IN AMERICA,

WE ARE FREE

TO CHOOSE

HOW WE BELIEVE

CALL ME FATHER

Zach looked out his window and saw the old man stagger to the front door.

He banged on the front door and yelled, “Hey. Are you that Henderson fella who’s making a movie?”

“Yes,” answered Zach as he opened the door, wondering what the old drunkard could possible want from him. “What can I do for you?”

“I here you’re making a movie ‘bout religion. If there’s one thing I know something about, it’s religion,” he said proudly. “You can call me Father.”

“Okay, Father,” replied Zach. “How did you know I’m making a movie about religion?”

“I got my sources,” said the man, who at closer glimpse was much younger than his first appearance would indicate. Probably in his early fifties, the man was wearing the only decent shirt he owned. His straggly beard, unkempt hair and strong body odor hinted that he was homeless – which he was – and the hazy glaze of his eyes were indications that he was a man who had given up all hope of finding meaning in life years ago.

“Yep,” he continued. “I know about religion. Now, a rich important man like you can surely pay a poor man like me a few bucks for what I know. I’ll make it worth your while.”

“What do you know,” Zach asked, curious, but not too optimistic that the man could provide any meaningful information. He appeared to be just another drunk staggering through his miserable existence.

“I know what religion can do,” he said. “I know the power of religion. I know what a man of God can make a man of man do. I seen it all. Yep. I seen it. Yep, I even done it. Put a collar and a robe on me, and I got the power. Yep, I got the power. Father gots the power.”

“The power? What power? The power to do what?” Zach asked.

“You name it, buddy. Religion is power. Power to do whatever I damn well pleased,” said the weathered old man. Zach thought he had seen a glimpse of a smile briefly cross the drunk’s haggard face as he spoke. “Power. That’s right. Call me Father, and do as I tell ya. Cuz if you don’t, you’ll be sorrrrrrrrry!”

“I don’t understand,” Zach said, a puzzled look on his face. “What are you trying to tell me, Father?”

Father continued. “I’m telling you religion is power. You want money. Tell them to give it to ya. You want respect. Man, just put on the collar. You want obedience. You got it. You want sex. Oh, man, it’s right there. Pick out the one you want. Say come with me. We got to go pray. Yep, the boys would not argue with the cloth. You don’t argue with the power. You don’t argue with God. Man, those sweet young things would do whatever I told them. Best sex I ever had. And as much as I wanted. Man, they were there for the pickin. Sometimes, ya, sometimes, me and the other Fathers would share if we really got a good one.”

“And if they tried to argue or fight, man, I’d lay into them with the word of God. God wants you to do this, I’d tell them. You are a sinner, an evil child. You must confess your sins, I’d say. Do what I say, or you will burn in hell forever. Forever, child. Forever! You don’t want to burn in hell forever, man, do ya?”

“Are you trying to tell me you were a priest?” Zach asked.

“I ain’t trying. I’m saying it,” said the man. “Yep, I was a priest. But not no more. Nope. Not no more. I had the power, but I ain’t got it no more.”

“What happened,” Zach asked Father.

“Just plain stupid,” replied this remnant of humanity. “I got careless. I let the power get to me. I stopped playing by the rules.”

“What rules?” Zach asked.

“You know – the rules. You gotta keep everything a secret. You can’t be too open about it. Do your thing, but, man, you can’t be too open about it. You can’t let people know it’s a scam. Take their money, threaten them with hell, pretend God talks to you. Yep. Act like you know everything and make people humiliate themselves in front of you and in front of God. But these other things, you gotta keep it a secret.”

“Ya, I got stupid,” Father went on. “I got found out by the wrong people. They tried to move me around, they tried to hide me, but I got stupid. Yep. I knew a lot of other fathers who did what I did, but most played by the rules. They kept it a secret. But me and some of my fellow Fathers got sloppy and careless, so the church got rid of us. Ain’t good for public relations, you know, when the people know their priest is doing the nasty with their children. Nope. Bad PR. So one day they told me, Father, we ain’t got no use for you any more. We got no place to hide you anymore. Too many people know you’ve been doing the boys. Too many people know you’re a drunk. Too many people know you’ve had your fingers in the till. You gotta go, they told me. So I had to leave. Had to leave my sweet life of living off of others, doing no work but scamming night and day,” said Father.

“You know what it is, they told me. We’ve got to appear respectful.” said Father. “We got to appear godly. We got to keep our authority, and our power. So you gotta go. We have to maintain our image. We got to keep our holier than thou face in front of our flock. It’s a scam. I know there ain’t no truth to it, but it’s still got the power. We gotta keep the power, cuz religion is the power.”

“Ya,” said the former priest, “religion is the power. Take any man, put a collar on him, and, wham, he’s got the power. That’s all it takes. Put on the collar, show a man the cross, tell him he’s an evil sinner, and he’ll kneel down before you and beg for forgiveness. Yep. Forgive me Father, he’ll say. With religion, you can get just about any man or woman to do what you say. Yep. Ain’t no truth to it, but it sure was a sweet life. No work, just playing the scam. Lots of play, lots of drinking, lots of sex, lots of scamming. I had my chance, and it was sweet while it lasted. Yep. Religion is the power.”

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