The Curtain. David T Maddox

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СКАЧАТЬ ammunition. Maybe even life and medical insurance. After all, there was a killer out there that would be targeting them even as they targeted him.

      Suggestions came from all parts of the room. Although Sam stood up front as the head of the group, Tom drove the discussion because he already knew where he wanted it to go. It was as if he had been directed how to lead, which he had, even as Sam had been directed how to feel. It was light versus darkness, the classic confrontation continued.

      “We need to hold a press conference and announce what we are going to do,” said one.

      “Yes,” another responded, “but also hold a public meeting of some sort to answer questions and recruit members. We don’t have enough members to carry this out citywide.”

      Others expressed their concerns – their questions – some practical, some emotional; they just kept pouring out. “We need an office, some way to organize our people.”

      “We need to coordinate with law enforcement and have some kind of uniforms, so we don’t shoot each other.”

      “We need to know when to shoot.”

      “Can we use automatic weapons?”

      “Can we shoot to kill?”

      “Won’t we just be making ourselves targets for the shooter by being out there identified as ones who intend to kill him?”

      “How do we know where to be to defend against an attack?”

      “This shooter has been totally random. What do we protect?”

      “How can we identify the shooter?”

      “Can we be present on private property?”

      Several hours later there was a consensus and a plan. Tom summarized for the group. “We will order red jackets, hats and shirts with ‘Citizen’s Militia’ on them so that members on duty can be readily identifiable to all.” Tom went on, “I will contact the authorities to explain what we are going to do and see if there is a way to coordinate our efforts. We don’t want the police working against us if it can be avoided.”

      One businessman piped up, “If we need to we can line up some NRA lawyers to be ready to file suit and protect our right to defend ourselves if we are challenged. We have to organize. The authorities haven’t been able to stop the killing. There won’t be any businesses left in Williams if this shooter isn’t stopped.”

      “We will schedule a press conference for early next week,” Tom read from his notes, “where Sam can introduce the Citizens Militia to the public, seek recruits and lay out the plan to defend the city. That will also be an opportunity to promote the Security Fair.”

      One of the really exciting ideas to involve the public had come from Josh Douglas, the high school football coach. He had said, “If you want the public’s support, you have to give them something to get excited about. We need something like a pep rally with speeches, a band, contests, bumper stickers, food, something where people can have fun and get their fluids running.”

      “Great idea,” another had added. “We can have guns and ammunition available for sale by local businesses, booths to sign up for gun training and to join the Citizen’s Militia. We can have the whole area patrolled by armed Citizen’s Militia in their red shirts and hats. Everyone will want to join.”

      “Yes!” shouted Sam and with glee, pumped his fist high into the air. “A visual feast to announce that there is a new sheriff in town. Like that line from that old news movie, ‘I’m mad as hell and won’t take it anymore.’ People will love that.” Josh volunteered to organize the fair.

      “We need someone to handle public relations,” Tom had asked. Diane Conway, a writer for the local newspaper, volunteered. “It will be important to get as much positive coverage as possible. You will have to help us know what to do to get free press and how to use advertising to push our message and recruit help.” Diane had recently been the local campaign manager for a state Senate candidate and she knew how it was done. A very good choice thought Tom.

      That left the boring part – organization. John Tremble volunteered office space and a computer. His receptionist would answer a separate line for the Citizen’s Militia and it would be set up to receive messages in her absence. “Just in case,” John said, “I will have a security camera installed and the receptionist will be armed. You never can be too careful when confronting violence.”

      Tom would coordinate the teams in the field and the requests for protection. All Sam wanted to do was be the face of the organization and be in the field where he could get a shot at the shooter. He wanted blood. “We need our own hit team. We need to figure out where he will strike next and be waiting for him.” Two very different agendas motivated by two very different influences in the same organization.

      Tom put in a call to the local police and was referred to Officer Sally Johnson. They agreed to meet tomorrow. Sally was concerned, but something about Tom gave her a sense of peace. Actually, it was something in Tom, for Tom, like Sally, was guided by the light inside. Argon was not pleased with this development and again, the ever present Zaccur was dispatched with the news. He wondered how long he would survive continued bad news. The Dark Master was without mercy and accepted no excuse for failure. Argon was afraid.

       Professor Thompson Weighs In

      Dr. Daniel P. Thompson was a Bible history professor extraordinaire. His classes filled quickly, for they were interesting, timely, and often controversial – but not religious. The focus was to take the history expressed in the Bible as compared to other writings and traditions that were now generally accepted as fact. He saw it as a search for truth with the Bible simply being another opinion – an often wrongly interpreted opinion, he thought. A case in point was the class he was just wrapping up.

      “A Historical Perspective on Biblical Israel” was a fascinating study, if you could take the mysticism away from political Israel. He used the class as an opportunity for an examination of the history of the whole Middle East as a stage upon which a nation called Israel has appeared for several extended performances, the most recent of which began in 1948. The class looked briefly at the history of all the peoples of the Middle East with a focus on Israel as discussed in the Bible. He really planted himself in the study of modern political Israel in comparison with biblical Israel and the land promised to Abram²¹ (later Abraham).²² Were the citizens of Israel today God’s so-called chosen people²³ as spoken of in the Bible? What about the other people in the Middle East and their view of Israel? What about end times mythology?

      To say the class was controversial would be to put it very mildly. He made people mad but didn’t really care as long as it made them think. His agenda was transparent. He believed that the nation of Israel was nothing more than another nation that has little connection to the Israel of the Bible, beyond the name and general geographic location. He concluded that others in the Middle East had as good a claim to the dirt as did the citizens of Israel. As he saw it, Israel had no special right to take the land from others.

      His class attracted a lot of foreign students. The current class had three Palestinians who, he learned, lived together. They really invested in the class with passion and added a lot to the discussion by putting a face to the people who were suffering at the hands of political Israel. He saw them as clear evidence in the flesh that he was right in his conviction, that terrorism was a response to violence, not an inherent part of a belief system. These young men were Muslims; but in language, dress and practice they were as Western as the kids born here. СКАЧАТЬ