“The edict of Washington which outlawed idolatrous schools did the trick. The Atlantic government has always believed in toleration: even to this day it is possible for a man to be a Christian, though unlikely since the truth is so well known.”
“But he has no churches left and no clergy.”
“True, and if that discourages him he’s not likely to remain too long in error. As I’ve told you, though, we have our ways of making people see the truth.”
“The calculable percentage.”
“Exactly.”
I looked at Osiris in the green shade. His diorite face smiled secretly back at me. “Did you have much trouble in the Latin countries?”
“Less than you might think. The ignorant were the big problem because, since they didn’t know English, we weren’t able to use the telecasts. Fortunately, we had some able Residents and after a little showmanship, a few miracles (or what they took to be miracles) they came around, especially when many of their ex-priests told them about Cavesword. Nearly all of the older Residents in the Mediterranean countries were once Catholic priests.”
“Renegades?”
“They saw the truth; not without some indoctrination, I suspect. We’ve had to adapt a good many of our procedural methods to fit local customs. The old Christmas has become Cavesday and what was Easter is now Irisday.”
“Iris Mortimer?”