Thanks for the input

The pics above are some of the settings I created for my next animation. My previous post was a script for the animation, and many of you offered some questions and advice that I have considered and used to significantly alter the script. Some changes were inspired specifically by the following patrons: Lars Erik "Kvagram" Grambo, Sashadrago, Sally Ferguson, Eric Sage, LenurdTheJokeGnome, and ANTIcarrot. I also thought of how it would tie in perfectly with Power Corrupts, but I won't explicitly label it as such. It's still titled simply "The Future of Morality". Here's the final version (bear in mind that there will be some action going on that isn't fully expressed in the text):

*Pastor reclines on a pew after church service*

*Jeffery appears after the man closes his eyes*

Jeffery - Pastor, Mrs. Johnson forgot her purse.

Pastor - Oh, she’s probably still in the parking lot, I’ll run it out to her.

Jeffery - No need, she’ll be back to get it in exactly 3,2,1…

*Mrs. Johnson enters*

Pastor - How did you…

Jeffery - She’s actually going to wait here for approximately five minutes, because it’s going to start raining in 3,2,1…

*starts raining*

Pastor - My god.

Jeffery - God? Ah like prophecy? Perhaps it may seem that way to you, but no. I’m from the future. That’s how I know. I came back in time to seek counsel from a man of god.

Pastor - Counsel? The future? I...I don’t know...*stammering*

Jeffery - I’m not asking you to take it on faith, pastor. I’ll take you into the future with me. I’ll show you myself. And then I’ll bring you back to the here and now, where you belong.

*pastor, speechless, mouth agape*

Jeffery - We desperately need your advice. Can we go now?

*Pastor nods. They vanish*

*They reappear in a wasteland, near a village*

Pastor - Wow! Where are we? When are we?

Jeffery - About 3500 years into the future, year 5520, in a place that was once known as Texas.

Pastor - It seems so primitive.

Jeffery - Most of the world is, compared to your time.

Pastor - What happened?

Jeffery - War. Starvation. Disease. You name it. It happened.

Pastor - My god.

Jeffery - That’s why we need you, pastor. You see, we don’t know what to do.

Pastor - About what… in particular?

Jeffery - From a moral standpoint, we’re at a loss, pastor. You see, we embraced moral relativism long ago, but there are those of us who question whether that was a wise course of action, question whether that was actually what led us to these trying times. We came back and retrieved you, because we seek the advice of someone who believes in moral absolutes.

Pastor - In that case, I’d be more than happy to advise you. Subjective morality is foolishness, and I’m willing to bet it almost certainly led you to whatever tribulations afflict you right now.

Jeffery - Very good. *gestures toward village* That is our dilemma. That village over there is filled with all kinds of people.

Pastor - What about them?

Jeffery - Look to the horizon over there. Do you see that band of marauders in the distance? We have the ability to stop them from what they’re about to do, but we are uncertain if it would be moral to interfere. You see, they’re going to attack the people in that village and utterly slaughter them. They’re going to kill most of them. They’re going to kill children, toddlers, and even babies. They’re going to plunder, pillage, and rape. They will take some people as slaves. The rest will be killed. And then they’ll burn that place to the ground. Should we stop them, pastor, or should we leave them to this awful fate?

Pastor - A wise man of my time once said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Jeffery - So we should stop them? Are you saying that would be the moral thing to do?

Pastor - Yes. There is a definite right and a definite wrong, and they correspond with God’s very nature. To allow babies to be butchered is objectively against what is moral.

Jeffery - Interesting, so when we alter the time variable, you pass the test.

Pastor - Test? What are you talking about?

Jeffery - We adjust multiple variables to test your consistency. You weren’t the only one brought here, pastor. We placed your wife and child amongst the people in that village, so your decision determines their fate as well. We then reveal this fact to you - as I have just now done - and then observe how the personal stake affects your moral decision.

Pastor - *deep breath, getting nervous* I see. Well my decision stands, and I am glad I made the right choice. So, as you can see, my moral stance remains consistent. Please...end this. *stammering* Now. I wish to return home with my family.

Jeffery - Are you sure about that, Pastor? Are you certain there is no circumstance in which it is moral to butcher babies?

Pastor - My god what a question! Of course there is no such circumstance. You asked for my counsel as a man of a better, wiser time - as a man of god who believes in the morality you people seem to have abandoned - and now I’m giving that counsel. Do not allow those children to be slaughtered, sir! Do not allow my family to be killed.

Jeffery - So you changed your mind then? Interesting. My hypothesis was correct.

Pastor - What do you mean?

Jeffery - I’m a time travel, pastor. I’ve asked your opinion about this before. What happens now will not be based upon your current counsel, but upon your previous counsel, when you thought these children and babies should be slaughtered.

Pastor - What?! What are you talking about? I don’t believe this! This is a mistake. I would never give such advice. Why? Why would I change my mind so drastically?

Jeffery - Because I changed a key detail of our situation. You see, we did not actually travel 3500 years into the future. We traveled 3500 years into the past. Those people are the Midianites, who you believed were slaughtered by the Israelites on God’s command in the book of Numbers, chapter 31, a command to kill every male adult, child, and baby - to slaughter every non-virgin female - and then to take the virgins and plunder for themselves.

*the sounds of the slaughter begin and the pastor tries to stop them, but he becomes transparent. He tries to run toward the village, but he stays in place, like on a treadmill*

Jeffery - You cannot interfere. You’re here as an observer only and cannot physically interact. You are imperceptible to them.

Pastor - Please stop this!

Jeffery - Look at them, pastor. Is this objectively moral? I was with you, amongst the people in your congregation. *flashback to young Jeffery, sitting in the pews* Long ago, you were asked about this. You told us that this was justified, because the Midianites convinced some of the Israelites to believe in other gods *flashback to pastor saying this, mouthing Jeffery's exact words*, but is that not what all religions do? Do those who proselytize deserve to have their children butchered? You come from a time and place that values freedom of religion, so which is it? You told us that God commanded them to slaughter these people, because they led God’s people astray *flashback to pastor*, but isn’t that exactly how terrorists justify their violence? Look at them! You told us that the slaughter of these children was a gift to them, because it sent them to heaven *flashback to pastor*, but is that not a justification to kill every child? You told us it wasn’t rape, because the Israelites married their captive women *flashback to pastor*, but do you think women so freely desire to have sex with the men who kill their families? You want me to stop it now that it’s before your very eyes, pastor, now that it’s your family, but when it was just in your holy book, you said it was okay, and you were so quick to make excuses for it. Watch as they kill children, blameless children - your child - and then remember that you yourself already justified it, all while claiming to have the moral high ground - an objective moral standard rooted in God’s nature. Watch! If you can justify this as moral, then what can’t you justify, pastor? Your disgust, and shame, and horror right now, is born of a moral direction that emerged not because of your religion - but despite it.

Pastor - Please stop it! *stammering, crying* Listen to what I’m saying now. I don’t give a damn what I said in the past. I was just making excuses before, because I wanted to keep believing, because I wanted others to believe, but this isn’t right. Take my counsel now and stop this.

Jeffery - Other people gave a damn. Other people took it to heart, Pastor. Your works affect people. Your words have consequences beyond yourself. I can’t stop it, Pastor, because it already happened. You can’t change the past.

Pastor - But you came from the future and brought me here! That’s changing the past isn't it?

Jeffery - No, Pastor. I’m not just some man from the future. You see, as it turns out, I am God after all. As God, I am merely an extension of your ego. In other words...I am you, and that’s how we know each other so well. Listen to my voice, pastor, and hear your own. *Jeffery morphs into a mirror image of the pastor* Speaking for God is the easiest thing to do. People have been doing it for thousands of years, invoking God to justify their actions. Don’t worry. Your family is fine. We didn’t actually go anywhere. It’s always the present. You can’t affect the past, but you can affect the future. So, if you don’t want genocide to happen again, the first thing you should do, here and now, is to stop justifying it.

*thunder awakens the Pastor from his slumber. He’s back in his church. He had fallen asleep on one of the pews*

*Maybe show something like Mrs. Johnson's purse in the background, to show it was more than just a dream, but perhaps that's too cliche*