Chapter 58

“Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power.” ― Oscar Wilde

1255 hours, local time
Saturday, 14 March, 2015
Wenatchee Valley College
Wenatchee, Washington

“So, now that we’ve had breakfast, more sex, and now lunch, let’s discuss some ... geopolitics, shall we? To be clear, there is a small Havenite group in Ireland now, thanks to yours truly Myself. As for Havenism elsewhere in Europe, in Spain, Havenism has captured Cadiz, Seville, Cordoba, Toledo, Granada, and much of the southern third to half of the place. Then there are Gibraltar, southern Portugal, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Isles, and a small, but growing number of communities in North Africa.

“Which is admittedly not part of Europe, but is adjacent to it and represents our first toehold. Penelope Cruz is now de facto the ruler or head of state as well as government and religion in the Havenite territories of Iberia and neighboring lands. This has naturally inspired or provoked significant opposition from Catholics of both camps, not to mention Spanish, Portuguese, and North African Muslims. There are also some limited Protestant groups standing against rapid Havenite growth. The Bishop of Oporto is, of course, the most visible opponent of Havenism in Iberia, in his capacity as head of the National Restoration Council.

“Then there is Denmark, which is now more than two-thirds Havenite, and the rest of the people are converting at dizzying rates. The former state church in Denmark has entirely collapsed, but especially in Jutland, the peninsula, mainland part of the country. There is a bit more resistance by those religious minorities who feel more intense conviction, such as Muslims and Bahai, not to mention Danish Jews. That’s not even counting the more devout Catholics, Calvinists, Lutherans, and evangelical Protestants, such as Baptists, plus the Mormons, but many of that last group are emigrating to Deseret. The Jehovah’s Witnesses have basically abandoned their apocalyptic sect.

“Naturally, there is no desire to get them to abandon their faith and their community entirely, regarding the Jews in particular. Lars Ulrich, who now governs Denmark from his new capital at Aarhus, is content to make Havenism the dominant faith without pressuring anyone not so inclined. Havenism has displaced Christianity as the primary religion of the populace, though not formally a state church as such. Its morals and values, along with Schumacher Syndrome, are seriously impacting the sexual ethics of the population, just as in Iberia, leading to baby booms.

“In Mecklenburg, while Havenism is certainly rising, its greatest impact so far is in the coastal cities, such as Rostock, where the population is now seventy-five percent Havenite. More and more of the government is Havenite as well as the citizens, but it’s far from universal yet. As Havenism continues to expand, so does its influence over the councils of government, and so does Schumacher Syndrome, which helps affect sexual appetites, of course. As Havenism grows, the new Mecklenburg government is more secure than ever against its neighbors, especially the weakened, restored East Germany. It’s rampant in the military, of course, thank God. The new Chancellor of Mecklenburg Free State is definitely a Havenite and his name is Arnold Fischer, formerly the Mayor of Rostock itself.

“The Leninist vs. Luxemburgist conflict increasingly seems to be a stalemate for now. The Leninists control Potsdam, Halle, Magdeburg, Cottbus, Frankfurt, and Dresden, but the Luxemburgists control Chemnitz, Erfurt, Suhl, Leipzig, and Gera. The fighting is very chaotic, and it has prevented any kind of serious efforts by either camp, let alone both, to recover Rostock, Schwerin, and Neubrandenburg, which constitute Mecklenburg Free State. Both sides have left their territories poorer and more sparsely defended between the various battles. The folks in Mecklenburg aren’t lifting a finger to mediate the conflict, of course, as it bleeds the Reds on both sides and strengthens their own position,” God presented what he wished so far of the news on the ground in Europe.

“I take it that neither side is even willing to negotiate with Fischer, then? That’s a pity. I have a feeling that they won’t even notice what is going on until they face a much stronger Havenite Mecklenburg right in their backyard. The fact that they’re now landlocked is bound to make a difference, in any case. It wouldn’t take much of a land blockade to entirely cut them off from desperately needed imports from the outside world. It will be nice when they’re desperate enough for missionaries to take full advantage of that to convert as many locals as possible to Havenism,” Charles noted, even as he enjoyed his Reuben and the way that Dr. Ludmilla Rutskaya sat on his lap.

He wasn’t going to complain about the Chancellor of Wenatchee Valley College giving him very familiar and intimate company like that. That Rutskaya was a very horny, geeky type of woman who had emigrated from Bryansk in Russia in 1996 was no surprise, either. She by now had Schumacher Syndrome and she was very keen on bedding such a figure as the Prophet Charles Tremaine, no less. That Bryansk was now a battlefield or war zone or something like that, depending upon recent reports (which conflicted with each other at times), well, that was another reason to be glad that Ludmilla now lived in one of the American instead of the Russian successor states.

“Bryansk? It’s currently ruled by a militant faction of devout Orthodox laymen and priests, who are fighting an anti-clerical insurgency inside the city, but are slowly winning their nasty urban battle. The long-term consequences of such fratricide are unclear, but they can’t be good for prosperity, at least in the short term. They might well use religious pilgrimages to help with their recovery and reconstruction, but it might well come at a cost in other sectors. Or at best, the ‘vices’ would have to feed the black market and organized crime syndicates,” Lavelle added for his part, having paid occasional visits to that part of the world of late.