Chapter 32: Chapter 32

“I don’t think it was on purpose. Maybe he tripped on his robes, but the young priest fell on me with enough force to jam the stone into me, crushing my chest. The pain was incredible. I was sure I was goingto die, and I just let go and blacked out.

“I found out later that when I turned blue, they got scared and took me to the local hospital. Lucky forme, one of my broken ribs had pierced a lung. I don’t know how long they would have tortured me if it hadn’t happened. So in some weird way, what saved me from the church was the Ten Commandments.”

A murmur of surprise ran through the audience.

“I know some of you are thinking nothing like that could ever happen in this country, and perhaps you’re right. But even if the methods change, the goal remains the same. And that goal is to destroy your child’s identity. To make him loathe himself. To convince her she’s an unlovable piece of filth.Then supposedly, the church recreates them with prayer and manufactured identities.