The Longer Silence
At the end of time, billions of people were scattered on a great plain
before God's throne. Most shrank back from the brilliant light before
them. But some groups near the throne talked heatedly. Not with crying
shame, but with belligerence.
"Now let God judge the Devil for all the suffering he caused?” snapped a pert
young brunette. She had drowned during the great deluge"
In another group a Negro boy lowered his collar. "What about this?" he
demanded, showing an ugly rope burn. "Lynched for no crime but being
a philistine".
In another crowd, a pregnant schoolgirl with sullen eyes." Why should
I suffer?" she murmured. "It wasn't my fault." Far across the plain
were hundreds of such groups. Each had a complaint against the Devil for the
suffering and evil he had caused in the world.
'But I didnt send the flood' cried the devil
the crowd shifted uneasily
'I didnt order the jews to murder prisoners and rape the women and children'
the crowd shifted uneasily
'I did not condemn mankind to live in misery because one of their ancestors ate an apple'
'It just was not me'
After hearing a three day litany of the evils that God had directly or through his agents , indirectly, perpetrated on his creation
the crowd shifted even more uneasily
they began to realise where the real evil lay.
The devil walked free
At the end of time, billions of people were scattered on a great plain
before God's throne. Most shrank back from the brilliant light before
them. But some groups near the throne talked heatedly. Not with crying
shame, but with belligerence.
"Now let God judge the Devil for all the suffering he caused?” snapped a pert
young brunette. She had drowned during the great deluge"
In another group a Negro boy lowered his collar. "What about this?" he
demanded, showing an ugly rope burn. "Lynched for no crime but being
a philistine".
In another crowd, a pregnant schoolgirl with sullen eyes." Why should
I suffer?" she murmured. "It wasn't my fault." Far across the plain
were hundreds of such groups. Each had a complaint against the Devil for the
suffering and evil he had caused in the world.
'But I didnt send the flood' cried the devil
the crowd shifted uneasily
'I didnt order the jews to murder prisoners and rape the women and children'
the crowd shifted uneasily
'I did not condemn mankind to live in misery because one of their ancestors ate an apple'
'It just was not me'
After hearing a three day litany of the evils that God had directly or through his agents , indirectly, perpetrated on his creation
the crowd shifted even more uneasily
they began to realise where the real evil lay.
The devil walked free
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