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Novel theology 4: Materialism

Not John Sandford - Frederick Forsyth this time. The Phantom of Manhattan.

* * * * *

I needed someone who could do my bidding in daylight; he needed my ingenuity and skills to get us out of this place. He became my subordinate and representative in all things [...] To this day I know him only as Darius.

But if I taught him, he also taught me, converting me from old and foolish beliefs to worship of the one and only true god, the great master who has never let me down.

[...]

[T]his is Mammon, the god of gold, who permits no mercy, no charity, no compassion and no scruple. There is no widow, no child, no pauper wretch who cannot be crushed a little more for a few extra granules of the precious metal that so pleases the master. With the gold comes the power and with the power even more gold in one glorious and world-conquering cycle.

[Pages 49-50, 54-55]

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