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Surprisingly, however, the fundamentalists seemed sloppy in covering their
tracks. Despite the precise planning of their attacks, they left behind a
trail of eyewitnesses who were only too eager to point out the culprits.
Equally surprising was that after committing their crimes, the fundamentalists
apparently went right back to their homes and jobs, making their capture
almost too easy. It was as though they wanted to be arrested, as though they
sought the martyr's role.
Around the world, U.N. security forces and local authorities had taken
hundreds of fundamentalists into custody for terrorist activities. While this
should have provided some encouragement, there was little to celebrate, for it
seemed that no sooner was an enclave of fundamentalists identified and taken
into custody than another stepped in to fill its shoes.
Despite the testimony of eyewitnesses, those arrested claimed innocence or
simply refused to answer the charges at all. Some just prayed while others did
their best to disrupt the proceedings by singing or shouting praises to their
god. Most tried to turn the hearings into an opportunity to preach to the
court and their accusers.
Outside the courts, they were having an impact. Because of the relentless
strikes against the clinics, the number of people receiving the communion had
dropped to a mere trickle. Clinics set up to handle thousands of people a day
served only a few hundred.
"What is most frustrating to me," Christopher said to those in the meeting
with him, "is that we are not opposed to them or their religion as such. They
could keep their religion, or at least much of what they believe, and still be
welcome in the New Age. We have not restricted other
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to. Soon all of Humankind will grow beyond the need for religion and it will
make no difference if, in the past, a person was a Buddhist or a Taoist or a
Christian. All that we ask is that the
Communion 89
fundamentalists accept the fact that the truth as others see it, is equally as
valid as the truth they believe they see."
"There, indeed, lies the problem," Milner said. "After all, the very nature of
religious zealots is that they believe that they alone know the right way.
They are unwilling to concede that anyone outside of their particular
orthodoxy may possess a small portion of the truth. Their exclusivity is a
source of great pride. They see Humankind as primitive and regressive. They
view the world as evil and unfit, and Humankind as deserving of annihilation
and eternal torment in hell. They define their value, not in being fully
human, but in becoming the slaves of Yahweh. For them, only those who are
willing to sacrifice their own humanity on the altar of subservience to an
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angry god are worthy of salvation from such a torturous end. Were it in their
power, they would call down a flood such as they believe Yahweh sent in the
days of Noah to drown out the rest of humanity. And is it any wonder, with
such examples of wrath and destruction as are found in the Bible, that these
people will justify any behavior, any crime, to stop us? They believe that
they not only have a right, but indeed they have a duty to eliminate any other
way of thinking.
"We have the support we need to punish those responsible," Milner continued,
"and I, for one, am convinced there is no other way to stop them."
"The people demand justice," Ambassador Tanaka said resolutely.
As others continued to voice their feelings, Christopher listened without
additional comment for more than an hour. Decker could see that he was
uncomfortable with what he was hearing.
"I began," Robert Milner said in closing, "by saying that euphemisms were out
of place in an honest discussion of the alternatives available. Let me now
conclude by noting that in light of what we now understand about the nature of
the human animal, as that light has been given to us by
Christopher, we are not truly condemning anyone to death, for death is but a
fleeting
90 Acts of God
Communion 91
passage in the eternal circle of life. The seed is buried in the ground but it
returns anew to life. So it is also with the human seed. What we are talking
about is not execution, but liberation. What we accomplish is not termination,
but rebirth."
The meeting ended without a decision in order to give everyone a chance to
consider what had been said. In truth, all except Christopher seemed resolved
to a course of action. "What are you going to do?" Decker asked after everyone
else had left.
Christopher leaned back in his chair and exhaled in pained exasperation.
Decker waited for his answer.
"I'd like to just quit," Christopher answered to Decker's amazement. "A part
of me would like to just say, 'okay, Yahweh, you win. You can have the planet.
. .' But of course I can't simply surrender the future of Humankind because
I'm faced with having to do what I do not want to do.
And yet capital punishment seems so contrary to our overall goals. I have the
greatest respect for the men and women who were just here," he said of the
Security Council and Robert Milner. "It is clear that they have approached
this problem with a great deal of serious thought."
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