"Well of course you agree", the prosecutor stuttered, "Only the ignorant refute knowledge, the dishonest deny the truth. You are neither ignorant, nor dishonest, how would you not agree?"
"That's right"
"Thank you for gifting me another trait of God"
"For what you have implied is – it is of utmost importance to Him that all judgement is just", Ansi pointed out.
"You've proved that if judgement must be carried out it must be done in a just way, and the judgement of Adam and Eve was judgement directly from Him, so, we concur, cosmic judgement too, must be just", concludes Ansi.
"So, Panteku, my dear good friend, with the exception of your take on free-will, I agree with all else that you've said"
"My highly rational nemesis, what you are failing to see here, is we have agreed to disagree"
"I said, God's purpose to mortals is to test their loyalty, I categorised the Adam and Eve test, as purpose, not a trait nor a motif, purpose"
"What you have deduced for us can be categorised as both motif and trait"
"What I did was not cherry pick a conclusion, I was categorising my conclusion"
"You did not disprove me, you've added to what we will call the shadow of God argument"
"Since we can never see who He truly is, nor fully comprehend why He does what He does, nor understand His the real nature of His thoughts"
"What we will do, is deduce His outline, shadow, by deducing probable traits, motifs, and purpose, from everything He has said, everything that was paraphrased from all those He ordained, and everything He has done"
"Through every action He performed God left a piece of Himself, sometimes bare for all to see, other times clothed for few to undress"
"The shadow of God argument aims to collect these pieces until a picture is formed and judgement itself passed correctly", the advocate clarified.
"Now we have – what do we have?", it asked itself, "God is a greater optimist than He is a pessimist – trait. We have Ego – trait"
"God is just in carrying out judgement – trait, and motif"
"Which reads and translates to – since I've given you everything you have, I am entitled to judge you"
"Thus then entitlement too is another trait"
"And the purpose of loyalty! We are getting somewhere, we are beginning to define that outline"
"Remind me again", said Panteku, "why are we doing this?", it asked bluntly.
"You threw your entire haystack at me, but now you've forgotten which needle I've picked to destroy the mountain you've piled"
"It was you that said, judgement, external at least, can only come from another and how they perceive you, which I sure agreed to"
"Good perception is dependent on whether one's projection of character aligns with their motifs and ideals regardless of purity"
"Hence, you brought in all these witnesses that played a role in my client's life, tempered with their initial perception of him, so they could turn against him, and in return you get to solidify your case"
"But", continued Ansi, "their perception of my client does not count does it?"
"How God perceives my client does"
"So here we are, tracing His shadow. So it can light the way"
"This may end up being a double edged sword for me, however, it is the only way forward"
"And Panteku, if I must say, when you classified morality as alternative of choice and argued that it is what makes cosmic judgement just"
"What would you make of an accused that spent their entire life in abject poverty? In which all moral choices are to be bought at the expense of an individual's shortfalls in income?"
"Glare into the world he comes from, study how meekly they've designed their societies"
"And understand sometimes the ethical choice is the dime to the nickel they've always pocketed"
"See mortals face a certain dilemma, that no member of this court, God included, will never have to face"
"The willingness to survive in places where the rules of religion, the path of obedience runs astray"
"In the book of the pessimists any mortal that fights for survival, is a mortal that fears death"
"In the book of an optimists, any mortal that fights for survival, is a mortal that cherishes life"
"Where too many probable answers exist, logic will not remain consistent, because morality is inconsistent. Thus then we must establish traits to prioritise our answers and manners of judgement", Ansi argues.
"Now that all dust has cleared, let I return to my overlaying question"
"What is the mortal reason for prayer?", Ansi questions the court, like a teacher disappointed teacher scolding their classroom.
"I speak in the general here, not specifically about the Homeless man", it clarified.
"They pray, to worship, they pray to praise, they pray to repent, they pray to ask, be it for the wealth of materialism, or the betterment of health of their three states of existence; physical, mental, or spiritual"
"They desire extended life so they pray for protection, for they know danger looms outside their walls"
"To surmise it all", Ansi says, "mortals pray for the comfort of certainty, because chanciness is unsettling"
"For that is their psyche, their coping mechanisms, and if we are to be just"
"If we are to be just, in this cosmic court. It is too their entitlement", Ansi states.
"As I have stated God feels entitled to judge those He created", the advocate remarked, "so my question is, what is a creation's entitlement towards their creator?"
"A little step back. Is a creation allowed to direct any sort of entitlement at their creator?"
"It is not a popular question", it admits, "because it is peculiar, as most creations are unconscious creations, they can only live by the the breath of their creator's design"
"See. These entitlement questions are simply answered by an overlaying aspect of a relationship between the two beings, that aspect is prayer"
"If a mortal is not entitled to anything then prayer yields no purpose", it argues, "for the mortal at least, it yields no purpose if they cannot be entitled"
"By allowing and advising prayers to Him", said Ansi, "A certain level of entitlement and or expectation is formed by all those that pray to Him"
"Entitlement is the profound belief that certain things belong to you. Entitlement forms part of one's nature and identity"
"By nature I mean the entitlement they think they deserve out of the habits they labour"
"And by identity, the results they expect to receive simply because of who they are or what they think of themselves"
"If I made a promise to you, that I would give you a cake by the end of the week. I've created a certain level of expectation within you. That expectation breeds entitlement"
"So when the week does end, you now feel entitled to ask me for your cake. You will proceed to either be happy if you received the cake, or sad if not. Either emotions yielded from the expectation that I caused through my words of promise", says Ansi, "had I kept my silence and the knowledge that cakes do exist to myself, your weekend will not be sad nor happy, it would be the same as all others, silent as you have no awareness of the existence of a cake", it says.
"Likewise, by allowing mortals to pray to Him"
"God creates entitlement between creator and creation"
"Entitlement for Him is the recognition that only He can help you with your problem, entitlement for the prayer to Him is the expectation that the problem can be resolved when His hand is involved"
"Thus, we have answered all the questions that I have posed"
"Yes. A creation, a conscious one at least, is allowed to feel entitled towards their creator"
"The capacity of which are the prayers they ran to Him with. Albeit, God does reserve the right to scrutinise the integrity of prayers sent His way"
"We've trimmed a good portion of the iceberg so let's continue"
"I hope, members of the court, that you are following me clearly"
"A prayer implies that the receiver, is capable of answering that which you seek"
"To better illustrate, let's use a case that occurred with my current client"
"Homeless Gregor", it said, redirecting its attention.
"Not only do I have access to His deeds and thoughts, but as His lawyer I have the exclusive right to read the transcripts of every prayer he has ever made", it revealed.
"It is with these transcripts, that I shall salvage this case, this will require me to ask questions that go beyond my jurisdiction", it warns.
"The illustration I make is in reference to February nineteen ninety eight, the day that Homeless Gregor got a job of greater satisfaction to the one he had prior", Ansi elaborated, "after receiving the news, he had this thought, open quote, thank God, close quote"
"Short and simple", it stated.
"Let it be known that was a job he desired for a long time"
"In his society, a job is given to you by someone of greater ranking"
"Let's distinguish between prayers of praise, and a prayer of inadequacy"
"A prayer for a better job, is a prayer of inadequacy, an aspect he felt he lacked and asked God to fill", says Ansi, "a prayer of praise is impossible to know if it'll ever be answered, but that of inadequacy we can determine the results"
"Homeless Gregor getting the job he prayed for, is a prayer answered, yes?", Ansi asked the court, pausing as if musing once the question was asked.
"Since the blessing came from God and He is a spirit, He must work through a medium for Him to answer a tangible prayer of inadequacy"
"That medium in this case", says Ansi, "is the person in charge of hiring new employees, as they called them in their societies"
"Was the person that hired the Homeless man for the job devoured of free-will at that particular point, so he could act according to the will of God, and the will of God in that moment is the prayer of Homeless Gregor. While the intent of God is to answer Homeless Gregor's prayer", it told the court.
"It is a simple linear set of events, an easy deduction, if you will allow me the badge"
"But this is where contradictions begin. This is where things become paradoxical"
"And what makes it paradoxical is the before and after a prayer", it specified.
"If you pray and do get the job, it means God chose to intervene, and somehow make use of His omni powers to grant you a blessing"
"If you do pray and do not get the job, then it implies he chose not to intervene, for perhaps His intentions for you do not align with what you've asked"
"Getting a job is a good thing, not getting one is a bad thing"
"Objectively or pragmatically speaking, all that is good is whatever event works in your favour, and all that is bad is whatever event that does not work in your favour"
"We can thus surmise to this"
"If for every good action that happens to you is an act of God. But every ill action that occurs against you is not, it gives the implication that everyone around you, let's call them agents, is programmed to act against you until God intervenes", it deduced.
"In which case free-will did not exist to begin with, of which will contradict some of the traits we have already established"
"But before we dare resolve this contradiction, let I truly make you understand the gravity of this deduction", Ansi said.
"In the mortal world the decisions of others always affect you"
"In each moment of his life there are primary agents, in family and friends. Secondary agents, in school pupils and work. And tertiary agents, in government policies, types of people making decisions in their own life that will affect his own life, yes?"
"Now"
"If my client is out of favour with God, and God is out to show him a lesson, then everyone around Homeless Gregor, be it primary, secondary, or tertiary agents, will continuously make decisions that work against him"
"That is he will continue to experience bad events, as I defined earlier"
"That is the only way he suffers"
"BUT!", the advocate yells.
"And I emphasise on the but"
"Homeless Gregor, is not the only mortal in that world, nor at any standing point is he the sole mortal that is out of favour with God"
"He too is a primary type to his primary type, he too is a secondary type to his secondary type, and perhaps not a tertiary type. But you wobbly wubble you get my doodle"
"Meaning?"
"In His own environment, there certainly are many others, that are also out of favour with God, thus they too are succumbing to this cycle of receiving decisions that do not work in their favour"
"Therefore, Homeless Gregor is also what?" … "an agent, like the employer that hired him prior to the intervention of God, who by implication would not have done so if the Homeless man never prayed, thus my client is also an agent to other mortals that makes decisions against their favour because God has not intervened in their own lives"
"All I've done so far is study the schematics of prayer against the meaning of free-will. That's it. That is all I've done", the advocate confessed.
"Yet, I stumbled upon this set of implications that I've never studied thoroughly before", it confessed.
Ansi had its eye dilated, despite the light it had stumbled upon. It ran its eyes astray, choosing to muse over the thought even more, over keeping eye contact with the court, "I hope", it whispers, "there is someone out there that understood my deductions"
"I'll summarise it in a simpler manner"
"The success of a prayer of inadequacy is measured by what the mortal gains in tangibility"
"An answered prayer is to receive that which you asked, therefore it was God's will to act, in the holy scriptures it is stated He is capable of touching the hearts of others", Ansi said, as Panteku followed more closely now than before, "therefore God has tempered with the free-will of the giver in order to serve the receiver"
"But that implies, if you do not pray, you do not get what you desire", Ansi said, "meaning everyone around you, agents, are acting against you because you do not have God in your life"
"So, without prayer, that is God to work for you, everyone around you is by default programmed to act against you"
"That is to continuously make decisions that do not work in your favour. A bad event"
"BUT!", it emphasised again, "my client, Homeless Gregor was not the only mortal on that planet"
"Given how sinful mortals are it is highly likely, that at any given time during his lifespan, the people around him were out of favour with God"
"Or to curate it to this scenario, those that never had their prayers answered"
"Thus, at any given time, he too was an agent to others of his environment, and adhering to the result of what an unanswered prayer gives, he too will make a decision that goes against the favours of the people around him", Ansi said, walking in circles, as the advocate was bewildered by its' own deductions.
"If God's will is the goodwill all mortals, than anyone out of favour with God is an agent of ill-will"
"Not free-will"
"Ansi", handler called, "are you leading us astray? What's going on here? Weren't you attempting to determine the traits of God?"
"Oh but I am", Ansi said, "I was on route to deducing the purpose of prayers in the presence of an omnipotent being"
"And in so doing I have mistakenly arrived at an implication that could flip this entire trial on its head"
Ansi then paused to study handler's face, "you…you…don't plan on countering me, do you?"
Handler kept its eyes shut, the court remained silent for what felt like an eternity, "no", it finally responded, "my thoughts will only be heard at the end of this trial", it affirmed.
"I see"
"Very well then. Panteku", Ansi says, "how do we resolve our problem"
"Which is more important to God, free-will or answering prayers?"
"If God does temper with the free-will of others in order to answer prayers, and is a just God, it would be unjust to judge any mortal at all"
"And by your own contributions, you've shown how the judgement of Adam and Eve was just", Ansi said.
"If God is a God that does answer prayers, in order for Him to remain a just God, cosmic judgement must not occur"
"Except", said Panteku, in a tone that was far less agitated to the one used at beginning of this trial, "you are not accounting for precedence here"
"A mortal's loyalty to God sits at the top of the hierarchy, that is fact and not to be argued with", it said.
"Which alludes that perhaps, the only free-will that does exist is the choice in choosing Him or not"
"Bingo", says Ansi, "you are exactly right, if we account for precedence, loyalty is the only form of free-will, there would be no other forms of free-will in a universe that God does answer prayers"
"But if so, how would any of your earlier charges against my client stick?"
"Homeless Gregor did choose God after all", Ansi stated.
"At some point in his life, he did", mutters the Prosecutor, "but", it said in a more confident tone, "we are in court, still evaluating, so free-will is not limited to the choice of deity"
"Perhaps, this trial is just part of the process, a mere formality", Ansi theorised.
"But", it continues, "we can resolve the problem"
"How?"
"Neglection", the mortal advocates replied in soft voice.
"In order to be both just, and honour the free-will of mortals – God must completely neglect the world He created"
"He must neglect His omnipotence, He must neglect His omniscience, He must neglect each and every single omni ability. He must watch from the shores"
"He must watch from the shadows, stand aside, and watch His world from afar", Ansi states, "and if that is the case, there is no just in charging my client of hypocrisy against God"
"For the God during the longevity of Homeless Gregor's physical existence was one that had to abandon His omni powers, thus He was neither a mind reader nor a time traveller"
"But an observer"
"Therefore, Homeless Gregor was never a hypocrite in the eyes of God", Ansi concludes.