Pulp Fiction I

Pulp Fiction I

This is the intellectual property of the author. Permission to reproduce in any format is granted, on the condition that you attribute it to the author and that you do not publish it for personal monetary gain.

 

            It was late Fall 2010 when the campus exploded.

            This was not a terrorist attack. In fact, the explosion couldn’t be seen. But by its effects it made itself known. Rippling out from the epicenter of an abstract reality, shockwaves of discontent manifested in rumors and outrage. What had happened was deeply injurious to the sense of pride many had in the academic establishment to which they belonged. If their prejudices were correct, then the lone voice in the electronic wilderness was a painful evidence of the failure of higher education to reform minds and achieve a unanimity of scientific doctrine among its pupils.

            This cheapened their view of their own success and insulted those who took comfort in their perceived academic prowess. The dissonance produced an argumentative backlash on the insulated discussion forum of a prestigious university. Men and women whetted their appetites for controversy, brought to bear their weapons of worldly wisdom, and took aim at the man who dared defy the presumed conclusions of the education he was receiving. Thousands became acquainted with a single name—for some, a byword; for others, a folk legend; and for still fewer others, an ideological ally and friend.

            Love and hate were expressed, by no means in equal measure. Some were impressed by his command of logic, others by his depths of ignorance. He converted apparent friends and apparent enemies, each to the opposite camp. For a man who wished to imitate Christ, he certainly had one thing in common with Him: he drove a wedge between everybody. Everyone had an opinion, and no one was let alone to sit on a fence. And of course, he was ‘despised and rejected’ by most, but very few people truly knew him.

            In the end run, the most important things he learned at college were gained from this forum. And after his baptism-by-fire, he was no less zealous than when he started. His destiny may turn out to be insignificant, but he would see it through to its utmost fulfillment.

~ Rak Chazak