Free Desecration: Antichrist Takes The Throne by Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins Page B

religions. Yet I daresay that except for the lunatic fringe, such as the lone representative of the Judah-ites who recklessly challenged the power and authority of our Most High Reverend Father of Car-pathianism, any such stubborn opponents have learned to keep silent.”
    “Speaking of Reverend Fortunate, ma’am, what can you tell us? We expected to see him here.”
    “Oh, he’s fine, and thanks for asking. He’s fallen a bit under the weather, but he passes along his greetings and best wishes and expects to be back at full strength tomorrow for the potentate’s blessing of the temple.”
    “The blessing of it?”
    “Oh, yes. We believe that the beautiful temple was constructed with the best intentions to honor god, even though the ancients were unaware that they had misplaced their devotion. They meant to serve the one true god but were misled by their own innocent ignorance and erred only in directing worship to their chosen deity. We now know, of course, that our risen potentate is clearly the god above all pretenders and that his rightful place is in a house built for the one who sits high above the heavens. By making this his own house of worship, he lends credibility and authenticity to it, and it becomes the true house of god.”
    “Besides the Judah-ites and their seemingly large Internet following-”
    “Clearly inflated and exaggerated, of course.”
    “Of course. But besides that faction, might you expect opposition from holdout Jews who are neither Christ-followers nor Carpathianists?”
    “An excellent question, Anika. You do your homework. This should give the lie to those who say that the Global Community News Network is merely a shill for the potentate.”
    “Thank you. So, opposition?”
    “Well, that is what we were led to believe and what we have been prepared for. It is still possible, of course, but I am confident that the display of divine power exhibited a few hours ago, along with the overwhelming enthusiasm on the part of GC personnel and these thousands of civilian pilgrims, will far overshadow any pockets of resistance.”
    “But should either the Judah-”
    “Have you seen the image of the potentate yet, Anika? The Reverend Fortunate judged the entries himself, and the winner is stunningly beautiful.”
    “I have not seen it yet, but I hope to-oh, I’m getting word that our cameras do have a shot of the image, so let’s go there now.”
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    Buck had found the area around the Temple Mount-now dominated by the gleaming new temple itself, of course-so congested that he and Chaim were able to just amble around and observe, drawing little attention despite Chaim’s getup. Buck looked for other dissidents and was surprised to see that many Orthodox Jews were allowed at the Wailing Wall. He could not get close enough to see whether anyone in that area had the mark of the believer, but he suspected that these devout men of prayer were prepared to oppose the desecration in more overt ways than merely wearing their own religious garments and assembling to pray at the Wall.
    The rest of the Mount had been entirely converted into a virtual factory of efficiency. Dozens and dozens of lines herded the Carpathian faithful, or at least the fearful, to stations where they were registered, processed, prepped, and finally marked. Most accepted the mark on their foreheads, but many took it on the backs of their right hands.
    Unlike what Buck had seen in Greece, here it was not assumed that anyone in line would decide against taking the mark. In the middle of all the processing stations stood one gleaming guillotine with two operators sitting patiently beside it. Ten feet behind the contraption was a freestanding frame with a drape hung on it, apparently so that the disembodied could be discreetly hidden once the awful sound and severing had served their deterring purposes. No sense rubbing it in, apparently.
    As the supplicants finished showing each other their marks and posing for pictures, they