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Welcome back to Ship of Fools and thanks for reading!
We’re back aboard the Anóitoi, where the Reverend Paul Lee discusses Darwinism with Liz Dare before being interrupted by Darwinists of an entirely different stripe.
REVEREND Paul Lee of Young Creation Ministries waited patiently for his turn to speak with Elizabeth Dare. The fellow engaging her attention at the moment, a good double for early solo-period John Lennon, was showing her some sort of helmet-like contraption. Paul couldn’t help overhearing something about the Earth being flat, electromagnetism bending light rays, and other such claptrap. Good Heavens! She was even agreeing to meet the fellow for a demonstration of the device. On the bright side, if she was this amenable to a flat-earther, perhaps she’d give his own suggestions a fair hearing.
“Miss Dare?” he said, after the Lennon look-alike turned to leave. He introduced himself, keeping his eyes away from her skimpy cocktail dress. What was she thinking, wearing such an outfit while on assignment? Its femininity contrasted awkwardly with the masculine look of her short, spiked hair, though the black color did match.
“Please, call me Liz,” she said. “I’ve seen your streams once or twice. I was particularly impressed with the one about Jesus loving all his children. It’s not what I usually expect from an Evangelical.”
Only a slight emphasis on the last word. Good. “You’d be surprised how many of us there are. And I also admire your work. Always clear and concise, while making even the most abstract concepts interesting, even entertaining.”
“Thank you.”
“And that’s why I hope you won’t mind my pointing out one omission in your work so far.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“You have yet to fully explore Creation Science.”
“You mean you want the kind of thing I do with the flat-earthers and moon-landing deniers?” She couldn’t help a little smirk.
“No, not at all. I think you should take it on its own merits for the legitimate branch of science that it is. I can point you to geologists and astronomers doing authentic, peer-reviewed research.”
At least her smirk didn’t grow into an outright scoff. “Look, Reverend Lee, I have a rule about not treading on people’s sincerely held religious beliefs. Science and faith are two separate spheres, and not necessarily incompatible, in the broadest sense. But when religious people look to justify their faith by turning to science…”
She was interrupted by two individuals stepping up to them, moving in so close that he had to take a step back, as did Miss Dare. They were two of the skinheads he’d seen loitering about on the opposite side of the ballroom. They both wore leather jackets and had tattoos on their necks and even up their stubbly skulls. One had an obvious swastika extending up from the collar of his white T-shirt.
Miss Dare looked ready to throw what was left of her drink at the two of them. “Excuse me!?” she said. Even a fool dimmer than these two would have caught the edge of sarcasm in her voice.
“We just want a chat with the preacher here,” said one, giving her a leer. The reverend supposed she was regretting wearing that outfit now. “Maybe you and I could spend some time together after we’re done with him. I’ll even introduce you to my little friend, Mr. Johnson, who’s not always so little, in the right company.”
He couldn’t put up with such behavior. “If you want to speak with me, you’ll wait your turn, and first you will apologize to Miss Dare for your vile behavior.”
“Gee thanks, Reverend,” Dare said, with nearly as much sarcasm as she’d directed at the pair of louts. She opened her handbag, and for a fraction of a second he hoped she’d pull out a tiny can of mace. Instead, she withdrew a business card and offered it to him. “Let’s talk later. Text me if we don’t happen to run into each other.”
He took her card, and she turned and walked away.
“All right, what do you want?” He narrowly avoided throwing “animals” into the statement, but his tone probably got the message across.
“We want you to stop betraying your race, first off. After that we’ll get to the gender stuff and the gay stuff.”
“I haven’t the slightest idea what you mean.” That was stretching the truth. He had a good notion what their intentions were. He just wanted them to say it outright.
“You’re the biggest e-Vangelist there is. We’ve looked into it. Your numbers are great in both streaming and cable, what’s left of it. So, we just want you to stop with this bullshit about God loving everyone the same.”
“Now just a minute…”
“At least the other Evangelicals know where straight white men stand when it comes to women and the gays. But you all get it wrong when it comes to race.”
“How so?”
“Darwin was right, obviously. Evolution is real. The Aryan race is superior to all the rest of the…” And here the poor excuse for a human being used epithets Reverend Lee never wanted to think about, let alone hear coming from the lips of one of God’s children, however misguided. But the scoundrel couldn’t leave it at the epithets. “They’re all closer to the apes, in my book.”
“I hope God will forgive you for such despicable beliefs, but you will have to repent first. I’m afraid someone more patient than I will have to lead you to His truth.”
With that, he turned and walked away.
“Don’t turn your back on us, we’re not done with you,” the Nazi called after him. The brute was obviously a Nazi and white supremacist. Why had he listened to even two words from such an individual?
He looked over his shoulder and saw them following him. Hoping to find refuge from the thugs, he headed for the bar.
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, please give it a like, a share, a restack, or a comment. And if you really enjoyed it, I hope you’ll buy me a coffee or upgrade to a paid subscription.
Next up: Chapter 8, “A Tough Day,” in which Liz continues her investigation in DC, only to discover that something terrible has happened.