Commander Watch...

 Commander's Choice
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 choices made by
 Commanders-in-Chief

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<<<  returned his look and wished him, “God bless you.”

The arriving entourage was headed by a poised and dignified woman probably in her late 50s. The requested commander had arrived. A young female guard accompanying her asked me in proficient English if I had a translator. I told her that I didn’t but would be grateful if she could translate for me, to which she didn’t object.

I asked her to tell her commander that I respected the work she and her staff were doing. They were doing very important work. They were protecting Hades from narcotics, weapons, pornography and other vices that harm the Hades society. But the Bible was different. The Bible teaches the readers to respect authority and the government, to care for the sick and the poor. The Bible fights against narcotics, weapons and pornography, just like her commander. The Bible helps her commander and her staff and is what Hades needs, especially today. So why would she want to stop it? I had just had a long discussion with her staff and there was neither legal nor moral ground for the Bible to be confiscated, so I wished to take my Bibles through.

To my surprise, nobody interrupted me or the young female guard while she translated all of that to her commander and entourage, as well as the other guards who gathered around to listen in.

Of course, there was no way her commander was going to consent, especially not with her staff listening in, but I had a translator and an audience, and the words came.

Her commander began to respond, but didn’t address me. She addressed the translating guard, who simply relayed, “You can only take one Bible.” I asked her, “Could you please ask her why?” When she translated that, her commander began to get upset and to scold the translating guard, who dropped her gaze and turned red, but didn’t answer me.

So I asked her again, “What is she saying?” After hearing more from her commander, the translating guard finally lifted her gaze to me and with panicky eyes, simply said, “Please”, while gesturing with her hand toward the confiscation area. I think she knew that what they were doing can’t be justified by their own law or reason, but she had orders to obey.

I actually felt sorry for her for having borne the brunt of her commander's displeasure in front of her colleagues and was about to say “okay”, when a tall young  >>>