The following is a free excerpt from Book of Katherine and the Chinese Maze.
“Stephen Baldwin became a Christian. Did you know that?”
“Oh… So that’s why you don’t hear about him,” says my husband as he goes down the stairs to the bathroom. And I find myself sad, but not at the sentiment (which is totally true). Being a Christian today is like being a Jew in 1930’s Germany. But I am sad because I’m recording this now. And I don’t like to talk about this stuff.
This is the sort of thing I keep private. I don’t tell my readers. I don’t tell my students. I don’t tell my fans. Probably because it’s like 1920’s Germany out there. Or 1930’s. Tragically, we are a large enough country that this goes unnoticed. For a variety of reasons. But being a socialist, a religion that forces atheism down the throats of its people, and killed, at minimum, one hundred million people in just one hundred years, and counting, second only to Sharia, which has killed two hundred and seventy million, and counting, in its fourteen hundred years… Well. Let’s just say socialism has sharia beat.
But being a socialist today is way better than being a Christian. Noble even. Despite Christian founders making the very first society with Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Religion in its government. You’re free to be an atheist here, but somehow, now, you’re sure as hell not allowed to be a Christian.
And by saying ‘hell,’ I’ve just deleted all Christians from this book. If you don’t think that’s the work of an outside force on the Christian communities, you’d be dead wrong. I’ve got the research.
But that’s what makes me good at my job. I’d better get back to it. My husband is back and it’s time to roll…
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Now comes the hard part. Telling you what just occurred. I doubt you’ll believe it. But even if you don’t, you probably won’t even want to read it. I may be a writer, and I may have been compared to Steinbeck at one point for my ability to describe things, but… No. I have no descriptors for this part of my life.
So I guess – just – be prepared. Be a scout. Soldier. Whatever. And maybe try and have a little compassion for my nerves. (At the end of this, you’re going to think my pain is a direct result of my family life. It’s not. It was there before them. They, in fact, provide a glorious relief from the pain. They say distraction is a great technique for dealing with pain. Yes. What you’re about to read is distracting.
That’s the perfect descriptor.
Book of Katherine 