get as much positive coverage as possible. You will have to help us know what to do to get free press and how to use advertising to push our message and recruit help.” Diane had recently been the local campaign manager for a state Senate candidate and she knew how it was done. A very good choice thought Tom.
That left the boring part – organization. John Tremble volunteered office space and a computer. His receptionist would answer a separate line for the Citizen’s Militia and it would be set up to receive messages in her absence. “Just in case,” John said, “I will have a security camera installed and the receptionist will be armed. You never can be too careful when confronting violence.”
Tom would coordinate the teams in the field and the requests for protection. All Sam wanted to do was be the face of the organization and be in the field where he could get a shot at the shooter. He wanted blood. “We need our own hit team. We need to figure out where he will strike next and be waiting for him.” Two very different agendas motivated by two very different influences in the same organization.
Tom put in a call to the local police and was referred to Officer Sally Johnson. They agreed to meet tomorrow. Sally was concerned, but something about Tom gave her a sense of peace. Actually, it was something in Tom, for Tom, like Sally, was guided by the light inside. Argon was not pleased with this development and again, the ever present Zaccur was dispatched with the news. He wondered how long he would survive continued bad news. The Dark Master was without mercy and accepted no excuse for failure. Argon was afraid.
Professor Thompson Weighs In
Dr. Daniel P. Thompson was a Bible history professor extraordinaire. His classes filled quickly, for they were interesting, timely, and often controversial – but not religious. The focus was to take the history expressed in the Bible as compared to other writings and traditions that were now generally accepted as fact. He saw it as a search for truth with the Bible simply being another opinion – an often wrongly interpreted opinion, he thought. A case in point was the class he was just wrapping up.
“A Historical Perspective on Biblical Israel” was a fascinating study, if you could take the mysticism away from political Israel. He used the class as an opportunity for an examination of the history of the whole Middle East as a stage upon which a nation called Israel has appeared for several extended performances, the most recent of which began in 1948. The class looked briefly at the history of all the peoples of the Middle East with a focus on Israel as discussed in the Bible. He really planted himself in the study of modern political Israel in comparison with biblical Israel and the land promised to Abram21 (later Abraham).22 Were the citizens of Israel today God’s so-called chosen people23 as spoken of in the Bible? What about the other people in the Middle East and their view of Israel? What about end times mythology?
To say the class was controversial would be to put it very mildly. He made people mad but didn’t really care as long as it made them think. His agenda was transparent. He believed that the nation of Israel was nothing more than another nation that has little connection to the Israel of the Bible, beyond the name and general geographic location. He concluded that others in the Middle East had as good a claim to the dirt as did the citizens of Israel. As he saw it, Israel had no special right to take the land from others.
His class attracted a lot of foreign students. The current class had three Palestinians who, he learned, lived together. They really invested in the class with passion and added a lot to the discussion by putting a face to the people who were suffering at the hands of political Israel. He saw them as clear evidence in the flesh that he was right in his conviction, that terrorism was a response to violence, not an inherent part of a belief system. These young men were Muslims; but in language, dress and practice they were as Western as the kids born here. They had American friends, went to American movies and acted like American with few exceptions. “Assimilation does work,” he thought. “Reaching out in friendship was the way to deal with terrorism, not violence. Violence would only spawn more violence. The world was certainly big enough for many belief systems. Too bad the current crop of politicians in Washington and London were so stupid. At least, I have a podium from which to teach the next generation of American leaders. They won’t be so blind.”
By contrast, most of the American-born church-going students were angry with him from the first day of the class. To him, they were closed-minded idiots. They actually believed the Bible taught that to mess with modern Israel was to mess with God because they were His people and He had given them that land. “These children of the crusades are not interested in considering the results of violence,” he thought. “They’re as good as Pharisees, as wrong as that crowd of religious leaders who thought they were serving God by killing Jesus.24 It was merely violence to preserve their place in the social and political order. Not much different from today.”
He was thankful for Faith Church of Joy, the place he attended. The leadership was more realistic and modern in their views. They were not the prisoner of tradition and Bible myths. They understood that the Bible was a collection of the thoughts of many men written over hundreds of years. Men could always be wrong. Beyond that, he understood that things change over time and what might have been true two thousand years ago for a society living under the Roman boot was hardly true for America, where values and standards evolve as society matures. The Bible had to be kept in its rightful place – useful but not authoritative.
What really pleased him about his church was that Roy Elkhorn, the Senior Pastor, had asked him to teach what had become the largest class in the church on Sunday mornings. He was given a free hand on what to teach. The class had become a second golden opportunity to debunk Christian fanaticism on a horde of political and social issues.
The students with a Jewish heritage avoided the class. As he saw it, they obviously feared truth, choosing rather to live in their imaginary world of black and white where they were always right regardless of how it impacted others. It was in the blood. There were Jews and then everyone else. They were totally unrealistic. He believed that America had to come to the place where it dealt with political Israel no differently than with Syria or Iran. They were simply three countries from the same part of the world with differing political agendas.
He was exhilarated from the day’s discussion as he left the class and encountered Paul Phillips in the hall. “Professor Thompson, I desperately need a few moments of your time – privately.” Thompson knew Paul Phillips as a serious student and his demeanor indicated that he believed whatever was going on was serious.
“Sure, let’s go to my office,” he responded. “What’s happening? You look like you haven’t slept in a week.” No response.
As they entered his office, Professor Thompson noted that Paul’s hands were shaking and he was as pale as the dead. Something was obviously terrifying him. He was short of breath, having rushed from somewhere to get here. Professor Thompson’s voice rose as he questioned, “Paul, what in the hell is going on?”
“Look Professor, you are a man who knows the Bible and you know history. I’m not crazy, but I saw something in a dream – a nightmare – that I don’t understand and it has me living in absolute terror and fear. Please, just promise me you will hear me out and give me any perspective you have on what happened – on what I saw. I have to know, please.”
Paul’s desperation got his attention and he responded kindly, “I’m listening, but slow down. Take your time and tell me everything you can about whatever happened.”
His Keeper’s large hands grasp more tightly around Professor Thompson’s head to control what was heard and to influence his response. This was an opportunity not to be missed, a chance to end Paul’s search and with it, end any danger of a search by Samantha. But there was the issue of Paul’s Guardian, which put the Keeper ill at ease. Influence was never easy when the forces of light were even in the vicinity. He would have to be careful.
Paul trembled as he spoke, trying hard to miss no detail. His look revealed that he was reliving the moment. Professor Thompson could only wonder at what could cause such a reaction.
“It was after Samantha’s dad’s funeral. He was another of the sniper’s victims. I saw nothing