By Michael Gryboski

“You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.” –1st Corinthians 7:23

Long, long before Bievathia would become the great political and economic superpower that now dominates world affairs, she was a land in turmoil. The disestablishment of the state church, the Bievathian Ecclesial Church, caused upheaval in the land that quickly embraced ethnocentrism and jingoism. The extreme nationalism ripped apart interracial marriages and communities, turning entire cities against each other. The monarchy, long corrupted by secular ideals, fell as the generals of the military were in open revolt.

The Bievathian Royal Army became non-existent as different ethnic and militaristic factions fought against one another, killing thousands in fruitless conquests of lands once green and peaceful. The monarch and his family were taken as pawns of influence; whoever controlled them controlled the country. Soon, however, the monarch fled Bievathia and got sanctuary in the Rathan Empire. He went to his own new palace in the hinterland south, and got continuous word of his kingdom’s plight. Towns were burned, famine was manifesting, and even signs of a primitive version of ethnic cleansing were beginning to transpire.

It was only getting worse as time went by, and other armies from other kingdoms and dukedoms placed regiments into the beleaguered land, carving up territory and making stakes of claim in the land. We don’t care. You’re not supposed to say that yet. Oh! Sorry Mike, I was just wondering when I would. Can’t you wait? I’m trying to give an exciting introduction. Okay, okay, Mike. You go ahead, I’ll stay quiet. Good. Now where was I…umm… Ah here we go. The land was in turmoil and chaos, as now even other kingdoms and dukedoms sent forces, and this added to the heated jingoism of the nationalists and they made war on them.

Oh! A war story! Cool Mike, those are my favorite. I thought you said you would stay quiet? Sorry, again Mike, you keep going, you’re doing good. I will, then. Now, let’s see here…the people cried out for a leader, anyone who would end the madness. A group calling themselves the Patriots would answer their prayers. The football team? No, Carl, not the football team. I was just curious that’s all. As I was saying, these men were of middle class stock and well educated. Most of them were actually educated outside of the kingdom. The Universities over there were teaching liberal ideas on government and society, and they were beginning to influence the monarchies and fiefdoms there.

These men, well educated, were not just experts in the art of government, but also in the art of war. They organized what was at that time the most advanced army in the land. They had musketeers and halberd units. As the enemy would charge with his traditional armor plated knights, volleys of semi-accurate musket fire would cut them down. And as the muskets were loaded and the knights came forward, they would meet the cold steel of the halberd, impaling and hacking them down. They would move in proper rectangles, with bright blue and yellow to distinguish them from the enemy, which was an actually new idea for the times when most wars were fought against the Saracens and so color distinction was not really required.

How come Mike? Have you ever been to the Middle East and seen how they dress? Once actually, I think they dress cool. One day, I want to be like Lawrence of Arabia and ride around the desert wearing a-- Carl! Sorry, Mike. You keep going… I’ll stay quiet. Of course you will. As I was saying…the many additions to the military as well as the successful victories over the enemy kingdoms and dukedoms helped gain back the territory lost after the fall of the Bievathian monarch. Many of the armies even took over a few of the neighboring dukedoms and kingdoms.

Seeing that Bievathia was again a strong nation, the numerous factions and external foes made peace. They agreed to the terms the Patriots put together and they signed without question. This meant the Bievathian peoples now had a land that was in peace and they were without a king. When some wanted the deposed monarch to return now that all was stable, the Patriots oppose that and they forced the monarch to abdicate. This meant the Patriots were the ruling force of Bievathia, free from enemy and king alike.

Having been taught in the ideas of life liberty fraternity, they went about setting up a new civil government that would vest its interest in serving the people. They drafted a Set of Laws, or Constitution, which dictated the basic rights of the people and mandated racial equality for the many ethnicities of the country. They made the government limited in power, having their nation become a republic. The Patriots made up the first governing council, or Congress, and did amazing things. After they wrote and rewrote the constitution to perfect and encompass all basic human rights, they revealed their laws to the public.

People were happy and amazed that they now had rights as dictated by the Bievathian Constitution. However, some grumbled against it. What idiot would grumble against a set of laws that gave them rights? For a change, you have a good question Carl. You see it was not that they didn’t want those rights, it was not at all what the set of laws said, it was what it didn’t say. What didn’t it say? First off, let’s get one thing straight here, before anything else is said. The Patriots were mostly Christian; among them were ten Catholics, eight Quakers, four Methodists, three Puritans, two Baptists and a Presbyterian in a pear tree. Though they had a couple of Deists and at least one Unitarian, and even a Mason (who claimed he wasn’t one) they were in a minority and very much considered the Holy Bible to be the primary source of a proper moral society. So with that said, they didn’t mention God in the Constitution.

If most all of them believed in God, why didn’t they put Him in there? There are many theories why. Many believe that the belief in God, and even in Jesus Christ was so relevant that they felt as though they didn’t need to. Oh! I get it. Kind of like we both go to the same church, but a lot of our conversations we don’t mention God. Yeah, you’re getting the picture. Now, I’ll continue and Carl, your part is coming up. Okay Mike. There were many who opposed this infidelity. Churches would refuse to acknowledge the new set of laws; there were protests in the cities. Nothing nasty now, but people were still worried. The Town Crier was the one who was the most outspoken against this infidelity.

“We need to acknowledge the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Israel and us, Bievathia. It was this God who sent His only son to save our souls. This same God created and established our nation. And now we don’t even give Him the recognition He deserves? Come on, people! If you don’t do something than this could open the flood gates of sinful man’s desires and cause the very destruction of our new nation.”

The people replied: WE DON’T CARE!

Good job, Carl. Thanks Mike. Anyway, this shocked the Town Crier, who would have expected people to be a bit worried over the decision by the Patriots to not mention God Almighty in the laws. If people forget their moral superior, the Lord Who is their God, what havoc may come upon them? The Town Crier’s friend, John Jacob Jingle Himer Smite, took his friend to the side of the plaza square of the capital Tacum and spoke to his friend, with his arm around his shoulder.

“Don’t worry so much, friend. The people all go to church, all believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They all believe in Heaven and Hell, of Creation and Judgment, and the Prophecies. Everyone here believes in the Virgin Birth, the Pentecost, and the Resurrection. Above all they believe in the absolute inerrancy and infallibility of the Holy Bible. They believe completely in a book that emphasizes racial equality, gender equality, no slavery, and the fact that the only king we should have is Our King in Heaven.”

“Alright, if you say so.”

As time passed, nothing happened. That’s an exciting story. Carl! Sorry, I’m just saying that this seems like a storm in a teacup you know? I’ll get the storm okay, Carl. All right Mike, but you need to sound exciting. And you Carl need to stick to your lines and those only! Okay, sorry. Go on, Mike and with excitement. Right? Yeah, right. The republic soon started turning out amazing advances. Dams were built, irrigation was wrought, trade centers were established along the Teare River, which is a commonly used river for transportation by several kingdoms and empires.

However, as time did pass, that same Teare River gave the peoples of Bievathia new ideas from the West and even the East. They learned of the theories of modern scientific thought and conjecture, they learned of postmodernism and Buddhism, and they learned of reincarnation, the idea of there not being a hell, as well as even ideas that claimed that there was not even an afterlife. They learned of the Higher Criticism, and eventually the worst of the ideas to come, the Darwinian Theory of Evolution. What didn’t help things was that minority religions, who had already been in Bievathia, now wanted to be put into the school curriculum, where Biblical Fundamentalism was the sole ruler and centerpiece of education.

So the peoples of Bievathia were gathered by the Patriots, and they gave an announcement: “In the name of open minds and acceptance of the growing diversity of our great nation, we are going to put the Theory of Evolution as the centerpiece of our educational system and our government run schools. Postmodernism will also be put in there as well. We need to be accepting of other ways of life and their part in our thriving culture. So, we declare that evolution will be taught instead of Genesis.”

The Town Crier was in shock and stood on his soapbox and protested. He got up in front of the largely Christian crowd and spoke: “Great peoples of Bievathia, people of Faith here me! Please do not concede this bastion of truth and poison our children with heresy and paganism. Besides, the same science that you want to honor declares that the odds of evolution having ever occurred are one chance in 10 to the 100,000,000,000 power. At the same time, Borél’s One Law of Chance states that if one chance exceeds the 1 in 10 to the 50th power, then it is impossible. If you teach a lie as truth, then it will be an unhealthy variation of tolerance!”

But the people said, “WE DON’T CARE!!”

And so the Holy Bibles were taken out of the schools, as well as the great Ten Commandments, and eventually the crosses and the manger scenes even. In their place were monkey skulls, DNA strands, and even Muslem Crescents. Why Muslem Crescents? I actually don’t know, Carl. They did this nonetheless. The Town Crier’s friend again took him to the side and spoke to him:

“Don’t worry, my friend. Most people still believe in the Gospel as infallible. They still believe in Jesus as their Lord, and the God of Abraham as the God of this nation. They still adhere to Biblical Morality. They still value the individual and the laws of the Torah. I believe that they will stay like that, and we won’t have to worry, for everyone still agrees with the Constitution and the ideas of the Holy Bible.”

“All right, if you say so,” replied the Town Crier.

Unfortunately for the two friends, things did happen. Now that’s exciting. Yes it is Carl. Now let me continue please. Okay Mike, now full of excitement. The youth of the country were soon indoctrinated by the ideas that contradicted the Holy Bible and less and less people went to church every Sunday. They were now starting to believe that the Bible was some outdated work of fiction and that they need not abide by its Holy Text. Also, they started to interpret the liberal ideals of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness as being any form of happiness, especially free love. Soon, many babies were being born out of wet-lock, and marriage itself was being attacked by polygamists and others who wanted the system gone. However, they still faced heavy political and social objections from the churches, so they complained to the Patriots.

Then one day, in Tacum, the Patriots gathered the peoples of Bievathia and they declared an edict: “We believe that the Constitution protects all individuals from harassment from others. Sadly, too many close-minded bigots don’t agree. So we have decided that there will be Hate Speech Laws that prevent anyone, regardless of their race or creed, to criticize the polygamist, homosexual, and incestuous couples and groups that make up our growingly diverse country. We need to accept others as how they want to be, and not make judgments from hate literature like the bible.”

But again, the Town Crier protested: “People, people, please listen to me. The Holy Bible is not hate literature; it is the Word of God. God loves us, and He wants us to lead good and moral lives. That is not hate; it is love. It was love that he showed on the cross for our sins and now we call it hate? What is happening to us? If we don’t vote against these laws, then we will be allowing laws that are unbiblical and unconstitutional.”

Again, however, the people replied:

WE DON’T CARE!!!

Again, his friend talked to him after his speech:

“Friend, I assure that nothing bad is going to happen. People know their rights and their liberties. They know full well that the Constitution guarantees our right to religion, vote, speech, and press. They won’t do something so stupid as let this interfere. People will not make other people get arrested because of their moral views. Now that you can take that to the bank.”

“All right, if you say so.”

However, as usual, his friend was wrong. Pretty stupid friend, I think. For once, you’re right Carl. Thanks, Mike. People started to get thrown into prison left and right, right and left. Ministers had their sermons monitored, the government infiltrated special interest groups so that no law was broken, and usually they were broken and many were put in prison. Doesn’t sound like a limited government to me. It wasn’t Carl, not anymore anyway. They couldn’t stay that way and enforce those particular laws. It was getting hard so they had to expand the government in order to keep up with the rising crime rate.

So again, within a week of the new laws being enacted by the Patriot, the people were gathered at his command to the plaza square of Tacum. Wait just a gosh darn minute! I thought you said there were multiple Patriots? There were Carl, but as time passed the laws were much more easily enforced by having one man head everything. A centralized government? Isn’t that unconstitutional? Of course it was, and many people were beginning to protest this and other things done by the government. The Town Crier wasn’t alone this time in the protesting section. Now, a lot of people wanted their constitutional rights protected like the Good Old Days. Problem is, these civil libertarians were out numbered nearly ten to one in the polls.

The Patriot spoke: “People of my great nation, Bievathia, we are in the process of becoming a great nation, a new nation. We will act upon the principles and the values that got us started. We will have to make sacrifices however, in order to become a great nation as we once were. This will include I myself getting no problems from you, the people below me. I will need you to not slow our nation’s growth my hitting me in the shins with your petty and minor complaints. So, as of tomorrow, there will be an addition to the Hate Speech Laws that declare criticizing the State as a criminal offense.”

“Wait just a gosh darn minute! We have a right to protest. You cannot stop us from speaking our minds!” said one liberal.

“You had no problem with our original laws on restricting hate speech, so stop being a bigot and accept the State’s word on our needs, after all, when you didn’t levy criticism against us were able to build dams and factories. Now that you criticize us, we are facing a massive crime-wave. So abide by what the State says, and do not protest. This will benefit our nation, so that it will be great again.”

“But our nation is already great, gosh darn it!” shouted another liberal.

“That is your opinion, not a fact. What is truth? The only things that have made us great have come from the State, and therefore the State mustn’t be criticized. So there. Any other protests that would slow our progress?”

The Town Crier went up amongst his people and proclaimed his complaints:

“We are a nation that is supposed to be under God, we are supposed to have the right to free speech, the press, and the right to gather without government harassment. We are meant to be a nation under the Lord God Almighty, who is and was and is to come! We do not bow down to any king, for God’s Word declared that we must not make an idol of any graven image or any god before Him. Our very founding Patriots never bowed to any king and never did the acts that this State desires and commits. We people, the Bievathian peoples, demand full rights and to be again under God’s Grace. And we are against this act of yours to restrict our rights!”

After the heated speech, as the Town Crier had put every word he could to convince the Patriot, the people, who were so easily led astray in the past by golden-throated greedy men again rang true their indifference:

WE DON’T CARE!!!

WE DON’T CARE AT ALL!!!!

With that, the Town Crier turned to his friend, but he walked away from him without speaking a word. That’s sounds pretty bad to me, Mike. It only gets worse, Carl, you’ll see. Okay…are we almost done? Yes, Carl, we are and so are they. The weeks went by with no words against the State, and no one bothered. Their lives were still very much the same way they went before, just with the indoctrinating government schools and the hate speech laws on lifestyle. Then, one day, the State called the people to the capital Tacum. In an address, the Patriot Acted upon his new powers and declared that he would make palaces and monuments to the glory of the State.

The State would be honored with massive mausoleums and edifices to the glory of the Patriots and the current Patriot. Given the lack of modern equipment, the people were organized in massive labor groups and forced to make bricks, to meld them together and to transport the heavy clay bricks across the country and to the places where the monuments were being constructed. Many died of exhaustion and those who refused to work were punished severely. Others were conscripted into a newly expanding military that was used on its own people, arresting and keeping in prisons hundreds of those who dared to speak against the State.

Wow, Mike, it sounds to me that they paid for it. Indeed, Carl, they really did. It goes back to an old saying if you ask me. Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes? No, Carl, another one. Which one? The one spoken by that German pastor some time ago. It goes along the lines of ‘When they came for the Jews, I did not speak up, for I am not a Jew. When they came for the Communists, I did not speak up, for I am not a communist, when they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak up for I am not a trade unionist. When they came for the Catholics, I did not speak up, for I am a Protestant. And when they came for me, there was no left to speak up.’

Indeed, as the people started to log around large cinderblocks and crafted immense graven images of the Patriot and as the army grew larger and was at the peak of beginning another set of constant war against Bievathia’s neighbors. As the oldest men break their backs trying to carry endless quarries of stone for cutting the idols that celebrate the glory of the unchallenged State, I know that amidst all of the people there. Of the republicans and tyrants, the soldiers and civilians, the workers and those sent to prisons to have unspeakable tortures put upon them for expressing themselves it should be noted that amongst the squalid oppressed, there was among the many near death and carrying heavy loads to honor man instead of God at least some small sweet nothing whisper of how “Now, we care.”