The Examining Magistrate
As Al Gore knows very well, truth is inconvenient. Therefore, you believe what is convenient. What is convenient for the examining magistrate is to believe in the paranormal.
There are things out there beyond our comprehension. Forces out of our control.
Not so fast, says the district doctor. "There's no effect without a cause."
What proceeds is an argument between faith and reason. Rationality versus superstition.
No matter how hard the examining magistrate tries to convince the doctor a woman in prime health had a premonition she would die right after delivering her baby -- the doctor doesn't buy it. There has to be a logical answer.
A lot is at stake for the examining magistrate -- and when the doctor starts to ask some pertinent questions -- the mystery begins to unravel. Unfortunately for the examining magistrate his life is now poisoned by the truth just as the life of his own wife -- the woman with the premonition -- became poisoned when she found out he was cheating on her.
The truth is a powerful drug and very few have the stomach for it. Most of the time we prefer palliatives -- to keep us going painlessly into oblivion.
The examining magistrate might have been better off not bringing up the subject with the doctor -- yet somehow one would think there was something bothering him -- his own guilt -- or a deep-seated need for clarity.
We all make friends with lies in one fashion or another -- we have to -- who really wants to see the unblemished truth? That would force us not only to look at the world around us differently but more importantly to truly see ourselves in the mirror. Uggh!
What we discover in this story is truth can set you free but it can also kill you.
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