A Future History of the United States

At almost the same time Tim was stepping into the Oval Office, portals were opening in churches and other public buildings across the country. An army of men rushed out of Son City, carrying numerous packages of all size and began assembling and installing the weapons they hoped would bring a rapid end to the tyranny of the past half century.

Ron and Luke carried the unconscious Titus to a couch along one wall. “Luckily, he didn’t bump into anything as he fell,” remarked Luke. “I can’t even begin to imagine what a shock that must have been for him. I would probably faint myself if something like that happened to me.”

The other five Archbishops had been right behind Tim as he entered the room. He had been too preoccupied with the immediate events to hardly notice them. Finally, he turned and looked. Standing there, hoods removed, staring back, were five copies of his face! He almost fainted himself.

Tim had not noticed before, but several of the Archbishops were carrying packages. Luke took one of the packages, “Let’s get everything set up before Titus wakes up.”

Soon the desk looked more like the altar of a church than a work station in an office. Near the center of the room, Ron had set up a tri-pod. A small device on top was aimed at the desk. On one side of the altar was an American flag, on the other side stood the Church pennant, and on the wall was a picture of a large cross. The picture looked so realistic Tim at first wondered how they had brought the cross in without him noticing it.

He heard Titus groaning and rapidly walked over to stand in front of him. Titus opened his eyes, shook his head, looked at Tim, and promptly fainted again.

Luke said, “That’s O.K. At least he won’t be disturbing us while we finish our preparations.”

Long before the first worshippers arrived for Sunday morning services at the many churches across the land, the army of workers had finished their chores. There was no noticeable evidence of their late night labors.In the Oval Office it had also been a busy night. Titus had finally recovered sufficiently for Ron and Luke to explain to him that a Conclave of Bishops had voted to remove him from his position as Prelate of the Church. When informed of this he said, “I guess this means I will soon be burned at the stake.”

“No, Titus, we do not plan on executing you. The days of that type of action are over,” Luke answered. “You will have to pay for the damage you, and your predecessors, have done to the Country, but not in that way. You, and many of those who have supported you, will be assigned to work details restoring some of the infrastructure that has deteriorated so badly.

“For years we have maintained much of the scientific and technological knowledge of this country, quite literally under your feet. All of this will be made available to bring some prosperity back to the United States. That is, of course, if we can manage to avoid full scale warfare out in the streets.”

As 10:00 A.M. approached in Washington, D.C., Ron turned to Tim, “You will begin your speech at exactly 10:05. As you know, the west coast of the Country is three hours behind us. Your speech will be automatically repeated in each region as church services begin. We should be getting some feedback from nearby not long after you finish.”

At exactly 10:05 Ron motioned to Tim. In every church from Maine to Florida, and as far west as Ohio, the front of the sanctuary was transformed into a three dimensional, oversized view of Tim, makeup removed, standing behind an altar, and was dressed in a business suit. Loudspeakers had also been installed to assure everyone could hear.

“My fellow Americans,” he began. “I am Timothy Michael Roberts, Archbishop of the St. Louis region of the Church. Today the reign of terror conducted by the Conservative Universal Church comes to an end.

“There will be no more persecution of innocent people on trumped up charges of heresy. Your rights to freely express your opinions and beliefs will no longer be suppressed.

“A Conclave of Archbishops has removed Titus II from his position as Prelate of the Church. They have appointed me to act as interim Prelate. As my first official act, I have issued a directive terminating all actions involved in prosecuting cases of alleged heresy.

“I am also suspending the process of automatically deducting contributions to the Church upon entry into any Church building. This takes effect immediately. To the extent possible, property confiscated from persons accused of heresy will be returned to the rightful owner. In cases where such return would cause undue hardship to those who have innocently purchased such property in good faith, we will make every effort to arrive at an equitable solution fair to all parties.

“In cases where there is any dispute over the settlement offered, an impartial board will hear all evidence and issue a binding decision. This board will be selected by you, the people of this great Country. The Church will have only one member on any such board. He will have no more authority than any other member of that board.

“The fact that we will no longer be prosecuting people as heretics, or for other church related causes, does not give you permission to violate the rights of your fellow citizens. Until such time as effective civil authority can be re-established, representatives of the Church will continue to enforce laws relating to such things as theft, assault, and fraud.

“We will not tolerate acts of violence against any Church official. We will also take all actions necessary to prevent acts of vandalism. Do not make the mistake of thinking the changes in leadership give you the opportunity to take revenge on those you feel have wronged you.

“Those who are accused of using their position of authority in the Church to commit atrocities against their fellow men will be tried swiftly, publicly, and fairly. Those found guilty will receive appropriate punishment but we will not let these proceedings to decline into a ‘witch hunt’.

“We encourage peaceful gatherings to discuss problems and find solutions. However, if any of these meetings get out of hand and threaten to result in violence, be assured, we have the ability and the determination to control the situation. We will not allow society to decline into chaos.

“We must remember Christ gave us three commandments. First, we must love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Second, we must love our neighbor as ourselves. Third, we must love one another as Christ has loved us.

“If we obey these three commandments we will be living as Christ wants us to live. It will show in every aspect of our lives. We cannot wish harm on someone we love and if we truly love God it will show in all our actions.”

The speech continued for twenty more minutes. He concluded by saying, “Sixty days from today, we will have a free and open election for you to select those you wish to represent you in rebuilding this Country. As you can tell by the way this message is being brought to you, we have preserved the means to make this possible.

“I am sure you noticed I have discarded the ornate robes long used to identify the Church officials. I have done this because we of the Clergy are no different in God’s sight than the rest of the members of the Church. The only difference is that He has given us the task of teaching, guiding, and directing you in His way.

“This Country is full of strong, intelligent, and truly pious people. By all working together, we can restore the United States to its rightful place as a leader of the world.

"As I said at the start of my message, I have been appointed as Interim Prelate. I wish to make it very clear that I will not accept the position on a permanent basis. There are others among our leaders who are better qualified to assume this position. I will work with the other Church leaders to find the person best qualified; the one whose training, education, personality, and faith uniquely qualify him to lead our Church and Nation in the troubled times we have before us. He will only serve as a political leader until a qualified individual is elected as your President.

The separation of the Church and the State will be restored. The Church will attend to Spiritual matters and leave secular matters to your elected officials.

“Lord, I pray you will give us the strength, wisdom, and courage to do what is right in Your sight, AMEN”

“We have just begun. Let’s get to work.”

The image faded. In each church the priest stepped out from behind the church altar, also dressed in a business suit. “You heard him. Let’s get to work,” came the message to hundreds of congregations throughout the land.

Monday morning Tim and Ron returned to St. Louis. As they entered the dining room Martha was the first to spot them. She jumped up so fast she knocked her chair over as she ran to embrace Tim.

“You were WONDERFUL! I had to keep pinching myself to be sure it wasn’t a dream! I still can hardly believe it was actually you. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t believe it.

“Are you afraid there will be trouble? Can we really go back to the way things were before the Church got so bad? Will we be able to go back to our old house? Can’t Ron and the others take over now that you’ve done your part? Will it be safe for you to go out in the city? Can…”

“Whoa, slow down!” Tim swung her around then sat her on a stool by the wall. “We HOPE there won’t be any real trouble. I’m sure there will be some who will try to take advantage of the situation and may stir up some disturbances, but Ron assures me the technology of Sun City can handle anything like that without anyone getting hurt.

“We’re going to try our best to get things back like they were over a hundred years ago with some exceptions. While the people of Sun City group were in hiding they developed a lot of things that will make things even better than they were then. It’s going to take a lot of work but luckily we have an excellent example to go by. The United States Constitution as it was before the Church tampered with it kept things stable and safe for over two hundred years. We will put it back in place with a few changes to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.

“Do you really want to go back to our old house? Couldn’t you be happy staying right here?”

“Oh, Tim, I was afraid you were going to move us to Washington. That’s something I really don’t want to do. I’m happy right here in St. Louis. I miss the friends we had in our neighborhood. Will has friends there too.”

“Martha, a Conclave of Archbishops has appointed me as acting Prelate. I made it clear to them that I will not take that position permanently!”

“He’s still officially the Archbishop of St. Louis, Martha,” Ron entered the conversation. “I think you could get use to all the benefits that go along with being the wife of an Archbishop! You can have as many of your friends in as often as you like. You’ll have the staff here to take care of the details so you can just relax and enjoy their company.

“As to the safety of going out into the city, you’re more likely to be mobbed by friendly folks than mean ones. Your husband is a hero to most of the population. The few that are dissatisfied will be easy enough to handle. Until everything gets settled down some of our people will always be close by to assist in case things get a little dicey.

“Until we get things settled down Tim and I will be making frequent trips to Washington; none of those should last over two or three days. Most of the time Tim will be right here in St. Louis taking care of his Archbishop duties.

“Change is never easy. You and Tim have both changed more than you realize in the past few months. The world around you is going to change dramatically. That change is already starting to take place. We all need to work hard to make sure it’s a positive change.

“It will take time. Some will do all they can to retain their positions of power. Some will say change is too difficult. Some simply won’t care. Tim’s message at St. Anthony’s church started something that cannot be stopped. His message yesterday was heard by the entire country. The oppressive rule of the Church is over! We need to make sure the changes to come are positive ones.”