public sphere, and save this soulless, secular, decaying society of ours. You, my friend, will be the next man in the White House to support the cause.”
Black stared at the ceiling as though searching for a safe escape. “It’s not as simple as that.”
“Why?” Patterson snapped. “Isaiah, on the day of the Rapture the Christian faithful of this world will ascend to Heaven while the remaining few billion people on Earth are cast unto everlasting fire. That will be deeply unpleasant but not one of them can say that we haven’t tried to warn them. You’ve been a member of my congregation for forty or more years, you know this.”
The senator rubbed his temples wearily.
“Being a member of a church is not the same thing as being a member of an administration. I can’t be seen endorsing a man who favors war. If I go into the primaries on that ticket, I won’t last five minutes.”
Patterson’s eyes transformed into tiny, probing points of ice that pierced Black’s soul.
“I had no idea your faith was built on such weak foundations.”
Senator Black raised his chin as he spoke.
“The American people will watch the news tonight and see me as a member of a church that preaches hate. Despite what you seem to think, not every American wants a theocracy.”
“Are you sure? Fifty percent of all Americans believe the Bible to be the literal truth. They know that the Earth is less than ten thousand years old, that it was created by God, and that His judgment upon us is soon to be realized. All of the prophecies support it, Isaiah.”
“Prophecies don’t win elections,” Black muttered, crossing the room and sitting on a brown leather chair. “The people are not going to support a president who is so openly associated with …” He struggled for a suitable word.
“Fundamentalists?” Patterson suggested with a mocking smile.
“Conservatives. We’ve been down that path before.”
Patterson adopted a soothing tone, sitting on the edge of his desk.
“Don’t be so dismissive of the Word, Isaiah. The Second Coming, the End Times and the Rapture are all preceded by what we see in the world around us today. The revival of Israel as a nation, witnessed by the last generation before Christ in the parable of the fig tree—Matthew Twenty-four. A strong and united European state, or a United States of Europe similar to a revived Roman Empire—Daniel Two. The role of the European Union in the Middle East, the Antichrist, and the peace treaty—Revelation Thirteen. The mark of the beast, in commerce, so that none can buy or sell without the mark, which is the UPC bar-code system whose bars are encoded as three groups of six: the number of the beast—Revelation Thirteen.”
Black shook his head. “I think that you place far too much faith in ancient texts.”
The pastor smiled again. “Peter Three—the Apostle says that in the End Times even religious people would dismiss the idea of Christ’s return.”
Black looked the pastor straight in the eye.
“My allegiance is to this country and its Constitution. I cannot be seen to openly favor one faith above another.”
Patterson kept his expression neutral.
“Yet this country is one nation under God, Isaiah. Look around us, at what is happening to our world. America is crumbling beneath the weight of crime, corruption, and societal decline caused by atheists and secularists. America is rotting from within and God is the only one who can save us.”
“One nation under God indeed,” Black echoed. “Yet our crumbling America is the most religious of all the world’s democracies, which kind of lets the atheists off the hook.”
A stab of indignation punctured Patterson’s studied calm. “God is the light, not the darkness. Only a lack of faith can see His light deflected from a true path.”
“I can’t support your church any further if you continue with these inflammatory speeches,” Black said firmly, standing.
Patterson regarded Black for a long moment, masking his fury at the senator’s resilience. A man who had survived the political machine due to his popularity with ordinary folk, hockey moms, and liberals, Isaiah Black had always been a more pliable man in time of need. He decided to turn the screws up a notch.
“The voters may not forgive you lightly, Isaiah.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you turn your back on us, then you turn your back on God and abandon any chance of redemption. I command the allegiance of thirty million faithful Americans, Isaiah. They do not vote for a president or a party, they vote for God,