Chapter 65: Are reality and faith exactly opposite?
"Let's go, you can go directly to the interior of St. Anville's Cross Church from the cemetery here." Old Pancras took out the key from his pocket, unlocked the rusty lock on the iron gate of the cemetery, and said in a low voice.
: "Don't stay here for too long. The residents here have received relief from the church and will remain silent in most cases, but the possibility of them leaking information to the United Order cannot be completely ruled out."
The rusty iron door made a sour creaking sound and slowly opened. Pancras led everyone into the cemetery, along a gray-white stone road, passing through the tombstones, and heading towards the ceremony at St. Anville's Cross Church.
We walked towards the building. Needless to say, the scenery along the way was much better than that of the Evangelical Church, whether it was the beautiful architectural style or the lush green environment.
The only drawback is that it is not popular. It was specially built to welcome Ruwei believers and could accommodate four carriages passing side by side. Now there are no people on the avenue, which looks very empty. Occasionally, one or two black monks can be seen hurriedly passing by.
, when he saw old Pancras, he would stop, lower his head and salute, but then leave in a hurry. He didn't even notice the strange guests like Ringer, as if giving them one more look would delay their attention.
journey.
Their footsteps echoed under the gray sky, gradually disappearing until they were no longer traceable, as if they had gone to an extremely distant place and would never be able to return here in their lifetime.
This huge church should be a sacred and solemn place, but at this moment, it only feels gloomy and bleak. The flowers that had been carefully tended by the hands of the nuns only left decaying reproductive matter, and the corpses of lizards and ants were floating in the air.
In the mud puddles that have not been cleaned after the heavy rain, the long corridor is covered with cobwebs, the white brick walls are cracked everywhere, the doors, windows, tables and chairs are dim and faded, and the tiles on the roof have worn away the sunlight, leaving everything shrouded in an unimaginable atmosphere.
In a gloomy and melancholy atmosphere.
In just a hundred years, this church has become a completely different person.
The travelers who stumbled into a gray memory were either shocked by the size of the cathedral or affected by the bleak atmosphere. They lost the mood to speak for a while. Only Ringer lowered his voice and asked old Pancras a question.
Question of concern: "You mentioned relief just now. Is it possible that the relief home run by St. Anville's Cross Church is still in operation?"
"Yes." The old man nodded lightly: "The "Religious Decree" restricts public missionary activities and the normal operation of the church, but there are no strict restrictions on other aspects. Therefore, there is still a team of about a hundred people in the church.
The black monks on the left and right will go deep into the neighborhoods every weekend or major festivals to preach to the residents, trying to make the people of this land still remember the animist belief. Although the effect is not as good as in the heyday of the past,
But it is better than nothing. In addition, welfare institutions such as relief homes, orphanages, Sunday schools, and charity hospitals affiliated to the church are also operating normally. However, after losing the donations of believers, the source of funds can only be saved by selling off the church.
Antiques, calligraphy, paintings and ancient relics are here to deal with it.”
He paused and then said: "It is precisely because the church adheres to the tradition of providing relief to the people that the residents of Qixingpan District have not forgotten us and are willing to cover up certain things for us, such as those secret underground passages.
But please remember what I just said and don’t trust them completely, Mr. Ringer. If the pressure from the United Order is strong enough, these people will fall over to them without hesitation. The only question is how long they can persist.
That’s all.”
Ringer thought thoughtfully and vaguely understood the reason for this phenomenon: "Because even if they lose St. Anvil's Cross Church, the United Order will continue to provide relief to them?"
"Although I don't want to admit it, it is true." The old man said: "Fortunately, the relief method of the United Order is different from ours. They do not provide relief to individuals, but prefer to plan and coordinate the overall situation of a neighborhood.
.For example, build a specific number of row houses in each street so that poor people who meet certain conditions can move in for free; add street lights, public fire hydrants, public water pipes and other facilities to improve the quality of life of local residents; build drainage channels, sewers
Or large-scale projects such as subways, providing jobs for unemployed people, etc. This kind of relief method is actually more clever, but residents usually do not realize who is really helping them, and instead push the credit to the public service department of the city government.
, water pipeline companies, construction companies or railway operating companies, etc. Therefore, the influence of the United Church in the Seven Stars area is still slightly inferior to ours."
"Even if they want to change their relief methods and increase their influence, it may not be that easy. Because St. Anvil's Cross Church has been operating in the Qixingpan District for many years, there are fifty-three relief homes opened for orphans.
There are 21 hospitals, 32 schools and 15 charity hospitals. The number is second to none in the entire Renkwell area. It will be difficult for them to catch up in a short time."
No wonder.
The old man said this with a hint of pride, because it was indeed something worth boasting about, but Ringer couldn't help but think: No wonder Qixingpan District is considered the poorest among the thirty-two administrative areas of Lunweiting.
One, because there are so many almshouses and welfare institutions here.
I am afraid that the relief methods between the United Order and St. Anville Cross Church are not only the difference in influence, but also the difference in philosophy. The former tries to make the residents self-reliant, so it provides them with an environment for self-reliance; the latter tries to create an environment for self-reliance.
An ecology of dependence, because only when residents are attached to churches and animism can they gain more faith.
This sounds like there is no need for faith to unite religious groups, but they are clearly also religious organizations.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! It is really strange to say that although the attitude of the Seven Orthodox Churches towards missionary work is also very enthusiastic, they seem to have a "If I don't fight for faith,
Others will take it away" attitude, and once no one competes with them for their faith, they may no longer be enthusiastic; on the contrary, they are not interested in economics, politics, culture, scientific and technological research and development, wilderness development, colonial wars and other affairs.
Very enthusiastic indeed.
Could it be that he was afraid of the power of faith due to the influence of the Steam Holy War and was unwilling to repeat the same mistakes? But there is a true god in the alliance of religious groups. It is impossible to give birth to the next steam engine god Alexander from the power of faith? Unless...
Lin Ge suddenly made a bold guess.
Witches Association, Union of Orders.
Seven witches, seven great gods.
As a believer of Caomu Garden, the association apostle Ronning Lavelle appeared majestically in the team that was judging the Holy See; the seven orthodox churches have a clear division of labor among each other and each has their own responsibilities. Only when they are united can they become more like a complete organization.
The Witches' Society has always secretly guided human history, but its existence is only known to a few people. The United Order clearly follows the teachings of the Seven Gods, but these seven Gods have always only had their names circulated, without specific deeds.
Compete with other churches for faith, but do not need faith themselves; compared with fighting in the religious world, they are more interested in the field that leads to the progress and development of modern civilization.
He silently recited these seemingly contradictory but implicitly related details in his mind, gradually connecting them and overlapping them. Then what came to his mind was a name that for some reason was rarely mentioned:
United Order of Realism.
People in the world often only use the last four words to refer to it, but ignore the more essential meaning of the first four words.