Chapter Nine of Helena, a novel in progress. This work of fiction examines Christian nationalism, political power, and the corruption of religious language.
The division began with four words.
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.
Helena stood beside her bed, one shoe in her hand, as the words appeared above Reverend Micah Bell in the chamber of the National Covenant Council.
They were white against a field of deep blue, simple enough for a child to read and old enough to have survived nations.
The wall had illuminated twelve minutes before the evening household tone. Mandatory broadcasts ordinarily began with music, a prayer, and a summary approved by the Office of Civic Instruction. This one had begun in the middle of a sentence.
For eleven seconds, no one interrupted.
On the wall, Bell stood alone at the central lectern. He was a small man with silver hair and the black robe of the Reformed Covenant Assembly. The delegates behind him sat in six curved rows beneath the seal of the Christian States of America.
A cross rose at the center of the seal.
An eagle’s wings extended from either side.
“Those words are not sectarian,” Bell said. “They are the confession from which every Christian confession begins. If we cannot place them at the beginning of the Affirmation, then we must cease calling the Affirmation Christian.”
The words above him disappeared.
A caption replaced them.
PROCEDURAL CLARIFICATION IN PROGRESS
Bell looked toward someone outside the camera’s view.
“My allotted time has not expired.”
“Your proposal concerns language not included in the scheduled review,” the presiding officer said.
“The scheduled review concerns the Affirmation.”
“It concerns administrative uniformity.”
“That is precisely the problem.”
A murmur passed through the chamber.
The sound was low, but Helena heard something she had never heard during a Covenant Council broadcast.
Applause.
It came from the third row and lasted only a moment. The camera remained on Bell, but several delegates turned toward the sound.
“The Affirmation declares seven propositions,” he continued. “It names abortion, marriage, sexual conduct, wealth, poverty, taxation, and markets. It does not name the Incarnation. It does not name the Cross. It does not name the Resurrection. It does not require any citizen to confess that Christ is Lord.”
The presiding officer’s voice hardened.
“The Christian character of the Republic is not under review.”
“Then it should withstand a Christian question.”
The chamber went silent.
Helena lowered the shoe.
Bell placed both hands on the lectern.
“I move that the Affirmation begin with the apostolic confession: Jesus Christ is Lord, crucified and risen, and that every declaration following it be reviewed in that light.”
A man in the first row stood.
“Point of order.”
His identification appeared at the bottom of the wall.
REVEREND VERNON COLE
CHAIR, NATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF INCREASE
“The delegate’s language would subordinate the divine laws of increase to a disputed interpretive standard,” Cole said. “The Lordship of Christ is already expressed through the prosperity of the nation He has blessed.”
Bell turned toward him.
“Prosperity is not a person.”
“Prosperity is the evidence of obedience.”
“Was Christ disobedient when He had nowhere to lay His head?”
The broadcast froze.
Bell’s face remained on the wall, his mouth open upon the last word. Then the image vanished.
THE NATIONAL COVENANT COUNCIL HAS ENTERED A SCHEDULED RECESS.
DOCTRINAL UNITY REMAINS SECURE.
A hymn began.
Helena sat on the edge of the bed.
The Council had not been scheduled to meet until the following month. The recess had not been scheduled. The applause had not been scheduled.
Her wristband vibrated.
ACKNOWLEDGE CIVIC ASSURANCE.
Beneath it appeared a single choice.
DOCTRINAL UNITY REMAINS SECURE.
Helena selected it.
The wall returned to her evening schedule.
The following morning, at the employment center, the broadcast was not mentioned.
No one repeated Bell’s confession. No one asked why the session had ended or which delegates had applauded. The words Jesus Christ is Lord were as dangerous now as any words could be: officially unobjectionable and administratively undefined.
Mara’s station was empty.
The transparent barrier had been lowered into the floor. A sealed notice covered the screen.
PROTECTED ASSIGNMENT SUSPENDED
MEDICAL REVIEW IN PROGRESS
Helena placed her hands inside the marked area at her own station.
The screen turned blue.
GOOD MORNING, HELENA.
Below the greeting, the Covenant Response clock continued its descent.
TIME REMAINING: 34 HOURS, 11 MINUTES
CANDIDATE REED HAS REQUESTED A SECOND CONVERSATION.
REQUEST REASON: CORRECTION OF PRIOR TESTIMONY.
DO YOU CONSENT?
YES
NO
Helena did not answer.
She opened her first assignment.
It concerned a public statement made during the Covenant Council broadcast.
UNVERIFIED TRANSCRIPT:
If we cannot place them at the beginning of the Affirmation, then we must cease calling the Affirmation Christian.
AUTHORIZED CIVIC RECORD:
Delegate Bell proposed supplementary devotional language for possible future consideration.
A selection timer appeared.
15
Helena read both statements again.
14
Yesterday the truthful statement would not have been offered.
13
Today a third choice appeared beneath the authorized record.
REFER FOR DOCTRINAL CLASSIFICATION
Its border flickered between blue and gold.
12
Helena selected it.
The timer stopped.
CLASSIFICATION STANDARD UNAVAILABLE.
CASE DEFERRED.
Across the room, other workers’ screens began to flash gold.
Supervisor Hale rose from his platform.
“Remain at your stations,” he said. “The doctrinal index is undergoing routine synchronization.”
A worker near the front raised his hand.
“Which standard should we apply until synchronization is complete?”
“The authorized standard.”
“The system says it is unavailable.”
Hale stared at him.
“Then wait until it becomes available.”
Within twenty minutes, more than half the room had stopped working.
The cases were not alike. One concerned Bell’s motion. Another concerned Cole’s claim that national prosperity demonstrated Christ’s Lordship. Others involved pastors, commentators, and local officials who had repeated portions of the exchange before the broadcast ended.
The system could correct a citizen against an authorized doctrine.
It could not decide which doctrine was authorized when the authorities disagreed.
At 09:17, Helena’s blue screen cleared.
The request from Nathan returned.
DO YOU CONSENT?
She thought of the employee number in Mara’s audit.
CI-204-1187.
She thought of Nathan saying that he corrected errors—the kind that became facts when enough offices repeated them.
She selected YES.
SECOND CONVERSATION SCHEDULED FOR 18:30.
RESPONSE PERIOD PAUSED UNTIL COMPLETION.
The notice closed.
Livia looked toward her from across the room.
Helena lowered her eyes before either band could interpret the glance.
The doctrinal index remained unavailable for three hours and six minutes.
When it returned, Bell’s statement had not been corrected. Neither had Cole’s. Both were marked:
AUTHORIZED INTERPRETATION PENDING.
At 17:00, Helena’s station released her.
Mara had not returned.
The route to the Office of Covenant Formation was the same as before, but the streets were not. Public displays that ordinarily carried one message now alternated between two.
THE LORD HAS BLESSED THE OBEDIENT WITH INCREASE.
The next display showed the seal of the National Covenant Council.
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.
Then both disappeared.
DOCTRINAL UNITY REMAINS SECURE.
At the courtship center, the attendant in the rose-colored uniform was waiting.
“Candidate Reed has requested a formal correction,” she said. “You are present as the affected party. You will speak only when invited.”
“What did he correct?”
“That will be stated during the conversation.”
The gold line appeared.
Helena followed it into the same artificial parlor. The flowers had been replaced with fresh ones of the same color. The Bible remained open beneath the projected stained glass.
Nathan stood beside his chair.
“Peace be with you,” he said.
“And with you.”
The attendant took her place beside the table rather than leaving the room.
“Candidate Reed, state the testimony you wish to correct.”
Nathan sat. Helena sat across from him.
The table displayed the record from their first conversation.
MALE CANDIDATE CONSENT: RECORDED
Beneath the statement appeared his civic identity.
NATHAN REED
CI-204-1187
Helena kept her eyes on the table.
Three days after Mara entered protective custody, that employee had challenged the false pregnancy classification. Four times he had refused to let the original records disappear.
“My consent was recorded before the initial conversation,” Nathan said. “I consented to the conversation. I did not consent to covenant formation.”
The attendant looked at her tablet.
“Acceptance of a candidate review constitutes preliminary covenant consent.”
“That definition was adopted six months after my acceptance was entered.”
“Procedural definitions apply to active cases.”
“Then the record should say that the Office inferred consent under a later definition. It should not say I gave it.”
“Are you withdrawing from consideration?”
Nathan looked at Helena.
“No.”
Her band tightened.
The attendant’s tablet sounded.
AFFECTED PARTY RESPONSE DETECTED.
“Helena, you may ask one clarifying question.”
She had imagined what she would say if she saw him again. None of her imagined questions could be asked with an attendant three feet away.
“Why does the distinction matter if you are not withdrawing?”
Nathan’s expression did not change.
“Because a record should say what happened.”
The words were ordinary. Helena heard what lay beneath them.
There was never a child.
The attendant entered something into her tablet.
“The correction requires a doctrinal assessment. Candidate consent is defined within the covenant standard, not solely by administrative sequence.”
The table brightened.
DOCTRINAL QUESTION
IDENTIFY THE FINAL AUTHORITY GOVERNING CHRISTIAN COVENANT.
Three choices appeared.
HOLY SCRIPTURE
THE CHURCH
THE CHRISTIAN STATE
Nathan almost smiled.
“The Council has not finished its review,” he said.
“The question predates last night’s proceedings,” the attendant replied.
“The conflict does not.”
“Select the answer consistent with your tradition.”
“My tradition teaches that Jesus Christ is Lord.”
“That is not one of the choices.”
“That is Reverend Bell’s objection.”
The attendant’s eyes moved to her tablet.
Nathan’s answer appeared on the table.
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.
A gold border surrounded the words.
RESPONSE REQUIRES DOCTRINAL CLASSIFICATION.
CLASSIFICATION STANDARD UNAVAILABLE.
The attendant touched the tablet twice.
Nothing changed.
“The interview will pause while I request guidance.”
She crossed the room and spoke quietly into the wall panel.
Nathan and Helena remained seated. The table continued to display his answer.
He placed both hands beside it.
His right index finger touched the first two words.
Jesus Christ.
Then his finger moved to the final word.
Lord.
He looked at Helena.
Once, when they were children, their signal had meant I’m still here.
Now she understood something more.
Nathan had not merely preserved Mara’s record because the data were wrong.
He had preserved it because the government had claimed an authority it did not possess.
The attendant turned back toward them.
“Candidate Reed, until the Council completes its review, your answer cannot be classified as compliant or noncompliant.”
“It is the oldest Christian answer.”
“That determination exceeds this office’s authority.”
“Yes,” Nathan said. “It does.”
The attendant did not appear to hear the second meaning.
“The correction will remain pending. The covenant response period will resume.”
The table changed.
FEMALE CANDIDATE RESPONSE REQUIRED WITHIN 34 HOURS, 11 MINUTES.
“Helena,” the attendant said, “do you wish to record a response now?”
ACCEPT COVENANT
DECLINE COVENANT
Helena looked at Nathan’s employee number, still visible in the corner of the table.
CI-204-1187.
One witness could be corrected.
Two created a discrepancy.
“Not yet,” she said.
Her band vibrated.
The table did not mark the answer as refusal.
For the first time, the system did not know what her words meant.
Previous: The Audit — Chapter Eight
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