Chapter 32 in the serialisation of the book 'Insurrection' 4th book in the 'Corpalism' series

32

If the freedom of speech is taken away
then dumb and silent we may be led,
like sheep to the slaughter.
George Washington


The Preacher sat and stared at the wall.
Barry leant back in the armchair and studied the man in front of him for some time, funny how he'd never really noticed the shape of his head before, cloaked as it was in long straggly hair, the grey overtaking the brown; he was reminded of Charlie Brown, the round headed kid.

"What do you think of what I do?" said the Preacher.
Barry was shocked; in all their dealings he had never been asked what he thought; the Preacher had never welcomed any pre or post discussion or comment. Barry played for time, hoping it was a random thought which didn't require an answer. No such luck.

"Well?" pressed the Preacher turning to face him.

Barry felt the full force of his penetrating eyes, "I agree with almost everything that you say..."

"Almost everything?" questioned the Preacher, "What do you not agree with?"

"Well....er...." struggled Barry, 'shit,' he wasn't prepared for this, "well, the theft of Palestine, and the creation of Israel, all that stuff about the Jews I guess, a bit anti-Semitic, isn't it?"

The Preacher stared at him, "I find it strange that the minute anyone says anything against the Jews they're accused of being anti-Semitic. Especially if they speak in support of the Palestinians or question the extent of the holocaust. I give you forewarning, I intend to speak on the Jews and their influence on our economic system again tonight."

Barry sat upright, he always worried when the Jews came into the Preacher's sermons, primarily because he didn't know what he was going to say, "Are you sure that's absolutely necessary? Some of it is hard for people to digest, at least I think that's what erm.... causes.... erm..."

"People fear any comments about the Jews because of the stigma that is instantly attached."

"Well yes," said Barry, "exactly, that's it. But the Holocaust did happen, I mean the Germans did kill 6 million of them, they've had it pretty bad after all."

"What about the 20 million Russians who died or the millions of Europeans? What of the millions of Chinese who died or the Germans who were killed who didn't want war and had nothing to do with the work of the Reich? What of the Germans in Dresden? What of the defenceless Japanese civilians murdered by the Americans at Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Are these any the less horrific?"

"Well erm....," said Barry, looking distinctly uncomfortable, "but the holocaust was so cold blooded, so methodical."

The Preacher turned away and stared at the wall for several minutes. "Have you been to Auschwitz?" he asked, his voice even and untroubled.

"Well, no," said Barry, "but we did it in school."

"So did we," said the Preacher, "and of course it's been on TV, then there was the film, and several documentaries."

Barry sipped his tea. He was not comfortable with this, not in the least bit.

The Preacher continued, "I think that if you asked most people to name one aspect about the war, they'd say the Holocaust. Why is that?"

"Well obviously it's such a terrible concept," said Barry, "the extermination of a people simply because of their race and on an industrial level as well, it's just shocking."

"A religion not a race but no matter..... the Americans exterminated the Native American Indian and no-one cares, in fact we are lead to believe that the Americans were victims of the savage nomadic warriors of the plains."

"But that was so long ago," said Barry.

"Is that disqualifying factor then? Time? And if that is so then should we still be talking about the holocaust so many years later?"

"I'm serious," said Barry, "you can't go there, people will not tolerate you questioning the holocaust."

"Because it's anti-Semitic?" questioned the Preacher. "What about the killings regularly committed by Israel in Palestine? Can I mention that? What about the prominent Jewish banking families, the same bankers that have brought the world to the edge of bankruptcy and despair? Can I mention the same Jewish families who now control the most powerful western governments through their financial support to political parties? Or are all of these things out of bounds because of the holocaust?"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," said Barry, "these things you mention, they don't lessen the holocaust. You can't just go steaming in there like you usually do, this is a whole different ball game."

"I didn't say that the Germans and East Europeans didn't kill millions of Jews," said the Preacher, "I merely said that the Israelis and the western Jews are capitalising out of our deference, our reluctance to challenge them."

Cheers

Arun








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