A Parable

The Bubble People

There lived a community under a bubble. Because the bubble completely covered the community, it kept out natural light and rain, therefore trees, shrubs, grass and flowers failed to grow. The leaders learned over time to plant fake plants. Oh, the fake plants looked real, as long as people didn't get too close and try and touch them and smell them, that is; they just looked pretty but they didn't smell pretty and they weren't soft to the touch. There was fake light, also. The light made skin look yellow and pale. But over time, people forgot what real light and real plants looked like and they adjusted and got used to it.

Because there were no natural trees, the leaders used fake materials to make buildings out of. The walls
 were sterile looking, they were bland looking really, just white, grey and black. They were steal and the
floors echoed when walked on. Each house looked like the next one. There was no individuality. The people didn't seem to mind, however, as they were told by their leaders that it was better for the community for everyone to be the same.  There was security in everyone looking like everyone else and the people were told that this is what it would be like in the afterlife, anyway, so they were preparing for things to be equal in the eternities.  They just ignored the fact that some people had nicer and more expensive homes than others, or more expensive clothes or food than others...some of the women had lace and silk on their clothes while others only had cotton and ratty shoes, but they still believed that all were alike under the bubble.

The leaders made the rules for the people to follow. At first, the rules were simple, but as the people became dependent on the leaders for their food and building material, they also became dependent on them for their emotional support and for the rules to govern all aspects of their lives.  The rules began to govern what they ate, what they did with their time, who they married, when they married, what they did with their leisure time. what their professions should be, what they should wear.

Over time, some people began to rebel, as they started to think for themselves. The leaders didn't like this, as they saw this as a threat to their authority. They told the people to shun the freethinkers.  They told the people that is wasn't good for the people to question the leader's authority or for the people to think for themselves, that it wasn't good for the people have people amongst them that rebelled against the group. The freethinkers were not allowed to attend certain functions with the bubble people like weddings and community meals.

 The freethinkers decided to test the bubble barrier and when they touched it and pushed against it they were amazed to find it fake and they could walk right through it. They took a breath and walk out into the real world.  They took in the fresh breath of oxygen and to their amazement, they didn't die, but in fact their lungs loved the clean, fresh air.  They looked around and discovered all sorts of trees and plants and flowers and grass. There were beautiful colors that they never imagined and natural sunlight that their eyes could behold. They saw the beautiful blue sky and they smelled pine and floral scents and their senses could hardly process it all.

They began to walk around and to their amazement, people talked to them. People would say hello and ask them how they were doing. The people didn't try and kill them like they were told would happen. The people were eating and drinking all sorts of new things that weren't killing them and the freethinkers also partook and to their amazement, they learned to like these new tastes.  They learned that this new world was full of choices and with those choices came consequences, both good and bad, but the freethinkers learned to make wise choices through experience and living and learning.

The freethinkers were so amazed by all they learned, they wanted to share their experiences with the bubble people so they went back to the bubble with enthusiasm to share this new found knowledge. To their amazement, the bubble people, upon hearing their stories, were not happy to hear such news, in fact they accused the freethinkers of making up such things, of being full of hate and anger. The bubble people did not want their safety and security of the bubble changed or threatened.  To the freethinker's amazement, the bubble people liked the safety of not having to make decisions or of being responsible for their choices, even if it came at the cost of blandness, emptiness, shallowness and lies.

There were a few bubble people who chose to follow the freethinkers, and the freethinkers would go back occasionally to try and find new converts for the real world, but they were few and far between.

The freethinkers were happy, however, in their world of color and tastes and choices.