I just reread the scene in Camp Chairio where Stephyny asked Father Kuhnymychu for food for her father, on my Kindle, and I noticed that 63 people had highlighted the first half of the reference from the Book of Bedard that begins "Do not despise the wisdom of childhood...". The thing that caught attention is that I had highlighted the last half of those instructions about how a child's questions require answer; when I read the book the last time and no one else highlighted the same passage.
When I was younger, I studied the Bible extensively for about 20 years and I used a colored highlighter to mark out the verses that spoke to me... often the next time I studied that same Book, I would find that other verses spoke to me and I would highlight them with a different color.
Eventually, I began to suspect that the dearth of agreement among denominations arose from this kind of focus and how one group believe one thing (Romans 14) but the weak condemn the one whose faith is strong.
I pick up a lot of morality questions in Davids writing and, in fact, this is one of the things I enjoy most.
I believe that this series points to the fact that in the battle between good and evil, most of us are in the middle but, that most of us either think that the responsibility to take action is above our pay grade.
In the “Safehold Universe”, we meet a full spectrum of characters from the misogynistic, egotistical, bigoted self-assured, narcissistic zealot who gains the most powerful job on the planet (in fact if not “on paper”)who sets out to destroy any threat to his power and the king of a plucky small nation that teaches, “All men are created equal” who refuses to roll over and die.
I find myself (for the first time in my life) faced with a feeling that I must choose between the less of two evils all the while thinking that either choice is still evil and wondering how it came to this.
Time and again in this series, we see people in moral conflict and that the uniform that one wears does not decide on what they believe in their heart of hearts.
Resentment and hatred of people that think differently along with refusal to be tolerant seem to be found in the followers of the man who is misogynistic, egotistical, bigoted self-assured, narcissistic... in that universe and ours.
Not saying that David had the Donald in mind when he started writing this series in 2006-7 but it does give a perspective of what things might be like if he were elected when the senate is already so strongly in opposition to the alternative including refusal to review nominee for Supreme Court or to do several other things in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty.
But, hey... I have been wrong before and I have seen other things as more important as I mature... but I have not changed about that constitutional responsibility of We the People since I first read it
