Chapter 43 – SEAS Reports

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In last week’s episode, the crew of the St. Paul was lulled into complacency as they fell into the airship’s routine. In this week’s episode, the crew gets their first inkling that something is terribly wrong…

Ranell was explaining to David the progress with Professor Nyamwange and Dr. Artz regarding the logistical support required for the upcoming passage across Africa. It was nearly one in the morning, and they’d just finished serving the midnight meal. As they wiped down the galley, their easy conversation returned to the subject of the upcoming reports David would be required to write.

Ranell ran a disinfectant wipe across the counter surfaces. “As I recall, I was going to show you how to upload your reports into the SEAS system using a memo format.”

“What’s a SEAS system?” David asked as he employed his waterless microfiber mop to the final tough corners of the galley floor.

“It stands for Structured Evidence Argumentation System, and it is the software system PIRA uses to search for evidence of Christ’s return.”

When the galley was cleaned to Ranell’s satisfaction, he threw his disinfectant wipe in the garbage compactor chute, placed his hands on his hips, and said, “How is your fatigue level? Are you up for accessing the SEAS software and poking around in it?”

“Yeah, Doc, I’m fine,” David replied. “I get my big rest after dinner. Let’s go take a look.”

They went forward to the main cabin and settled into the chairs around the table. Ranell began pulling up the computer screen, and then he paused. “Oh my goodness, look there.” He pointed with his finger out the cabin window. “Mr. Wilson, could you turn off the cabin lights for a moment?”

David switched the cabin lights off. The flight deck’s glow still illuminated the cabin somewhat, but Ranell didn’t find it necessary to shut the door. The view through the starboard window was breathtaking.

The night was calm, and the skies were partly cloudy. Beneath the upward sweep of the St. Paul’s canopy, Ranell and David could see the full moon, partially obscured behind the wisp of a cumulous cloud, casting its reflection on the surface of the sea in a million tiny luminous shards of light. The cabin was silent except for the distant drone of the St. Paul’s engines, and only the blinking green of the starboard running lights interrupted the magnificent vista being revealed to them.

“You get addicted to this,” Ranell said, breathing audibly, as the lights were switched back on and the computer screen warmed up.

After a few minutes, Ranell completed the login. “It’s really not difficult after you get familiar with the interface,” he said, pulling up a screen with the title -- Argument: DAYS OF THE LORD.

 “Do you see this hierarchical figure here, Mr. Wilson?”

David nodded. It looked like a square box with two lines extending below it to two more boxes. More lines spread out below each box, four on one side and seven on the other.

“This figure illustrates the skeleton of a two-question argument template, with eleven derivative questions,” Ranell explained. “As we discussed, PIRA was founded on the idea that natural disasters represent the Days of the Lord mentioned so frequently in the Bible.”

This made David uncomfortable. “Doc, I’ve been thinking about that, and I’ve been meaning to ask you…”

“What is it?”

“Well…” David struggled to find the appropriate words. “When you talk about floods, and hurricanes, and earthquakes, and all that stuff; do you really think that its God’s wrath being poured out on people in judgment? I mean, isn’t it more likely just natural phenomenon with natural causes?”

“Of course we’ve thought about that, Mr. Wilson,” Ranell nodded sagely. “In fact, this argument table takes that very question into consideration. I think I’ll be able to explain the official PIRA position to your satisfaction.”

David relaxed back into his seat and took a sip of coffee.

“The Days of the Lord argument is a two-part argument. The first part asks, what happens before a natural disaster to cause it? The second part asks, what happens after a disaster; the human response to it? You see, here and here?” Ranell pointed to two boxes on the chart.

“Under the left-hand argument, there are four derivative questions: Tectonic Plates, Weather, Ecosystems, and Disease. The Rabban has teams of experts all over the world pursuing various additional derivative questions in each of those areas of interest. Those questions are far more technical than we are able to address today. So, for now, we can ignore the left-hand arguments, except to make this one point…” Now Ranell looked from the screen to meet David’s eyes, “It is the official PIRA position that natural disasters are caused by natural phenomenon that can be understood using modern scientific methods. Are we OK so far?”

 “So far, so good, Doc.” By now, David was becoming used to Ranell’s academic tendency to break issues down into smaller, easily digestible bites.

“Now, as far as the notion of God’s wrath is concerned,” Ranell continued, “PIRA addresses that question with the right-hand argument.”

Now it was Ranell’s turn to pick up his coffee cup. He crossed his legs and sipped slowly in contemplation as he looked out the cabin window at the moonlight on the sea. “Let me put it to you this way, Mr. Wilson. If you had to survive a hurricane, would you rather try to ride it out in Miami, Florida, or in Port-au-Prince, in Haiti?”

It didn’t take long for David to consider the question. “Probably Miami.” David shrugged his shoulders as if it was obvious.

“Why?”

“Well, for one thing, I’ve never been to Haiti.”

This response seemed to surprise Ranell. “Have you been to Miami?”

“No…”

“Then why would you choose that over Port-au-Prince?”

David shrugged his shoulders again. “I just think that if I had to survive, it would be a lot easier in a rich country that has good ambulances, roads, police, and hospitals, stuff like that.”

“I thought you said you’d never been to Haiti?”

“I haven’t, Doc, you know that. What’s the point?”

“Very well, Mr. Wilson,” Ranell said, chuckling. “You certainly insist on coming straight at things, don’t you? Yes, I would also choose Miami rather than Port-au-Prince. I think that in the event of a natural disaster, it’s clear that some countries consistently fare better than other countries. PIRA is asking why that might be the case.”

“What have you come up with?”

“One consistent finding is prosperity. Wealth seems to be correlated with peace and security. But as you can imagine, it’s not always that simple.”

It seems pretty straight forward to me.

“If we can agree about the scientific causes of natural disasters, what might explain the differences in human responses to those disasters?” There was a pause. “We’ve been talking about this subject for a while now, David…” Ranell let the question hang in the air.

“Um… worldviews?”

“Bravo.” Ranell touched his fingertip to the side of his nose. “Just so!”

“So, the Rabban thinks that natural disasters are a test of our worldviews?” David ventured, picking up the thread.

“That’s essentially correct. We believe that Luke’s gospel used the parable of the fig tree to indicate that it’s possible to discern when the Kingdom of God is drawing near. Because the term “Day of the Lord” is used extensively throughout Scripture, Luke’s Gospel has also led PIRA to also consider other localized naturally occurring events as possible signs of the Last Day. This approach distinguishes between naturally occurring calamities and the human responses to them that emerge as a result of the dominant worldview of the society experiencing the localized event.”

Ranell raised one finger and one eyebrow to signify he was making an important point. “So, you see, from our perspective we can view calamitous events, ultimately, as judgments on man’s beliefs. That’s why we are so interested in worldviews…”

“And why you’ve invested in an international disaster relief operation.”

“Quite right, Mr. Wilson.”

 “So how do I fit in?

“You will be generating reports on the first of these derivative questions in the First Cause Spectrum. Do you remember what two interview questions you have to ask?”

David remembered. He wrote them down after the last time they talked and spent some time lying in his bunk, thinking about how he might ask different people about them. “I’m supposed to ask if people believe in One Power or Many Powers…”

“Correct, go on.”

“And if they think that Power is either Personal or Impersonal.”

“Very good, you’re a quick study,” Ranell said smiling. There was a heading with a drop-down box offering seven choices. Ranell selected the choice labeled “Prime Reality? - First Cause,” and asked, “Do you see here on the right-hand side of the screen that there is a chart where you can score responses from green to red?”

Unlike the vertical diagram Ranell had made the previous day, David saw that these five bubbles were arranged horizontally with green on the left, followed by light green, yellow, orange, and red.

 “What’s a First Cause, Dr. Ranell?” David was intrigued.

“The answers to your questions will enable us to categorize your subject into one of four possible worldview groups. For instance, if I tell you, I believe in One Power, and that I believe that Power is Personal, then you can quickly and easily categorize me under Monotheism.”

“What are the other categories?”

“Let me pull up this diagram and show you.” Ranell clicked through some folders and pulled up a chart. “Here we go. Respondents who believe in One Power that is considered Impersonal will fall under the category of Monism. Belief systems with many personal powers define Polytheism, and multiple impersonal powers, like nature or scientific thought, are categorized as Secular.”

“I’m not really sure what all of those are, Doc. How am I supposed to categorize them?”

“You don’t have to, Mr. Wilson. Just do the interviews and score them. The software takes care of the categorization automatically based on your scores. We just need you to write a short memo explaining why you scored the way you did, to provide background in case the analysts find some discrepancy… That’s odd…” Ranell’s attention was distracted by a pop-up ad that appeared on the screen.

“What’s the matter?”

“That…” Ranell pointed at the screen.

“What? That ad?” David indicated the smiling face of a silver-haired older man at a dinner party with an attractive woman advocating the benefits of some male enhancement product. “That’s no big deal. Everybody gets those.”

“No, not everybody.” Ranell’s face darkened as he walked towards the flight deck. “PIRA systems don’t get pop-up ads.”

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