eat.

"The First Church has an interesting past," he said. "I suppose you are
familiar with it, but I'd like to speak of a few points that are of
relevancy to us.

"It was in the twentieth century that the Movement began--during one of
the periodic wars. The Movement developed rapidly, feeding on the
general sense of futility, the realization that each war was breeding
greater war, with no end in sight. The Movement posed a simple answer to
the problem: Without military preparations--weapons--there could be no
war. And without machinery and complex scientific technocracy there
could be no weapons.

"The Movement preached that you couldn't stop war by planning for it.
They preached that man was losing to his machinery and science, that it
was getting away from him, pushing him into greater and greater wars.
Down with society, they shouted. Down with factories and science! A few
more wars and there wouldn't be much left of the world.

"The Founder was an obscure person from a small town in the American
Middle West. We don't even know his name. All we know is that one day he
appeared, preaching a doctrine of non-violence, non-resistance; no
fighting, no paying taxes for guns, no research except for medicine.
Live out your life quietly, tending your garden, staying out of public
affairs; mind your own business. Be obscure, unknown, poor. Give away
most of your possessions, leave the city. At least that was what
developed from what he told the people."

The car dropped down and landed on a roof.

"The Founder preached this doctrine, or the germ of it; there's no
telling how much the faithful have added themselves. The local
authorities picked him up at once, of course. Apparently they were
convinced that he meant it; he was never released. He was put to death,
and his body buried secretly. It seemed that the cult was finished."

The Speaker smiled. "Unfortunately, some of his disciples reported
seeing him after the date of his death. The rumor spread; he had
conquered death, he was divine. It took hold, grew. And here we are
today, with a First Church, obstructing all social progress, destroying
society, sowing the seeds of anarchy--"

"But the wars," Conger said. "About them?"

"The wars? Well, there were no more wars. It must be acknowledged that
the elimination of war was the direct result of non-violence practiced
on a general scale. But we can take a more objective view of war today.
What was so terrible abou