourself involved with the Illuminati?"

Philip thought for a while, then he replied, "actually it was because of money."

Catherine looked disappointed. "Money? Consulting you mean?"

 Philip laughed realizing how it must have sounded. She thinks I meant I got involved with the Illuminati because I was in need of money, he thought. She's unbelievable. "No. I meant money as in currency. I'll show you something. Excuse me," he said while standing. He walked to the pilot. " Excuse me, do you have a dollar with you?"