America 1982

(More than 400 words were deleted from the previous chapter, mainly because after the outbreak of the American Civil War, black people fleeing to the north discovered that what Southern Baptist missionaries had been preaching in the South for two hundred years was completely different from that in the North, and Nick’s description of Jim Jones was different from that in the North. Tommy is the same, as are Martin’s concluding remarks and other lines~~ Hey guys, when I got up and opened it, I saw that it was an abridged version, and there was no way to restore it or even keep a copy for myself, because it was coded by a writer’s assistant and there was no manuscript, or I mean, the manuscript has been deleted... Mainly because I don't know why it would be deleted if I wrote some interesting anecdotes that actually happened in American history...)

Garden City, Bay County, Florida.

To be honest, Nick came to see Gary Duney today with the idea of ​​​​pilgrimage. After all, the image of the other person that Tommy mentioned a few nights ago was so legendary. Nick did not want to discuss the internal disputes within the religion, but simply wanted to see this person. What is it about the world's top Bible expositor, a God's believer who can make mainstream denominations collectively exile?

Unfortunately, after Tommy finished speaking that night, there was nothing more to say. Instead, while reading a book, he mysteriously made many phone calls over several days, and went to a nearby church for worship. It was not until five days later that he announced that he was going to Going to meet Gary Duney, for this reason, Nick, who had long been unable to hold himself back, took up the camera himself. He hoped that he could follow Tommy and see this legendary-sounding man as close as possible. big shot.

According to the address left in the other party's brochure, Nick and two men who helped carry spare batteries accompanied Tommy from the bustling metropolis of Miami, first flew to Panama City, the county seat of Bay County, and then drove to the final destination of Garden. town.

Garden Town, also known as Garden City, has a nice name, and the town environment is also good, with lush greenery and clean streets, but there are few vehicles or pedestrians on the road.

The commercial vehicle at the airport drove to the parking lot outside the Garden City Town Building at the agreed location. In the parking lot, a weathered but kindly smiling white man was leaning on a large pickup truck, looking at Jump with a smile. Tommy got out of the car, tentatively approached and asked:

"Tommy Hawke?"

"It's me. Are you Mr. Hankins, Dr. Duney's assistant?" Tommy smiled, stretched out his hand, shook it with the middle-aged man, and said with a smile.

The middle-aged man named Hankins looked at the three Nicks who came out of the business car with filming equipment. Tommy introduced: "Mr. Jeff Lavin's campaign documentary shooting team, a veteran Democratic Party donor in California. In addition to the donation, I also prepared an extra small gift for Jeff, Jeff... you know, Jeff can't come here in person, but he hopes to record it all with the camera. He really, really admires Dr. Duny. "

Nick felt something bad when he heard Tommy's lies. The bastard told him in a serious manner that night about Martin and Page. He was in awe of Gary Duney's "Way of Christ" church. Speaking is a lie.

How could these people be Jeff's campaign documentary shooting team? Stephen Penn is so out of his mind that he sends a team from California to help a flat-Earth believer film a campaign documentary? And Nick is sure that Jeff has never heard of Gary Duney's name.

"Anyway, welcome to Garden City." The middle-aged white man named Hankins nodded towards Nick and the others.

Nick carried the camera, looked at the large pickup truck next to Hankins and asked, "So, do we still want to get in the car and set off?"

"Start? Where to go?" Hankins asked doubtfully.

Nick pointed at the pickup truck: "Church, meet Mr. Gary Duney. I thought this pickup truck was here to pick us up."

"He is in the municipal building. Yes, this municipal building was bought by our 'Way of the Second Coming of Christ' to make it convenient for everyone to worship. The price is so cheap that it seems like it is free." Hankins turned to face the people nearby. I gestured at the three-story building nearby:

"Garden City was disbanded five years ago. The police department, city government, firefighters... were all disbanded. This is an officially unincorporated area. Today, it is just a gathering place of human beings that does not deserve to appear on the map of the United States. , everything here is now the responsibility of the county government of Bay County."

Although the United States often dissolves some organized towns, Nick is still a little surprised, because generally speaking, dissolution occurs in large metropolitan areas, which is easier to manage. Such small towns in remote rural areas generally do not dissolve. After all, county governments It's too far from here and very inconvenient to manage.

He turned the camera and looked at the orderly surroundings: "Such a beautiful place? Why do you want to disband it?"

"Everyone doesn't know...it seems to have been deceived. We voted to elect two new Garden City government members that year, and then that year, the five-member committee passed a resolution with a vote of 3:2. When we applied for a resolution to dissolve Garden City, the people here were confused and didn’t understand what was going on. Then they approached the Bay County government and said they wanted to cancel the resolution, but the county government said that the federal and state governments had already agreed to our request. But when did we request it? The county government also said that the five committee members who passed the resolution were elected by all of us. Since we chose them, it is equivalent to giving them the right to exercise our rights and obligations on our behalf and make the right decision on our behalf. "Speaking of those two shit committee members, after the dissolution resolution, the whole family moved to Miami. Fortunately, they moved, otherwise I guarantee that more than 30 civil servants who lost their jobs because of this would have killed them." Hankins was somewhat Shaking his head sadly, he led a few people towards the building:

"The county government has been calculating for four years, but it has not yet figured out how many assets and debts Garden City has. It has also been four years since it owed me severance pay. By the way, I am also among the more than 30 people who are unemployed. I was previously Sergeant of the Garden City Police Department, thanks to the disbandment, I lost my job.”

Hankins was chattering at the front, not caring whether Tommy and Nick heard his complaints, but Nick came from the big city of Los Angeles. He suddenly thought of a possibility, so he looked at Tommy next to him, He asked in a low voice, unsure: "Do you think it could be what I guessed? Like big cities like New York and Los Angeles?"

Tommy nodded without denying: "Otherwise? There is no second answer. There is only one reason for each disbandment."

"But real estate developers usually only play this kind of trick in big cities, and it's more subtle than what they do here. Why does it happen here?" Nick looked around again, and after confirming that this place had nothing to do with big cities, he continued to ask. road.

As the metropolitan areas of Los Angeles and New York continue to expand with the influx of population, some surrounding small towns will be dissolved and accepted by the city government. Generally speaking, this kind of dissolution appears to be the choice of the people, but in fact, real estate developers are involved. , The problem is, it makes no sense for real estate developers to use such methods in a rural place like Garden City. There is not even a decent beach here, and there is no need to build a resort.

"It's not just real estate businessmen who would pull this trick. Mining companies, forestry companies, fishing companies...any of them are possible. Mining companies are more likely. Maybe the mining companies quietly discovered mineral veins nearby. Once they are disbanded, All assets and debts of Garden City will be transferred to the county government, including security, planning, finance, franchising, judicial proceedings, land use rights, etc. Everything has nothing to do with the residents here. The county government is willing to transfer The land can be sold to whomever it is sold without the consent of the residents. Moreover, at the county and state levels, the public relations and lobbying companies of large companies can be more subtle, more flexible and more efficient. In the end, you'd better not This sentence is recorded." Tommy flicked Nick's lens with his finger:

“As for you saying that those real estate developers use more subtle ways to acquire land, that’s because the residents of big cities are too smart, but this is Bay County, Florida, and 30% of families live below the U.S. standard poverty level. Do you think they are smart? If you were really smart, you wouldn't have elected a few committee members who had been bribed a long time ago and destroyed their homes for them. The big companies are blatantly bullying the country people here who have no brains."

In the end, Nick could only shake his head and admit that what Tommy said made sense, but there was nothing they could do about this kind of thing. Even as Tommy said, it was best to delete Tommy's words to avoid getting into trouble. This is fucking America. Politicians and capitalists can easily, if they wish, treat country folk as fools and trick them into giving up their magical kingdom of power.

He tried to restore his mood to the excitement of meeting the saint, followed Tommy and Hankins who led the way into the empty city hall, walked up the stairs to the second floor, and did not enter the room yet, but just stepped into the empty city hall. In the corridor, Tommy and the others heard a vicissitudes of life and a kind voice:

"I hope you understand that I am just a lucky messenger. I have been traveling on the road of life for many years. It is not until I am old that I understand the true meaning of my coming to this world. It is God who asked me to convey His message to you. Believers, remember, you have to do what you have to do.”

Hearing this slightly hoarse but magnetic voice, Pilgrim Nick couldn't help but take a few deep breaths, preparing to appear in the room with a camera in the next second to take pictures of the other party.

But before he was brought into the venue, the voice continued to sound:

"What is the right thing to do?"

"Whoever beats another person shall be put to death."

“A woman who has lost her virginity and lies about being a virgin during a wedding shall be put to death.”

"Anyone who has sex with a married woman shall be put to death for both parties."

"And you two have committed three death sentences in the Torah. I..."

"This is the greatest fucking expositor? Is this worthy of awe?" When Nick heard the next few sentences, he almost dropped the camera on Tommy and cursed in a low voice: "This is worse than Jim Temple Jones. Damn barbaric and primitive! He wants to execute believers, but you still..."

"I saw that thunder and lightning would come down. We can't stop God from being angry about this, but I sincerely hope that God will pour out the thunder and lightning on me. I am willing to use my body to eliminate your sins and God's sins. Anger, that's what I do."

"I am willing to bear the punishment you are worried about, but Nikki, Joseph, what you should do most is not to show up here to pray for God's forgiveness because you are afraid of punishment. Cheating at any time should be despised. What you should do most is What I did was to sincerely apologize to Nikki’s husband in exchange for his forgiveness. I will meet a few new friends next, so I hope you will go back and think about it now, don’t make any mistakes again, and return to God’s narrow gate. "

The lines that he imagined the cult leader would announce the execution of believers in the next second did not appear. The voice inside was still gentle and kind, without any fluctuations, and completely contrary to the lines he imagined. This made Nick feel as if his neck was stuck, and it took him a long time to reply. Suddenly, Hankins, who was standing at the door, looked back at Nick for a while with an idiot look, and then looked at Tommy with an inquiring look, trying to figure out what was wrong with this guy.

Tommy circled his temples twice with his fingers and said helplessly: "He...has been under a lot of pressure from work recently and is mentally disturbed."

"I thought...I thought Dr. Dooney would execute them. Many extremist sects would do that in newspapers and in movies." Nick explained to Hankins in a low voice: "I'm sorry."

Hankins glanced at Nick with disdain and asked Tommy: "Are you sure that the California funder didn't have any grudge against the candidate, so you sent him here? You should ask clearly, maybe the person the funder really supports is Jeff LaVine’s competitor.”

Soon, the door opened from the inside, and two middle-aged white men, a man and a woman, walked out of it. They were simply dressed, typical of the poor from the bottom of rural Florida. They looked at Tommy and others with shame, then lowered their heads and walked quickly. leave.

Hankins opened the door: "Doctor, Tommy Hawke is outside, and he also brought the film team of Mr. Jeff Lavine's campaign documentary to follow and shoot."

"Invite them in." Gary Duny's voice sounded.

After getting the other party's consent, Hankins stepped aside, and Tommy and Nick, who was carrying the camera, walked in. An old white man wearing tortoiseshell glasses, a plaid shirt and jeans stood up in front of a large desk and walked over to talk to him. Tommy shook hands and said hello. After the greetings were taken and Hankins exited, Gary Duny, who had no aura as a leader, looked at Tommy with doubtful eyes:

“Honestly, although Tommy and I have talked on the phone before, I still don’t know your purpose, and I don’t quite understand who Mr. Jeff LaVine is, what he is running for, and what his relationship is with me. "

At this time, Nick had even begun to wonder if Tommy was joking with him before. This old man did not look like a rigid and serious religious scholar, nor did he look like the kind of preacher who spoke fluently and quoted scriptures. He looked like... someone from the city government. An old employee of a department who is about to retire can hardly find any other religious ornaments except a silver chain cross around his neck.

Moreover, it seems that this old man does not look like the kind of big church figure with a net worth of billions. If the church is placed in such an unincorporated town, and the believers are all poor, how can they spend a lot of money to support Jeff LaVine's campaign?

Could it be that Tommy was really in awe of the other person and came here to get to know him?

After chatting about the beautiful scenery of Garden City, Tommy looked at Gary Duney and asked seriously in a studious tone: "That's it, Dr. Duney, I accidentally learned some information about you and your church. Say, you said that the New Testament was copied incorrectly and changed too much, and no one even saw the original manuscript at the time of its creation. It is an apocrypha, unlike the Old Testament, where everything is well-documented."

“I was previously at Princeton Theological Seminary, where I mainly conducted research on the identification of religious texts. From what I understand, yes, there is a problem with the New Testament being reconstructed from its original text by later generations. I didn’t say it was an apocrypha, but From a research point of view, there are various contradictions and very different styles in many gospels in the New Testament." Although Tommy was a little rude when he discussed religious classics with him, Gary Duny still gave a serious and concise explanation. Got my own answer:

"For example, in the Gospel of John, compared with several other gospels, the Jesus in it is not like Jesus, but more like a mortal who has received supernatural powers and likes to show off his miracles. The more serious problem is that Chapter 1 of the Gospel of John Chapter 21 was added by later generations many years after the book was written. From a professional perspective of scripture identification, we can trace back the history of these gospels. No matter how many manuscripts there are, as long as the original text exists, we can definitely trace it out. But the New Testament "The problem is that countless classics scholars try to trace back the New Testament just like they traced back the Old Testament and finally found its original text. For hundreds of years, countless scholars have followed one another, and finally they all point to one answer. There is no original text. That’s what future generations will reconstruct.”

"My mother is Catholic." After Tommy heard this, he paused for a long time before speaking.

Gary Dooney said with a smile: "Catholicism is one of the three main sects of Christianity. Of course your mother can decide which sect she belongs to."

"I was troubled by a question when I was very young. Doctor, those pictures in the gospels of the Bible. My mother was a devout Catholic. My house was filled with those gospel pictures. I have been looking at those pictures since I was a child. One day , I discovered a problem. Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew looks like a human being, Jesus in the Gospel of Mark looks like a lion, Jesus in the Gospel of Luke looks like a cow, and Jesus in the Gospel of John looks like a cow. The statue of Jesus in the "Gospel" is an eagle. I asked my mother and the priest of the church at that time, and got a standard answer today, that is, the different levels of images Jesus showed when facing different apostles, human beings The image represents the humanity of Jesus, the lion represents the nobility of Jesus, the cow represents the humility of Jesus, and the eagle represents the arrogance of Jesus. After I got the answer, I asked a question. This time, the priest did not give me the answer. Only my mother held me. I motioned to shut up. The question was, all four of them were faithful apostles of Jesus. Why did Jesus treat them differently? Why was he arrogant to the apostle John and why was he humble to Luke?"

Gary Duny smiled after hearing Tommy's question. He did not rush to give an answer, but praised: "Very few ordinary believers will discover your first question. Generally, after discovering it, as you said , ordinary missionaries will also answer with the standard answer of that different level image, but in fact, in the 3rd century AD, a scholar also asked the same question as you, but he was not a believer, and he only raised it from a religious perspective. solved this problem.”

"Jesus will not change his image. It has nothing to do with hierarchy. It's just that when the apostles preached, they faced different missionary groups, so the image of Jesus they described was also different. They needed to convince some noble believers that Jesus was as noble as them. The existence of Jesus requires other poor believers to believe that Jesus is humble and can talk to the poor equally and even humbly. Jesus has never changed. For example, the poor believers in Rome only accept the Gospel of Luke, while the Jewish Christians Only accepting the Gospel of Matthew is not because of the image of Jesus, but because believers only accept the belief that is more beneficial to them and more willing to believe. However, the early Christian groups believed that in order to let more people believe in God, There is no need to unify on this matter and let people choose the way of preaching they want to accept. This has also led to many pagans attacking Christianity from this angle, and the Christian church has compiled another book..."

""Refutation of Heresies", "Refutation of Heresies" by Irenaeus. In order to help the church cover up its lies, he could only say that the gospels are the pillars and foundation of the church. The four gospels represent the four directions of the world and also represent the four strongest roots of the church. Pillars, buildings with four pillars are the strongest." Tommy continued what the other person said.

Gary Duny nodded, looking a little surprised: "You went to a missionary school in high school? Ordinary young people don't understand this."

"If someone is confused by the same question as I was when I was a child, then what is the right thing for you to do?" Tommy did not answer, but looked back at the old man calmly and asked.

Just now, he was surprised at Tommy's understanding of Christianity, but Tommy's question made Gary Duny laugh again: "Of course it's a sermon to solve their doubts, kid. As long as they are willing to listen, I am willing to explain it to them."

"Can you lie?" Tommy hesitated and asked a presumptuous question.

Gary Duny shook his head slightly: "I never lie, kid."

The expression on Tommy's face slowly became bright: "If there are too many confused people scattered all over Florida, I mean, how much appearance fee do I need to pay you before you are willing to come forward and explain the confusion to the world? Or? , Mr. Jeff LaVine is willing to pay the fee."

"It is the duty of a preacher to help people solve their doubts. Of course, they will not be paid, but...if you are willing to bear the travel expenses or make a donation to the church, I will certainly be grateful." Gary Duny saw Tommy's gradual change I always feel like something is wrong with my expression, but I don’t know where the problem lies:

"But I think pastors or priests from churches in various places may not really want an outsider to interfere with their work."

"You don't need to think about those issues, Dr. Duny. I will be responsible for solving them, including travel expenses, food and accommodation, and final donations. There is only one question, and that is, do you have time now? We can set off at any time. The first stop is at the tower. There are about two hundred people in Lahasi for two days." Tommy said with twinkling eyes.

Gary Duny shrugged and said with a smile: "Of course, but... some of it surprised me. I mean, you just invited me to preach. You don't have to bring a camera to see me. Although I look a little older, Old, but it’s okay to fly alone, Tallahassee, which church is organizing the rally?”

"St. Joseph's Rosicrucian Church." Tommy said the term frankly.

The kind and sincere old man opposite had a dull expression. He looked at Tommy blankly for a long time, then slowly nodded, and then stood up slowly: "Of course, of course there is no problem. No matter what the identity of the lost people is, there is no problem, but... Okay, let me tell you, kid, are you sure you believe in Catholicism?”

"I said before, my mom is Catholic," Tommy said. "I never said I was."

Next to him, Nick didn't know if Gary Duny's church was a cult, but the name St. Joseph's Rosicrucian Church that came out of Tommy's mouth was a notorious religious organization in Florida. Seeing the old man slowly leaving, Nick stared at Tommy:

"what have you done?"

After Tommy waited for the old man to leave, he took out the cigarette, lit it, and took a puff: "Nothing, find a real angel to help the devil stand up, and the devil will donate 50,000 yuan to the social charity I helped Jeff set up."

Nick immediately understood Tommy's tricks. If those weird cult leaders in Florida were on the same stage as the old man, they would be more confident to promote their own religious works to overseas believers. After all, they could brag to them about getting the best in the world. Commentator help and approval.

"You are a devil, you will go to hell, Tommy, this is not a curse, this is the judgment that is bound to come." Nick whispered to Tommy: "You actually want to sell this kind and sincere old man to those lunatics! Stop this crazy idea!"

"You know what's even crazier?" Tommy said with a smile when he saw Nick's expression.

Nick stared at Tommy and shook his head slightly.

"I sold it more than once." Tommy blew out a smoke ring: "Besides, I, the devil, am already in hell, and I am always at home."