OOC: Given that religion is supposed to be a lot more important (to the point where a socialist theocracy was semi-seriously suggested), I think that a pro-Chicago religious message has been lacking. It may be because the idiom is unfamiliar to many here, so I decided to write one. I am reasonably satisfied, and if people like it I might do more.
IC:
Radio Broadcast from Radio Chesterton, Chicago, at the news of the victory in Detroit
"God bless you, my fellow workers in Christ! This is Father Brown speaking.
"We know that we must have faith! But it is so hard! How many days, weeks, months and years have we suffered? How long have we prayed, and wept, and worked? How often have we cried out in despair, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'
"That is how Israel cried out when the Assyrians crushed them. The Assyrians, that cruel empire, who bragged of murder. Of torture. Of looting and burning cities. Of every despicable and horrid act. They terrified all the world, some they killed, others crawled on their belly. None were left alone. None could prosper except by their permission. In Judeah King Ahaz robbed the temple and gave the loot to the Assyrians, all so they would help him against his enemies.
"My fellow workers in Christ, you know who I mean! When someone mentions the Assyrians today, you know who they mean. When someone reads from Isaiah or from Nahum, we all know who they mean. When the people are suffering from poverty, cruelty, and tyranny, they all know who we mean. They curse the Assyrian of our age. And they curse the grovelling Ahazs of our age as well.
"My fellow workers in Christ, the wrath of God shall turn on Assyria and Ahaz! And we no longer need to be afraid to name them!
"Victoria! The name is a curse upon the land. In the past a tyrant would strike us with a whip, but they scourge us with scorpions. And the Ahazs of America trade the birthright of the people for a mess of pottage. All so that Ahaz can eat his fill while the people starve.
"Assyria was always full of evil and blasphemy against God. What did the Assyrian say when the King of Judah refused to pay tribute and to submit? Why these were the words of the Assyrian king, 'Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, destroying them utterly. And shall you be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations which my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Tel-assar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharva′im, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?'
"Our Assyrians, the Victorians, were just as proud and arrogant when Detroit said no. When Detroit said they would stand together with the Commonwealth and no longer pay protection money. Oh, how that rankled the proud spirit of Victoria! For those who are on the devil's side become proud, just like their father the devil.
"Tell me, my fellow workers in Christ, can you remember the list of cities and people that the Victorians have killed, oppressed, or carried off into slavery? Of course you can remember. Everyone remembers. But if you should forget, the Victorians will remind you. They will proudly list their crimes and dare you to defy them. And they are eager to make good upon their threats, so that everyone will keep on bowing. Keep on pretending not to see the young men taken out into the woods, pretend not to hear the gunshots. Pretend not to see the young women carried off, pretend not to hear the screams. Pretend, because we all know what happens.
"Yet Detroit decided to stop pretending, they said no. And the Victorians came. They came with the army that had never been defeated. They came with army everyone feared. They came with the devil by their side.
"But we heard in our hearts the word of God, 'The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.'
"God was on our side! On the side of the workers and farmers! On the side of the honest people! On the side of the weak and the oppressed! Of widows and orphans! For 'He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak'.
"He looked on the city of Detroit and all the cities of the Commonwealth, and he heard our prayers, and blessed our soldiers and workers. Then it was as at the siege of Jerusalem, for it is written, 'Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, says the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it'.
"My fellow workers in Christ. Rejoice. Rejoice! We have won!
"I tell you that every drop of blood, sweat and tears, every aching muscle, every sacrifice made, every prayer, every sorrow, all of them were blessed by God. By these efforts, blessed by God, our armies became like the angel of the Lord, who slew the armies of Assyria at the gates of Jerusalem.
"For behold: The whole of the Victorian army has been shattered! The soldiers and workers of the Commonwealth and of Detroit have been victorious! Rejoice!
"Later we shall grieve. Later we shall bury our dead. Later we shall gird our loins and continue the war. Yet now, rejoice, for the Lord has brought the Jubilee, and we have been set free.
"My fellow workers in Christ, let us all gather as children of God, in charity and common labour, and celebrate this victory today as we prepare to labour for new victories tomorrow!
"God bless you all!"
