The Jehovah Contract

'Well, Beaver,

The God State

is actually a sequel to my first book. In the first book-

My God, My Self

-I explained that God is an idea perpetuated as a means for the few to control the many. Initially, there was the priest class, who decided that all conversation with the forces of nature should be channeled through them. At a price, of course. In

The God State

, I deal with the rise of the Judeo-Christian cult of guilt worship and how religious ruling classes have-from the very startbeen in control of every government in the history of mankind.'

The audience booed. The microphones picked up someone hollering, 'Sweeping generalization!'

'Many theocratic groups,' Tom continued, 'have been quite flagrant about their clandestine involvement, leaving their signs and symbols openly displayed as if daring someone to expose them.'

'Come off it, you smirking heap of atheistic garbage.' Lenny leaned forward at his desk. 'Are you accusing the United States of violating its constitutional guarantee of separation of church and state?'

The audience cheered Beaver on.

Tom smiled even more broadly. 'The Constitution isn't worth the parchment it's written on.' Over the hissing, he added, 'We're dealing with deeds, not words. Nearly every President of the United States has been a member of the Ancient and Accepted Order of Freemasons-a secret religious society-'

'That's old news. Disney County

perfected

conspiracy paranoia.'

Tom leaned back in his chair. 'Nearly everything in my book is old news. I display it from a new perspective. By the time you've finished reading it, you'll be more suspicious of the chaplains that roam the corridors of Congress, setting up prayer meetings. You'll notice the mystical symbols and sentiments expressed on our currency. Blatant theistic sentiments such as `In God We Trust.''

Lenny leaned on his fists. 'I can't believe it! On my show, this pansy-haired wimp is attacking a tradition as old as our nation!'

'Not really, Beaver.' Tom spread his arms out across the empty chairs flanking him. 'The statement has only been on this government's money since 1864, when it was used as a rallying slogan for one side of a brutal, divisive war. It didn't even appear on all the coins until the twentieth century, when the five-cent piece finally received the Mark. And it wasn't until as late as 1954 that the slogan became the legal and official motto of the United States-during a flareup of patriotic witch-hunting.'

Lenny turned to the audience with outstretched arms. 'The phlegmbrained cretin is undercutting his own thesis!' he said with feigned amazement. 'He's admitting that for nearly a century there was no religious control of government.'

Tom waved his hand in dismissal. 'They weren't as overt in their symbols primarily because most Americans still remembered the excesses of the God State back in England. The cults grew bolder, though. The Great Seal of the United States contains many mystical symbols. Significantly, they are all on the

reverse

side, which is never used to authenticate official documents. This is an astonishingly blatant depiction of the power of religion behind the throne of state.'

'So what? If they're in control of every government, then the power is in balance and unimportant.'

'

Yeah!

' screamed the crowd in unison. '

So what!

'

'The power is

not

in balance. That's why we have wars. The God State is

not

monolithic. Even in the United States there is evidence of an internal battle for control of this continent by at