Free The Regime: Evil Advances by Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins Page B

basically everything is okay with them. You can bring your own religion into the mix, as long as you agree that everything you believe from here on out comes from your own intellectual study

    and not from dogma or tradition or single authorities. We believe all religions are part of man’s effort to relate to one another. And everyone can cooperate.”
    “But surely there must be some commonly held beliefs. Otherwise Theosophy becomes everything and nothing.”
    Fortunato nodded. “These are not fixed beliefs but rather a way of looking at life. We believe in reincarnation, karma, worlds beyond the physical, consciousness in all matter, physical and spiritual and mental evolution, free will, self-responsibility, altruism, and the ultimate perfecting of human nature, society, and life.”
    It sounded like blather to Carpathia, but he wasn’t ready to say so. “Oneness,” he said.
    Fortunato nodded. “Oneness is very much a part of it. Our second president, the late Annie Besant, wrote the Universal Invocation. Would you care to hear it?”
    “Of course.”
    “O Hidden Life, vibrant in every atom;
    O Hidden Light, shining in every creature;
    O Hidden Love, embracing all in Oneness;
    May all who feel themselves as one with Thee
    Know they are therefore one with every other.”
    Carpathia couldn’t help himself. He howled with laughter.
    Fortunato smiled with only his mouth. “What am I missing? This is funny?”
    “Hilarious! Has this mishmash of silliness had an iota of impact on the world?”

    “It has an impact on its adherents.”
    “Really. What impact has it had on you, Leon?”
    Finally he truly smiled. “It gives me something to teach. To talk about. It’s harmless.”
    “And toothless.”
    “Unless—and this is the beauty of it—you bring a bit of your own belief system into it. For instance, among the founders and early leaders are women who were religious, then atheistic, then into Theosophy.”
    “As for you, you bring a bit of Catholicism?”
    “No. I told you, I never bought into the central theme of that. I believe in the spirit world.”
    Nicolae stiffened. He was eager to get back to the subject of the extent to which Fortunato might go to achieve his client’s goals, but now they were getting somewhere.
    Irene finally reached the part Rayford had feared and dreaded. She switched off the TV and stood to face him. “The fact is, dear,” she said, “this is not working. We’re not together in the most important areas of life, and something has to change.”
    Really. Was she honestly prepared to present an ultimatum, to throw down the gauntlet? “What do you propose changes, Irene? Let me guess. I go whole hog with Jesus, start going to the fundamentalist church, never let golf get in the way of church, and use my influence on Chloe to get her on board too.”
    “That would be a start. No, that would be heaven.”

    “You’re joking.”
    “No,” she said. “Were you? I think you have assessed the situation perfectly.”
    “I think you have a blind spot the size of Texas. This isn’t going to happen, Irene, and I’ll tell you why. Chloe is going to make up her own mind with influence from us both. I am not switching churches. And I am not giving up golf or having you tell me what I can or can’t do or when I can or can’t do it. If I miss church for six months, that doesn’t mean I don’t believe in God or I’m not as spiritual as you. And if you think this gives you license to go to the other church behind my back, I forbid it.”
    “There’s a twenty-first century man for you. You forbid it?”

    “You heard me. It’s embarrassing enough to have you God-talking all the time, even when we have guests. Now enough is enough. I can’t tell you what to believe or how seriously to take it. But you know where I stand, and this is how it’s going to be.”

ELEVEN

    Nicolae had thought he finally detected fatigue in the eyes of Leon Fortunato until they got on the subject