The Riddle of Jendariel
As the problems of the world grew to an ultimate tumult, an angel appeared to its inhabitants. It spoke:
“I am Jendariel: avatar to the One most high.
I have come as harbinger of the Creator’s latest great gift to your mortal kind.
I am imbued with the power to answer any single question, and you have as much time as you like to think of it. I appear simultaneously elsewhere on your planet, that other cultures may also ask a question most relevant to them. One of me appears to Australia, one to Africa, three to Eurasia, and one to each of the Americas. Know this: you each have one question, and only one. Asking questions in such a way as to get more questions, will result in the offer for your gift being rescinded.
Take your time and ask carefully. I await your question.”
The people of the world took months to come up with their questions. They convened amongst each other and agreed not to ask any question which would bring harm to the others, and after what felt like a lifetime of debate, the North Americans finally asked their question:
“How can we fix all the problems in our society?”
Jendariel replied, “Your question is large and worthy. The answer however, is too long and complex for any of you to remember, and even if you were to record it perfectly, you will bicker and war over precisely how to interpret my words, exactly as your have done over your ‘Bible’. Instead, I will answer you in the way which will be the most accurate, truthful, and helpful, for you to understand and employ it; this way, you may truly fix all the problems in your particular society. That answer, as many of the most important answers of your world, comes in the form of another question:
‘What do the words “Slut, King,” and “Racism” have in common?’
Once you understand the answer to that, you will understand how to fix all of your problems.”
A present mortal objected, “Wait! That’s even worse than if you just gave us a long answer to argue over!”
Another shouted, “How’s that going to help us solve starvation and homelessness?!”
Yet another shouted, “Or whether we should allow gun rights or abortions?!”
Another interjected, “I TOLD YOU ALL we should have asked about the afterlife!”
Jendariel replied flatly, “You will fight less over this, than you would have over the long answer. Do you think to question the omniscient?”
The mortals began to protest again, but in the next instant the angel was already gone, with nothing left but its cryptic answer:
What do the words “slut, king,” and “racism” have in common?