The Martyred

I learned a new lesson recently.

Don't bother trying to update a blog with server limitations on a weekend. :P

Anyway, I'm back.

We lost our network connection yesterday for the whole day. Got it back this morning.

I finished The Martyred, by Richard E. Kim yesterday, and there's a passage from it I'd like to quote. If you ever get a chance to read it, it's well worth experiencing.

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I was agitated beyond control. "No! I don't despise you or anyone," I almost shouted. "It is what you all are doing that I despise!" Then trying to moderate my voice, I went on, "You say you give them what they want, what they need. But why deceive them? Why deceive the people who have been cheated countless times already? Why add more lies to their miserable lives? You say you give them what they want? How do you know that a pack of lies is what they want? Are you sure that is what they need? They need truth. It may be painful but truth is what they need and what you must give them. You say you do all this for them, for their happiness. But no! You do it because you want your propaganda. You do it because you want to save your church from being scandalized. You do it because you want to deceive the people into believeing that everything is all right, everything is going to be all right, that a god in heaven takes good care of them, that a state sincerely worries about their lot, and all this in the name of the people. I am tired, I am sick of all this pretension, all these noble lies, all in the name of the people, for the people. And meanwhile the people continue to suffer, continue to die, deceived from birth to death."