Callisto by Torsten Krol Page A

saying!
    â€œYeah,” I said.
    Chet’s face fell, I mean he really did look upset, like I’d just told him I drowned a sack of puppies. I felt bad about upsetting him that way, especially since it wasn’t me that’s going Islamite, it’s the guy upstairs giving grief to his aunt andPreacher Bob and Chet too. I was going to have strong words with Dean about this because it’s so dumb to be a Muslim when you aren’t even Arabian. Americans are Christians, everyone knows that. Now I have never been a churchgoer and my dad wasn’t either, so you might say there was a bad influence in my life that kept me away from getting churchified like some do, but even so I could tell straight off that Dean was doing something dumb here with this religious conversioning intention he had. No wonder Chet was upset like this.
    â€œAre you thinking hard, Dean?”
    â€œYessir, I am.”
    â€œTake into consideration the feelings of others in this crucial decision. We’re not just talking about the fate of your soul, we’re talking here about the effect this will have on your loved ones like Mrs Wayne, who I believe has taken care of you ever since your mother departed. Consider the pain a decision like this will inflict on a generous and good woman. You don’t want the responsibility of causing that type of person pain, do you, Dean? I know it causes me pain just to think about the rashness of what you’re contemplating, and Bob too, he sent me out here personally to see if there isn’t something we can do to help you change your mind and step back from this terrible mistake you’re about to make. Or have you already made it? Have you received instruction in Muslim doctrine yet? I would imagine that’s hard to come by in this area. Am I right about that, Dean?”
    â€œIt’s rare out here,” I agreed, saying something truthful to make myself feel better. I saw now it was a mistake not to tell Chet straight off I’m not Dean, but there’s no way I can go back now and change the situation.
    â€œCan you tell me what it is, Dean, that makes you think Islam can offer you something that Christianity can’t. What’s the appeal?”
    I couldn’t answer that. Still no sound from upstairs, so I’m thinking Dean must have gone off somewhere. He couldn’t still be asleep since this morning. Then again, how would he go anyplace without wheels?
    â€œMrs Wayne has hinted at a troubled upbringing, Dean, so I’m thinking this thing you’re considering doing is maybe a reaction to personal difficulties that never got resolved. She says you started refusing to accompany her to church a long time ago and have been verbally abusive toward her about her own faith which has never wavered. Is it a personal issue, Dean? Talking to the right person can very often resolve those intensely painful inner turmoils people are prone to without guidance from the Lord. Is that the case here? You may think I’ve gotten very personal all of a sudden, and I won’t blame you for that, there’s nothing so personal as inner feelings, but there’s a connection here, Dean, or maybe I mean a disconnection. You’ve gone and been disconnected from the natural and everlasting faith we know is true. Now I have respect for the lesser faiths, and I respect the right of people in other cultures to believe those things they choose to believe, but this is America we’re living in, and this nation was founded on Christian principles. Any turning away from hundreds of years of history –
thousands
of years – is a mistake of the first magnitude, Dean. Can you see what I mean, son?”
    â€œUhuh.”
    â€œThen I’m asking you to consider very carefully this whole business.”
    I had a picture flash into my mind right then, and this is the picture – Dean has gone and fallen in the hole in the yard while he’s still dizzy