throughout history

"wilhelm promised the church leaders he would make berlin a second vatican. so much has happened in this church since then, the benediction for the armies of 1914, the weekly prayers for hitler, goring's wedding, that it is a miracle that the building itself did not go completely, despite the heavy damage it incurred in the second world war, by the sword." geert mak " in europe "________________________"i haven't done anything," says the child. "yes," says the chaplain, "but that's not the question now. you must get ready to die properly." "it can't be that no one understands me." "i am your friend and, perhaps, i understand you. but it is late. i shall be with you, and the good lord will be to. you'll see how easy it is." the child turns his head away. the chaplain speaks of god. does the child believe him? yes. he believes so hence he knows that nothing is as important as the peace awaiting him. but that very peace is what frightens the child. " i am your friend," the chaplain repeats. the others are silent. he must think of them. the chaplain turns towards the group, turning his head away from the child for a moment...the child leans against the canvas covering, which gives a little. he notices a narrow space between it and the truck body. he could jump if he wanted. the chaplain had his back turned and, up front, the soldiers are intent on finding their way in the dark. the boy doesn't stop to think; he tears the canvas loose, slips into the opening, and jumps. his fall is hardly heard, the sound of running on the pavement, then nothing more. he is in the fields where his steps cannot be heard. but the flapping of the canvas and the sharp, damp morning air penetrating the truck make the chaplain and the prisoners turn. for a second the priest stares at those looking at him in silence. a second in which he, as a man of god, must decide whether he is on the side of executioners, or on the side of the martyrs in keeping with his vocation. but he has already knocked on the partition separating him from his comrades. "achtung!" the alarm has been given. albert camus. "second letter to a german friend"_____________________________________________"the theologian and the hangman have been intimates throughout history." michael wood "legagcy"__________organized religion is spiritually bankrupt and a font of behavioral control...we have enough of that in political public relations and the eternal advertising...keep your proselytizing distance...you can keep your teleologies too.