The BLTS Archive - Religious Tolerance
by R.J. Faas (findamac@aol.com)

---

Since some people sent me encouragement when I mentioned this idea and
since there seems to be a desire for O'Brien slash...

Disclaimers and Warnings:  Paramount is the God and Goddess of the
trek universe and creator of all its creatures, places, and people.  I
only borrow and I clean up as nicely as I can when I'm done playing.

This contains male/male sex (but you already had that figured out,
right?) and several references to the Catholic church (for which no
offense is intended).  So if you have problems with either of the
above or with mixing the two in the venue of trek-smut and the Bajoran
religion, or if you are underage where ever you live, don't read.
Flame will be summarily deleted but comments are appreciated.

Note: readers may remember the backstory of gay sexual relationships I
gave O'Brien in "Unexpected Meetings" (recently reposted).  In this
story, I take a completely different tactic and give the Chief a
traditional Irish Catholic upbringing, with some of the confused
notions that brings to same sex relationships (and that comes from
personal experience not uninformed opinions).

All that said...

---

Miles O'Brien sat gratefully on his bed.  What a night.  So Kai Winn
had made the decision to become more friendly with the Federation
personnel of DS9.  Did they really all have to sit through that dinner
with her and the higher members of the Vedek assembly?  And what in
bloody hell was up with Kira?  That see-through dress and the constant
games of footsie with Bariel...wouldn't have even noticed that if I
wasn't between them, Miles thought.

He tried to forget the evening, especially the way Bariel kept
touching his arm or shoulder in a little embrace. Okay, so he's more
tactile than I'm comfortable with, so what?  You know what, Miles, a
small voice in his head responded.

Miles shook his head as he stripped for a shower.  No, its not that,
he thought.  I'm married, to a woman for crying out loud.  I'm not
attracted to Vedek Bariel or any other man for that matter.  "I'm
not," he said out loud, almost pleadingly.

So why am I reliving each of those little touches in my mind while I'm
showering...and why are they making me think about what, if anything,
he wears under that robe?  And why is this making me hard?  Just
missing Keiko, that's all.  It can't be anything else...I mean I
haven't had sex in months, I'm bound to get hard on and then for no
apparent reason.

Miles had almost put the entire incident out of his mind by the time
he was out of the shower.  But then it happened.  The door buzzed.

"Who is it?"

"Its Vedek Bariel, may I speak with you for a moment, chief?"  For a
second, Miles actually thought that Bariel wanted more than talk.
That's ridiculous, he thought.  So why was he getting hard again at
the thought?

"Yeah, I guess.  Come in."  The door parted.  "Just give me a second
to finish getting dressed."  Miles waved a hand at the towel he'd
quickly pulled around his waist.

"Of course," Bariel said in the almost infuriating calm voice of his.

Miles grabbed a loose pair of combat pants from the closet and pulled
on a big roomy shirt before returning to the main room, where Bariel
had seated himself on the couch.

"Now, Vedek, what can I do for you?"

Bariel looked at him.  "Actually, I thought that there might be
something I could do for you."

Miles was confused, though his heart raced for a moment, thinking what
Bariel could have meant.  "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"During dinner, you seemed very uncomfortable when I touched you and I
thought you might want to talk about it."

"I...er... Vedek-"

"Please call me Bariel."  O'Brien looked at him sharply.  That seemed
awfully familiar.

"Okay, Bariel...I'm just not a very tactile person, that's all."
Miles tried to grin but couldn't manage it.

"Are you sure?"  What was about this man's calm tone that both
infuriated him and made him want to cry, to let out what it was he was
trying to deny.

Miles didn't answer, instead he turned to the replicator.  "Computer,
coffee black, double sweet with a shot of Bailey's Irish Cream."  He
turned to Bariel.  "Do you want anything?"  The other man shook his
head.

Miles took the coffee cup and sat on a chair facing Bariel.  "Its
nothing personal.  I mean I don't have a problem with you...but in the
religion my parents raised me in sex with another man was wrong... in
Catholicism, sex was only for married couples, for procreation."

Bariel looked bewildered.  "But I thought that the Federation
sanctioned marriages of same sex couples.  And isn't your medical
technology advanced enough to allow to men to conceive a child?"

Miles nodded.  "Just because Federation law allows for something,
doesn't mean all religions in the Federation approve of it.  And, yes
two men can have a child... with medical aid, not naturally."
O'Brien understood the argument well.  His parents had drilled it into
him whenever he questioned the concept, which was often since his best
friend growing up had had two women parents.  He remembered his mother
trying to explain that they weren't bad people but that God didn't
want them to live like that. O'Brien had learned to respect that
thought but never really to comprehend how if people were doing
something God didn't want they could be good people.  The whole thing
was a conundrum for him, one that he'd given up thinking about.  So,
if he'd given it up, why did he still feel like being attracted to a
man was wrong?

"I'm afraid I don't understand.  Your religion, it is monotheistic?"
O'Brien nodded.  "And of all the things your God could demand, it
demands that sex be withheld?"

"First off God isn't an it, he's a he.  Secondly,he doesn't demand sex
be withheld, just used only for the purpose he gave it to us for."

Bariel still looked puzzled.  "Procreation?"  Miles nodded again.
"But procreation and marriage don't have to coexist.  There are many
couples who choose not procreate."

"And that's a sin, or it used to be.  There's been argument about it
for the past three hundred years, actually."

"But science has proven that sex performs other biological functions
as well...the release of certain hormones and endorsing needed for
proper metabolic function."

"Look, Vedek, I didn't say I understood the beliefs of my religion, or
that I always agreed with them, but I do try to live by them."

"Chief, may I speak openly with you?"  Miles nodded.  "How can you
live your life, truly live it as an honest man, if you don't
understand why you believe the things you do or if you don't always
find them in your best moral interests?"

That stumped him.  Several people had accused him of being blinded by
his archaic beliefs...and Catholicism hadn't been a major force on
Earth in centuries...few people even practiced it these days, but it
had been how he'd been raised.  How could he just abandon all his
parents had  taught him, how would he feel if Molly did that to him?
Come to think  of it, why wasn't he passing on the Catholic religion
to his daughter?   Keiko taught her some Taoist and Zen traditions
that he approved of,  but that was about it.

"Well surely, your religious system has similar ideals.  Things that
the profits understand but we mere mortals don't."

Bariel nodded slightly, hesitantly.  "The prophecies are often trusted
as the will of the prophets and often we misinterpret them, but every
individual interprets them in his own way, or follows a Vedek whose
beliefs about them match his.  That is why there are such vast
differences in the schools of thought that Kai Winn and I teach.  Our
beliefs can be individual without needing to be in conflict.  No
Bajoran is coerced and asked to live by a code of beliefs he disagrees
with.  In fact that is why we seek the Orbs, to help us see our
beliefs and their sources.  To test them.  Beliefs that can't
withstand a test are seldom worthy of the faith put in them."

Miles thought about that for a while.  When he spoke, he knew his
voice was small and muffled.  "Would it be possible for me
to...um...seek the Orbs?"  He was almost afraid to see what they would
show him, but he needed to know.  Could he let go of the idea that so
many things he thought sinful were in fact only that in his mind?  The
Catholic concept of God  seemed small when compared to the multitude
of science within the  Federation, the wonders of the galaxy, and
whatever lay beyond.  Had  he ever truly believed in those concepts or
had he adhered to them out of guilt and fear of defying his parents?

"I could arrange that.  Soon perhaps, if you wish?"  Bariel reached
out his hand.  "Chief, I don't seek to change your beliefs or to
offend them, but I wonder if they are truly yours."

"I don't know," Miles whispered, feeling like a small child sitting
before an elderly priest being ashamed of whatever sins he'd come to
confess, however minor and normal others might judge the acts in
question.

"Can you come to my monastery tomorrow?"  Miles nodded slowly. He had
the day off, first in a couple of weeks, and maybe he could visit
Keiko if nothing else.  "Good, and together we will seek the wisdom of
the  prophets."  Bariel left.

---

"Chief, I hear you're going to Bajor. Mind if I tag along?"  Kira
seemed in a particularly cheerful mood.  A mood Miles didn't share.
For some reason the idea of confronting his parents' religion seemed
particularly wicked this morning, not that he'd thought that much
about  in the  past.  He would've called the whole thing off, but he'd
already told Keiko, who,  it turned out, was glad because she thought
he should have let go of  some  parts of his Catholic upbringing a
long time ago.  What a thing to say to  him, even if he'd agreed she
might be right.

"Major, I'd rather make the trip alone, if you don't mind." He used
his most hard-nosed tone with her.

But cheerfulness seemed to make Kira even more stubborn than usual.
"Ordinarily, I wouldn't push the issue, Chief... but every run-about
except the Rubicon is away from the station and I can't use the
Defiant for a brief trip to visit family."

"Family? Thought all your family were killed during the occupation."
Or is she considering Bariel family, he wondered.

"All but some distant relatives. They raised me since I was an early
teen.  I haven't see Alta and Sucaro in a couple of years now.  They
called last night and asked if I'd come see their new grandson."

Miles sighed.  Well, at least she'll keep me distracted...or tell me
what to expect.  "All right.  Are you ready to go?"

"Just waiting to get to the docking pad."  Miles snorted and led the
way.

---

"So, Major, what's it like...this encountering of an Orb?"  Miles
asked softly as they crossed silent space.

"Is that why you're going to Bajor?  I thought you were visiting
Keiko." She looked awed by his mention of the Orbs.

"Didn't Bariel tell you?"  Miles tried to conceal his surprise that
she didn't know.

"No, he said that he'd talked to you, but that was it.  I didn't
really give it much thought.  He left late last night and we were,
well... busy during the couple of hours we had after he got back from
talking to you. " He nodded and she continued.  "He probably wouldn't
have told me anyway. Bariel will risk his life before he'll betray
something said to him in confidence or when he gives counsel."

Miles thought about this for a few minutes.  The old priest where he
grew up had taken a similar vow when it came to hearing confessions.
But, Miles had learned when he was a teen that that vow wasn't always
kept.  He remembered distinctly telling Father O'Nally about his first
wet- dreams,  fearing they were a mortal sin.  O'Nally had asked about
the contents  of the dream and seemed angry when Miles had said they
were about  naked men.   Then his parents had started talking to him
about sexuality and how  sex between men was a sin, even though you
shouldn't bear any prejudice  against men who married each other. It
had all seemed so bizarre but Miles had known where his parents got
the idea to start those talks.

"It's completely out of this world.  There's nothing I can compare
the experience to." They had been silent for so long that Miles almost
jumped when Kira spoke.  For a moment he didn't realize what she was
referring to.  "In some ways, it's frightening because the Orbs tend
to make you   face things you wouldn't otherwise face.  But you grow
from it, you   learn  new ways of thinking...and of living."

They were nearing the planet now and Miles put his attention to
landing the run-about not far from the capital where Kira's family now
lived.  She left through the hatch and Miles turned to the
transporter.  For the first time in his adult life, he hesitated
stepping onto the transport pad out of fear.  But it wasn't fear of
the transporter that made him hesitate.

---

He materialized inside a vast stone chamber.  It seemed ancient, older
than the universe.  There were only a few windows at least five meters
above him and the rest of the room was lit by candle light.  To one
end was a large archway and to the other a set of small doors.
Benches and a couple of small tables lined the edges of the room, but
the center, where he'd materialized was completely empty.  The scale
of the place pressed itself down on him and he felt dwarfed by it,
made insignificant by the room and the universe.

Bariel emerged from the archway, wearing the same red robes he always
did. The candlelight  gave the scene a romantic cast and Bariel's soft
gentle features and calming presence made Miles want to fall to his
knees.   He felt in awe of this place, of this man.

Bariel crossed to him.  "Chief, welcome to our monastery.  Are you
ready?"   Bariel's voice was soothing, invigorating, and powerfully
masculine    all at once.  Miles imagined that Jesus Christ must have
possessed a voice  like that.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be."  Miles didn't want to sound flippant
and he certainly didn't feel humorous; that was impossible here.

Bariel nodded slowly.  "This way."

Miles followed him through the arch, into a stone corridor.  The
corridor looked more modern, with electric lighting, paintings on some
of the wall, even a computer terminal in an alcove here or there.
Still the feeling of awe didn't leave him, the quiet was overwhelming
and yet not intrusive.

After they had passed several doors and intersections, Bariel led him
into a small, dim room.  He closed the unornamented door silently.
The  room possessed a couple of benches on either side, stands on
which stood  plants and pens with parchment, and more candles.  A
small doorway led into another room.

"If you have any questions, anything you want to say or write, or if
you'd like to wait here for a few minutes..."  Miles shook his head,
his mind was racing feverishly and he wanted nothing more than to get
the Orb visit done and over.  "All right, remember you are safe here.
There is no fear but what you would bring with you to be cleansed."
With that, Bariel led him through the doorway.

The room bore no signs of modern life.  Just the stone walls, more
candles, and the chest off to one side.  The two ovals set in the
doors glowed a luminous gold.  Miles looked at it, knowing the Orb was
inside.

"This is the fourth Orb of Learning and Freedom."  Bariel spoke the
words with great reverence and pulled aside the doors.  Miles gazed
at the shimmering hour-glass shape inside for a split second.


Then he was back in the confession room of St. Patrick's.  Father
O'Nally was there.  "Why?"  The question escaped Miles's lips before
any thought came to his mind.

"It is as God wills," the old man said quietly.

"What is?"

Suddenly the confession room was gone and he stood in the center of
the church.  Brother Malicious, stood between him and the alter.
"Everything is as God wills it, everything sits as the creator would
have it sit."

"If that is so, then why does he condemn me for the feelings he gave
me?" Suddenly there was a breeze blowing against his cheeks.  He was
on  a hill surrounded by crowds.  A man was in front of them speaking,
other men  were passing out food, bread and fish and Miles recognized
the scene from  the Bible.  The man at the head of the crowd looked
straight at him and  spoke. "I never condemned you."  Miles felt
himself falling to his knees, spreading his arms before him.

He was in his parent's living room playing on the floor while they
prayed.   "I didn't mean for it to happen, my penis just got bigger
and    touching it felt good..." He knew it was his voice as a
teenager speaking.  He  knew this wasn't a conversation he'd ever had;
he would have remembered it  if he had.

"I'm proud of you, son.  Trust your feelings, trust in your God."  His
father never would have truly spoken those words, would he?

Then he was with Bariel.  He didn't know where. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course, Vedek."

"Hmm, good."  Bariel's robes fell away revealing the smooth skin
beneath them, the strong body and the rising erection.

Miles felt himself kneeling before Bariel.  Without realizing what he
was doing, his mouth sought the other man's hard penis, clasping it in
his lips, sucking on its head, licking the underside of the shaft, his
hands stroking Bariel's balls.  Miles slid his lips along Bariel's
cock, deep throating him.  The other man cried out in pleasure,
massaging Miles's head.

Miles kept sucking and licking and stroking Bariel with his mouth, his
hands exploring the Vedek's ass, grabbing it, squeezing, using it to
rock Bariel's hips, bringing his cock closer, and Bariel was gasping
and  moaning in pleasure.  Miles could feel his hard cock throbbing
against...nothing.

Then there was Keiko's voice, but she wasn't interrupting him...she
was encouraging him.  "Come on Miles, make him come... I know you can
do it, that you want to do it... keep sucking, harder, tighter, now
take him all in, Miles...that's it..."

Bariel was gasping louder now.  "Okay, Miles, slow down, he's ready to
come.  Keep your mouth around him but don't  move...make  him really
want it."  Miles was following his wife's instructions,  unable to
even think how odd this might seem.  Bariel was panting,  begging him
for release.

"Now listen very carefully, Miles... move  your  finger around  his
balls.  That's it...gently, just hold them... now squeeze them
gently, pulling them away from his cock... seem how tense he is, he's
almost ready... just squeeze your lips a little tighter..."

And then it was happening.  Bariel was coming.  His cock spasming in
Miles's mouth, hot fluid squirting into his throat, almost gagging
him, but it felt so good he didn't want to let go.  Bariel was gasping
something in Bajoran.  It kept going for moments on end and then
Bariel was slipping away.  Miles swallowed the hot semen and looked
up.

He was kneeling before the altar of St. Patrick's.  But on it was the
case containing the Orb.  Brother Malicious was kneeling in front of
him, also naked.  "Do it, please..."  the monk was pleading to him and
O'Brien realized that some kind of lubricant was covering Brother
Malicious's butt crack.

He heard Bariel's voice behind him.  "If you are to be free, you must
do it."

Without more hesitation, Miles inched his way forward and lay his
cock against the monk's back, sliding it lower until it rubbed against
the  lubed orifice.  There were no sounds but his breathing as he
pressed the  head of his cock against the puckered opening.  He
paused, knowing that this  was an irrevocable step.  "Miles, please,"
he heard Keiko's voice and  was pressing his cock into the man in
front of him in a heartbeat.

The pressure of the sphincter gave after a little pressure and then
contracted around his cock.  It was heaven, or pretty close to it.
The warm tight feeling was something that was so different than
anything he'd felt making love to Keiko.  He was astounded and pressed
in farther, until his hips were against the monk's cheeks, till his
balls gently touched the man before him and then he was thrusting.  It
all seemed instinctive and certain.  Uncertainty had plagued his first
several months with Keiko and sometimes still did.

This was pure manhood, there was no other words.  It was  a male
bonding beyond anything he could have imagined and it felt so good to
feel the pressure surrounding his cock to thrust into the tight wet
hole.The sensations along his cock were incredible and then he felt
someone toying with his nipples.

"Don't' be afraid." Bariel's voice whispered in his ear.

Miles would have responded that he wasn't afraid but he was too
breathless from fucking Brother Malicious.  Then he felt warm moist
fingers against his asshole.  The tender caresses relaxed him,
eliciting gasps of surprise. Then the fingers were massaging deeper
and deeper.  He felt the incredible tingle as they reached his
prostate and was moaning in ecstasy.  How could I never know what this
feels like?  he wondered for a moment.

But his wonder was cut off as he felt the pressure of a cock against
his asshole.  He almost pulled out of Brother Malicious.

"Trust him, Miles," Keiko's voice told him and he waited as Bariel
slowly penetrated his virgin ass.

What an incredible feeling, how wonderful to feel someone inside  you
to know that they were a worshiper in the temple of your body.  He
felt  Bariel's balls gently tap his thigh and felt the Vedek's skin
against  his  back and then Bariel was fucking him and Miles was
groaning and  somehow continuing to fuck Brother Malicious.  The
rhythm couldn't be  sought,  just flowed along with and then Miles
felt it.  A tingle from the tip of  his penis through his balls and
through his prostate into his spine.   He  was going to come and he
wanted it to last forever.

And when the climax came it was more profound and more powerful than
anything he'd ever felt before.  Miles O'Brien was gone... there was
only the sensations rocking through his whole being, body and soul.
His limbs were convulsing with the force of the orgasm, his voice
crying out, his cock spasming and his ass clenching around the cock
within him.  It was too much to describe and it kept going for what
seemed like hours before it slowly dissipated, leaving him feeling
more sated than he could ever remember feeling.

Then Father O'Nally was offering mass, a mass of celebration for him.
"You have baptized in a new way my son.  Go in peace and know  *your*
path to God.  Trust always in yourself and those around you."

As Miles began to realize that his family, old school friends,
comrades from the Enterprise and the Rutledge, co-workers from DS9 and
his wife and daughter were there and that he was standing naked before
them, unashamed of having just fucked a man and while being fucked by
another. Just as he felt truly safe and proud of who he was and sure
of himself and convictions, there was a rush of light and a tingle
around his body.


The room at the monastery surrounded him.  The Orb dazzling in its
brilliant gold light hung before him in its case.  Gently, Bariel shut
the doors to the case, casting the room into the dimness of candle
light.

Miles blinked.  "What happened?"

Bariel smiled.  "You tell me...or write or however you need to
preserve the encounter in your mind."  Bariel led him into the small
room that led to the corridor and Miles sat on a bench, inscribing the
incident on a piece of parchment, afraid he'd forget something, not be
able to describe something.  But in the end, he felt he'd captured the
experience incredibly well.

Bariel set the paper in the center of the Orb room and opened the case
ever so slightly.  There was a flash and then Bariel rolled the
parchment into a scroll before handing it back to him.  Miles stared.
"A reminder of your visit, if you ever need it."

"I have so much to think about, to do, to...be,"  Miles spoke the
words in a rush.

"Yes, the prophets have given you a gift today.  Do not squander  it,
but do  not rush into changes too quickly.  Share the experience with
someone first, discuss it and trust what you decide after that."

"You?"

Bariel smiled slightly.  "If you wish, but I think your wife would be
a better person to discuss growth with."  Miles nodded.

"I will, if there's time before I head back to DS9."

Bariel chuckled.  "Chief, there is plenty of time.  It isn't even noon
yet."

Miles looked around in confusion as they entered the huge hall he'd
materialized in.  "What do you mean?  I must've been in there for a
few hours at least."

"You communed with the Orb for less than a minute.  And writing the
encounter took you only an hour."

"But that can't be...." Miles looked around in confusion, even checked
with the computer on the run about.

"The prophets work in mysterious ways."  Bariel spoke the sentence
and  was  gone an instant later.

Miles called the run-about for transport to Keiko's campsite.  They
had a lot to talk about.

---

The End