After Storm, perhaps Logan really didn't see the point of holding out any longer...or he just didn't want someone else getting ahead of him, because he very begrudgingly asked Shine and Wally what they "got" by the way of some..."pointers."
Shine and Wally discussed it with Kurt. Wally wasn't sure their usual approach would work with the X-men. Shine thought it was best to stick with what you knew you could do and expand later.
Kurt thought he'd have expected the reverse from their dispositions, but he found in the area of basic instruction, Shine was more by the book and Wally was more spontaneous.
They applied to him for his opinion.
"I think I might be vith Shine," he said. "There's nothing wrong vith starting vith vhat's familiar, vith new people especially. They have to learn the basics.... I set Logan in the right direction once, but you vere hoping for more. I think ve all have our own vays to discover God, but it must be founded on His vord at least."
"I don't know," Wally said. "I mean, is that gonna make sense to them?"
"At the moment, all we can do is try," Shine said. "Let's give them a week or so. We have to go with Billings, and if they do well, I think they should come with us. If they don't seem to be getting it, then we try something new. Fair enough?"
"All right," Wally said. "But I'm not good at that book-learning stuff. I'll basically just be moral support."
"I always like to hear your input," Shine said.
"I'm sure you have much visdom," Kurt said. "I can tell by vatching you you're a vise man, Mr. Vest."
Must have been the first time anyone said that to Wally West.... He was way flattered but kind of thought Kurt might be lumping him and Shine together there.
Shine agreed however.
That said...
* * *
"So you want me to read?" Logan sounded put out when Shine laid out her list of recommended reading to him.
"Yes," she said.
Logan frowned. "If I wanted to do that, I could have done it on my own. You said we'd be able to talk about peace and things like that."
Storm was eyeing the list. "Is this for both of us?" She sounded much more open-minded.
"No, I have a separate one for each student," Shine said. "At least, I try. I mean, some books everyone should read. But...look, I have a reason for this, okay?"
Wally and Kurt exchanged a look.
"Is it so much to ask?" Kurt said. "You must trust her, Logan. Ve have discussed the vord much. I think they are very knowledgeable."
"Eh...I'm not that knowledgeable," Wally said. "I picked it up from osmosis, mostly. It's all her family talks about."
"Not true, but we do talk about it often," Shine said. "Anyway, Logan, this is no time to play Naman."
"To what?" Logan said
"Now if you read the Bible, you'd know who that was and why I was using it to make fun of you," Shine said.
"Oh, I remember that story ," Wally said, "with the Jordan.... Ah, I got it. You're saying he's being a whiner about this, because if you were asking him to do something really challenging, he'd probably do it."
"Right," Shine said. "If I asked you to climb a mountain or break into a military base or dive into the sea, would you do it if I said it would help you with your problem?"
Logan shrugged. "Sure."
"And all I'm asking is for you to do some reading this week." Shine made it sound like it was childish to refuse.
Storm smothered a smile. "It does seem like little to ask.... But this will be enough? I see the merit of knowing what you believe, but will it really change anything?"
"I guess you'll have to wait and see," Shine said. "Like Kurt says, you'll have to trust us or this won't work. Feel free to help each other too, if you are humble enough to. Sometimes another newb is easier to talk to than a seasoned veteran. Kurt is also going to be available for questions. Wally and I want to see if you'll grasp it for now."
She didn't add that she also intended to see if they'd do as she said without her having to micromanage. They were adults after all, not high-schoolers; she couldn't exactly send them to their rooms to study.
Logan still wasn't happy about it, but he had heard enough to not argue anymore...and Storm was going to do it...so...he couldn't exactly let someone else out do him. It nettled him that they'd just let her join this when she hadn't even been the reason they show up at all--but it was his own fault, and it was in his character to only come around once he saw he'd screwed up enough to already be behind.
[Yeah, that's too true for most people, isn't it? Logan is the most relatable character in this story at times.]
* * *
Shine proved to be a least as interested a teacher as she'd originally said. Her reading list had a lot of books on it that sounded intriguing.
She asked Logan to start with The Hiding Place, since she'd recommended it already.
Storm's suggestions started with an allegory: Hinds Feet on High Places.
Logan didn't read much and found the book hard to begin--but by the third chapter, the story had become a little too interested to someone who'd lived through it (WWII) to not keep going. It was a side of the War he didn't know that much about; he hadn't been really involved in the whole Jewish plight, but he was well aware.... It was kind of disturbing to read about.
The Ten Booms attitude was so foreign to him. It made no sense. He almost tossed the book out of the window a few times.
"The h--- is with these stories?" he finally said to Storm, who was diligently reading her suggested material in a different room.
"Oh, it's quite fascinating, isn't it?" Storm said. "I had been afraid there might be too many cultural things I did not understand--English is not my first language anyway--but this book is actually pretty easy for me. She must have thought of that. Her attention to detail impresses me. Reminds me of Hank a little."
"So...it's not...annoying?" Logan said.
"Annoying? No, it many ways it's familiar." Storm folded it.
"Exactly. Too familiar," Logan said.
"I'm sorry. I thought the one she gave you was a true story." Storm was confused. "This is fiction. Perhaps it's different."
"I'll tell you what's different." Logan was still mad. "It's screwed up! The way those people were attacked, it's just like with mutants. I think that Magneto guy even lived through it. But these wack jobs just keep on actin' like they're happy and thankful all the time. They don't even want to kill Germans.... It's just...it's too strange."
"But why do they need to want to kill anyone? The story can't be that horrible," Storm said. "Is it about helping those people?"
"Well, yeah, but the way it happened..." Logan said.
"Logan, I can't pretend to know why she picked it, but hadn't you better just be trying to understand it?" Storm said. "It seems this process will take ages if you argue about very little thing. If you're already starting, this will be deeply frustrating for them, and I also see no point in complaining. You're not even done with the book yet.... What about the other reading? The Scriptures?"
"Yeah...well, I can't understand that either," Logan said.
"Why not ask Kurt for help?"
"Pretty sure he'll just say 'different eyes'," Logan said. "I've never been one for words."
"You sure do talk a lot for someone who's not one for words," Storm commented. "I have to finish this, and if Kurt's advice was indeed 'different eyes', it might be the best advice for all we know."
She wasn't any help. Logan wished Professor X was doing this...but strangely, he couldn't picture it.
* * *
Actually that became a bit of a contention halfway through that week.
The others had noticed Logan's studying, because of course he did it where they could see all the time.
Gambit would have made some snide remarks if he hadn't suspected Rogue would have erupted if he did. She was still on edge and seemed ready to attack anyone who made fun of them or the guests for it.
Jubilee just thought it was surprising but didn't find it that weird.
Hank and Xavier thought if Logan wanted to better himself it was all well and good, but Xavier had his opinions on the Bible, and like many learned people, he couldn't resist a chance to air them now and then. This opportunity was irrisistible.
Luckily, or unluckily, he did it while Shine was in the kitchen making coffee, and Logan had been using the dining room to 'read' in (though he kept shaking his head like it made no sense).
Shine had made no acknowledgement of it at all, keeping true to her own rule of not micromanaging.
But Xavier noticed Logan happened to be in a part of Romans that mentioned how man brought death and sin into the world. [The passage is Romans 5:12-20, if you want to check it out for context.]
"Ah, I could never understand that," he said. "Man brings sin into the world through the pursuit of knowledge."
[By the way, I'm not making this up. He says this in One Man's Worth, pt 1, on the OG show. It's about his only time commenting on religion in the show. Logan is also in that scene.]
"Hey, I don't get it either," Logan said. "But it's in here, and I gotta learn it."
Or else they're going to say I can't even do this, he added mentally.
Xavier sort of picked up on his thoughts. But he leaned on his hand. "Well, Logan, if acquiring knowledge is sinful, why study at all? Food for thought."
Shine made a choking sound.
"Oh, Shine, I didn't notice you there," Xavier said.
"Didn't you?" Shine said, in a miffed tone. "What do you mean by spouting such hogwash to Logan? He doesn't know better yet. You'll make him think that's actually true. Or do I need to add Genesis 3-4 to the list?"
"Haven't you had enough for one week?" Logan griped. "You don't take it easy, sister."
"Of course not, I expect more of you," Shine said.
"I don't understand," Xavier said. "What did I say incorrectly? Was it not the fruit of knowledge of good and evil that was the sin leading to man's death? Knowledge is important to change, and I objected to that idea. It leads to superstitions."
"Despite what stupid people who conceal the Bible from others say, that is not found in scripture," Shine said. "That notion was a great heresy spread by the Catholic Church until Martin Luther finally put a stop to it, still believed by some Catholic today, but not all of them, depends on the sect. The ones I know at least believe in knowledge and study the word. But more importantly, you obviously have not read the story, because that is not the point of The Fall."
"I don't see where I'm wrong. I have read the story," Xavier said. "It's been a while."
"Did your college professor give you that interpretation, or did you come to it on your own?" Shine said.
"I just noted that acquiring knowledge was treated as sin," Xavier said.
Shine shook her head. "No. You should read it again. Carefully. The serpent came to Eve and first mockingly asked if it was true she could not eat of any tree in the garden, trying to throw her off. She said that they could eat of every tree but the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. God said that they would surely die if they did. So then the snake says, 'You will not surely die, for God knows in the day you eat of it, you shall be as gods, knowing both good and evil.' Right there, you have the notion that knowing both good and evil will make you like God, which is just what the devil wanted to be like, when he fell from Heaven. He said, 'I will be like the Most High,' which is the height of pride. And Eve ate the fruit, because it looked good and it would give her so much wisdom, and her husband ate it too. We're not sure if he even believed that, but I guess he didn't want her to be alone in it. Many a human has made the same mistaken sense."
"I don't see the problem," Xavier said.
Shine sipped her coffee. "Knowledge is not bad. God made the whole world full of things to discover. We're meant to continue to do that; man named the animals, after all. And think about it, telling him that eating the fruit would cause him to die is, in fact, knowledge. Knowledge is necessary. But to know good and evil, that is not necessary. What you know is what you can do. Another factor is that evil did not, in fact, exist when God made the world. It was all Good. Evil existed after the devil fell some time afterward. The tree granted knowledge of evil, which would have been knowledge of the devil at that moment. Do you think there's use in that?"
Xavier had his hand on his chin. "I'm...not sure I agree. But it's an interesting point. But it's speculative, isn't it? You're assuming that evil has to be linked to only one being."
"No, billions, counting the other demons," Shine said. "You don't have to believe that, Xavier, but since you've been to the astral plane, I'm guessing they do exist in this dimension, do they not?"
"Well, something like them, but the biblical idea of demons is a little archaic and simplistic," Xavier said.
"I don't see how the idea of a demon is either of those things," Shine said. "But let's get back to the point. God knew both good and evil, it was true, as He knew about the devil. And God knows what God is not, because he is God. He is not subject to temptation. But humans are. When they gave in to it, they betrayed God's trust. He had given them everything. He asked one thing in return to show that they loved an separate Him enough to do one thing for Him, and they didn't do it, and they doubted Him and thought He was holding out on them, after about three sentences. It would be laughable, if it wasn't just so true. Who hasn't remembered a time when someone threw doubt at someone they knew as a child and it stuck with them forever? I do." She shook her head. "But you want to hear the part that about kills it, Xavier?"
"I would like to hear it, yes," Xavier said, "if only out of curiosity."
"Why do you think Adam and Eve realized they were naked once they ate the fruit? And felt ashamed and hid from God because they disobeyed him?" Shine asked.
"They feared Him," Xavier said.
"Perhaps, but they didn't fear him before. What was the difference?" Shine insisted.
Xavier thought. "They knew more, is that what you want to say?"
"The fruit was a monkey's paw of sorts," Shine said, "because the thing is, in eating it, they committed evil for the first time. When they ate it, 'their eyes were opened', in the words of the Bible, and they were ashamed. For the first time they felt guilt and fear. The evil they knew was in themselves. They became evil by knowing evil."
Xavier was...actually not prepared for that.
He frowned, turning it over in his mind.
"What...an extraordinary way to look at it," he said.
Shine tilted her head. "Disobedience is its own shame, Xavier. To know evil is to become evil. They were good already, that was all they knew, until they weren't. But God gave them a chance to know good or evil, and evil is what they chose. Their only idea of evil would have been disobedience, if they had obeyed, and we'd all not be in this mess. And now it is always we see and hear evil that we begin to do it. Just ask my toxic family." She shrugged.
Logan was looking at her with some amazement.
Xavier was trying to find the hole in her explanation...but he didn't have one at the moment...at least not within the limits of the story.
"Outside of your faith, however," he said, "the pursuit of knowledge is no evil. Only in your context would it have been, and it may just be a myth."
Shine rolled her eyes. "Right, well, just throw out all of history, then. Say, Logan, you can help me with this one. When they taught you to kill, what did they show you in order to make you feel all that pain and anger?"
Logan frowned. "Evil," he said.
"Huh," Shine said, like it was a surprise.
"But it is ignorance that causes cruelty," Xavier said.
"No," Shine said. "Ignorance is what allows people to justify cruelty. If you'd be cruel to someone, not knowing anything about them, you're a cruel person. Cruelty is in you. You are only kind to anyone else because of societal constraints, or because you need something from them, like love. 'If you love those who love you, what credit is it to you? Even tax collectors do that.' What you mean is brainwashing. People are told lies about someone; it's not just ignorance, it's misinformation, like the serpent told Eve. And so they mistreat them because of lies. Knowledge without purity corrupts. Knowledge is how scientists commit atrocities on people. Knowledge is what made weapons. Knowledge is what enables unfair laws. But it's the knowledge of evil. Knowledge of good cannot make anyone cruel or unfair--there is no reason to be cruel or unfair if you see only good in the world. What we see, we become."
She took another sip. "But the point was their pride to want to become like God. The knowledge was a side effect of that pride, and it's what keeps us caught in it. Shame and Pride feed into each other. We try to cover our shame with self righteousness, or we dull it with cruelty. Look at that poor Sabretooth fellow and Creed. Too much knowledge of evil there, wouldn't you say? I'm not against learning, Xavier. But I am against learning something because you think it will give you power over others. And that is the lesson of the Garden of Eden: Acquiring knowledge for the sake of having Power comparable to God's--pride is our downfall. And by the way, that is actual Christian doctrine, which you clearly didn't look up before you made your statement, which I find quite ironic coming from the man who says that the pursuit of knowledge is no evil."
Xavier was stung by that.
"I'm sure I never intended to be ignorant. I simply took what I found," he said.
"And you don't know everything, nor are you a Christian," Shine said. "Don't instruct people in a faith you don't have unless you've checked it against someone who has it--and who actually studied their own faith, to be sure. I don't appreciate you making extra work for me by spreading misleading ideas."
"Well...I apologize if I did." Xavier wanted out of this conversation. "I'd best get to work now. Good luck, Logan." He zoomed out of the room.
"You just took on the Professor," Logan commented. "You do know he's got the greatest mind in the word."
Shine laughed. "He might be smarter than me IQ-wise, Logan, but that doesn't make him wiser. Wisdom is not intelligence or knowledge. It's foolish not to fact check, that's all. I could make anyone look like a fool who didn't do the proper research.... You've been warned." She left the room.
Logan thought he'd just better keep reading.
[I hope it's clear that I'm not advocating for ignorance or blind faith here. Xavier was at fault for not verifying his interpretation of the Bible matched actual expert's on the text's opinion and doctrine, as well as just a closer reading of the story. Of course you shouldn't accept something blindly, but it's not an excuse to be sloppy about how you explain it, especially since other people will be affected by what you say. They have the right to know what's in the faith they are rejecting, not just what you think is in it. I apply this rule to when I research other religions and ideology myself, as I have done.]
* * *
At the end of the week, Shine and the two men had the aspiring students go over what they'd read.
They'd done pretty well, actually. Storm had a better grasp of what she'd read, but Logan had at least finished it.
Storm was still finding it fascinating. "I've never really heard any of this in detail, I just picked up bits and pieces from living in America all this time," she said. "But in it's actual original form, it's more complex than I thought."
"How does it stack up to tribal religions?" Shine asked.
"Well, it's very different," Storm said. "Our religions are based more on experience and nature. Reason doesn't come into it so much. Power is more important." [Basing this on what I've heard from actual people who come from Africa, not personal opinion.]
"'All things to all men,'" Shine said. "The Old Testament has lot about power in it, but I find God is always more rational in there than in mythos I've heard.... They're so random. People say the Bible is like a myth, but I never heard any god speaking the way God does in the prophetic books. It's too...raw."
"I don't know about those yet," Storm said. "But so far it's a lot of food for thought. Speaking of which, I heard you had a bit of a bout with the Professor a few days ago.... How did that happen?"
Shine explained again. Then she said, "Actually the whole thing made me think about something else. I'd like to talk about a passage from 1 Corinthians, while we're all together."
"Oh?" Kurt said. "Is it the 13th chapter?"
"I love that one, but, no, this one seemed like it might be relevant to our teaching," Shine said.
She opened. "Chapter 2, verse 1: '...when I came to you, I did not come with excellence of speech, or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God...6 However we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age...9 But as it is written, "eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things for which God has prepared for those who love Him."...13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with unspiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him...'"
She looked up. "I think it's important to establish that, while it's good to use reason and inquiry, we're going to teach from the premise that we already believe this and not waste time questioning everything within an inch of its life. We want to move past doubt."
Logan frowned. "What if doubt is still somethin' I have?"
"We'll deal with it then," Shine said. "For you, any genuine question is fine. But, if it doesn't occur to you yourself, don't expect us to bring it up either. What Xavier said wasn't a doubt you had expressed, Logan. That's why it annoyed me. If the others want to ask us questions, they ask us. I won't have them meddling with you. They can ask you about what you understand and have learned already, but not what you haven't even had time to study. It's like asking a kindergartner to do algebra. Only a prodigy would be able to manage that. I'm not going to try to be persuasive here the way the world is by mocking other people's ideas and creating over-complicated theories. I think it's best to keep it as simple as possible. Our job is to teach you about our faith, and you can study outside of that on your own. Do you see what I'm saying? We'll teach you what we believe, not what others think we believe so we can debunk it. It's a waste of time."
"I see," Storm said. "I can see why it would be exhausting to try to keep up with that, and I had no intention of asking other people for such speculation anyway. If you say something is true, I'm going to assume you know unless I find a direct problem with it in the text. I mean, about what you believe."
"So no more talking to Xavier," Logan surmised.
"You can talk to him," Shine said. "But I don't like you telling him you don't know any better, especially in my hearing. It was humiliating. We could have covered it if you had a problem with it. It seems you just let him put the idea into your head. I'm not afraid of questions--I've been debating with Hank, for crying out loud. He's a doctor and a genius, and that ought to intimidate me, but it doesn't because this is my business to know and understand, and if I do have a problem, I trust I'll find that answer eventually. I always have. God is faithful to reveal things in time. But no Christian alive can keep up with a skeptic who sows doubt constantly and is not trying to find the answer for themselves. It's a never ending battle. Why else do we not bother with replying to Gambit's jabs all the time? It's nonsensical."
"Okay," Logan finally conceded. "I'll tell 'im to just ask you next time. I don't want to try to explain it anyway. I'm not good at that."
"I think ve can all respect each other," Kurt said. "Our convictions are not entirely the same, even around the three of us, but that is all right. Ve vorked that out. I do agree though--keeping up vith skeptics is impossible. I've tried. I think vith maturity you realize you'll never persuade everyone, especially if they don't vant to be persuaded."
"Still, the Professor is not a hard man," Storm said. "He may want to inquire honestly, that's all. He's a student himself, isn't he?"
"At one time," Shine said. "And I'm happy to answer his questions, but not if he's going to ask them based on faulty information. Ask me why something happened the way it actually did, not the way it didn't. Can you see the stupidity of that idea?"
"I'll keep it in mind," Storm said. "I wish I'd been there to hear this whole conversation, however. Xavier is always so careful. I'm surprised."
"Is he really that careful?" Wally said, raising an eyebrow. "I kind of feel like I've never really heard him explain why he thinks how he does. Maybe we should ask him."
"Good idea," Shine said. "We ought to set the example here."
"Is alvays gut to go the person," Kurt agreed. "I ought to do it more often."
Wally whispered something to Shine.
"Oh, right." She closed her Bible. "Well, you two seem to be doing as we asked, so we thought we'd ask...we're getting out of New York for a few days to help Mike with something, all of us are. Would you like to join us? Get to see more of this up close? Wally thinks you should see more of how people do things anyway. If you're going to belong with these people, you have to get to know them."
"Sounds dangerous," Logan said.
"Well, you did the small thing, so it seemed time for a more hands-on challenge." Shine shrugged. "But if you're scared of it, I can draw up another list of reading--but I'm going to do that anyway. Consistency is a key component of mettle, after all. But a little hands-on learning would be good, would it?"
"Beats just reading, doesn't it?" Wally said. "Hey, there may even be some service in it. Your speed, right?"
Logan couldn't even argue with this challenge.
"I'd be interested," Storm said. "But suppose Scott needs us here?"
"We'll send you back. He can contact you. We're going our way," Shine spoke, "so that won't be a problem. You can even go and come if you like."
"In that case it would be a waste to miss the opportunity to learn," Storm said. "Anyway, you may need some backup.... Are you taking Mystique?"
"Kind of have to, and she agreed to it anyway," Shine said. "Of course, she just wants a chance to escape, but I do enjoy watching her try to cope with all this stuff firsthand."
"I can't tell if you're watchin' her to torment her for fun or to actually help," Logan said saltily.
"As long as you don't have to do it, do you really care?" Shine asked.
"No," he said dismissively. "So....how do we pack? Will it be cold?"
[Lol...this ought to be good.
There will be more action in this story soon, if you're getting a little bored of all the talking, but I actually think it's more well-rounded with these scenes in here. Most of life isn't fighting anyway.
As always, I plan to make it intense once I've laid out the groundwork for it. If you read my other stuff, you know I'll make good on that threat--sorry, promise--so stay tuned.]