LIFE IN KAMPALA
Me: a traveler passing through.
Emma: a gainfully employed husband and father.
We were talking about what it's like to live in Kampala.
Emma: "...but if someone tried to steal my phone I would kill him. My phone was stolen once. I let my friend borrow my phone and he did not return it. I went to the police and they would not help me. So I went to that man's house and beat him. I beat him in the head with a slasher [like a thin machete – but bent at an angle just six inches up from the end and sharpened only there on the angled bit – used for mowing grass by hand.] Pah! Pah! And I got my phone. You see, I would kill a man like that, a thief, and let God decide. I would not let that man decide. Because if he saw me coming he would kill me first." Chris: "So you would give this infinitesimal speck of rubbish, a phone, all the weight and value of your Babylon and Israel, of your Old Testament and New, of your Jesus and Mary, Heaven and Hell, of your Almighty-Creator-of-the-Universe and of all the life therein? This? This tiny, worthless, senseless, meaningless, purposeless piece of trash?" Emma: "Well, you see, if I don't kill that man he may kill me. So, you see, it is better that I kill him and then we will let God decide what happens. Everyone knows that. Everyone in Uganda knows." Chris: "But, for me, there is only this-time, this-life: there is no immortal soul, no judge to stand before, nor a heaven to transcend to hereafter and for all of eternity. So, then, do you see how this-now becomes the most sacred and precious thing, and something that must not be violated? Here too, then, you see, the responsibility is entirely on us, and to one another – and mustn't be taken or given away for anything. And, this being the case, the very worst thing I, or anyone, could ever do would be to take a life – and in doing so play the role of a God, ultimate decider: in violation of both our collective responsibility and the ultimate sacredness of life." Emma: "But you cannot think that, Chris." Chris: "I agree. These two ideas, yours and mine, cannot occupy the same space. One sees life as temporary and worthless, while the other sees it as infinity and priceless. These ideas really are repellent opposites." Emma: "But this is not my idea." Chris: "But I think it is. It is not my idea."
