The Greatest Political Story Ever Told?
The trial and crucifixion of Christ may very well be one of the best examples of democracy exposed as nothing much more than mob rule. It's a story about how a small group of people are able to manipulate the masses to demand of the state that Jesus be murdered for... saying things they didn't like.
In the Book of Luke, the Roman governor says: "Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him."
But the mind-controlled mob cried out: "Crucify him, crucify him."
And the governor replied: "Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him."
But the Bible says that the murderous sheeple "were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified."
I alluded to this in my novel, Much Ado About Corona. When Vincent is waiting to be taken away to a quarantine facility, on Christmas Eve, he notices a wreath adorned with holly:
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"Christdorn!" I muttered to myself, much to my own surprise.
Christdorn is a rather archaic way of saying holly in German (so Stefanie had told me when I had given her one of Mom’s wreaths); not to be confused with the Christusdorn plant (which looks nothing like holly). Both botanical names, however, mean the “thorn of Christ”—referring to the crown of thorns the Roman soldiers wedged into Jesus’ head. His crime? Healing the sick and dying while opposing the high priests of the Sanhedrin. I stared at the wreath, with its pointy leaves spotted with the blood red fruit, realizing that I too was being hauled away like a criminal by a tyrannical government. My crime? Caring for the sick and dying while opposing the high priests of sanitization.
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In both cases, the masses were manipulated to demand the state kidnap and even murder people who were not conforming to the agenda of a small group of power-hungry elitists.
Psychologically and metaphysically, I believe, out of that refusal to give into the collective, we abandon "the ways of the world" and resurrect our unique individuality from the tomb of tribalism.
I don't know about you, but those years I spent refusing to go along with logic-defying and soul-destroying COVID mandates very much felt like a little death and resurrection.
It certainly does for Vincent McKnight. In Much Ado About Corona, he starts off as a typical twenty-year old male who can binge watch all three Lord of the Rings movies in one night to becoming a man who puts principles, self-respect and love above conformity, security and fear.
As the latest reviewer on Amazon says:
"[Much Ado About Corona] dramatizes the trauma experienced by Canadian society during the early years of the CovidCrisis, paying particular attention to the minority segment who did their own research and maintained the ability to think critically through the panicked reaction to 'unprecedented times.' I love the idealism of the protagonist and his friends, and the small-town Northern Ontario setting of the story."
Now, my humble novel may not be the greatest political story ever told, but it's certainly the greatest novel about non-compliance during the corona scamdemic ever written (because, well, it's the only one).
In my interview on the Iron Will Report, Will Dove and I talked about how Much Ado About Corona dealt with the fear of death and how it parallels this theme depicted in all but one Bible story (that we were aware of). If you haven't seen or heard the interview yet you may want to give it a listen this Easter break.
Here's the link: https://strongandfreecanada.org/iron-will/much-ado-about-corona-a-dystopian-love-story-john-manley/
John C.A. Manley
PS Tomorrow, I'll be sending you part one (of a three part story) recounting a hard lesson I learned on Easter Day way back when I was eighteen, living in a Hindu monastery in the mountains of Southern California.
John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber at: https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/
