Social Responsibility by Matt Dworkin (mystery books to read .TXT) 📕

Social Responsibility
You walk out of your Sunday afternoon church meeting and on the ground is an envelope. It’s full of money. There are so many Benjamin Franklins staring back in your direction you think you must be on one of those hidden camera shows. You’re not.
This is how it all starts. This is how you get sent to prison - for life.
I go to church every Sunday. I have for my entire life. When I was six, the chickenpox were the Lord’s way of seeing how dedicated I was to him. When I was sixteen, my parents’ fatal car accident was his way of telling me that he was my father and my mother - not them. Today I find an envelope with $6,200 in the parking lot of my church. This is his way of telling me it’s time for me to direct the country to the right.
I believe in signs. I believe in the word of God. I take my Pastor’s sermons to heart. I’m a good Christian. Today’s sermon was about voting. It was about performing our civic duty. It was about social responsibility.
Tomorrow the other candidate comes to town. He’s having a rally at a local mosque. It’s disgusting.
Today my Pastor tells me to be responsible. Today I find $6,200 on the ground after my Pastor tells me to be responsible. Today God tells me to kill the other candidate. This is what I tell the police when they arrest me. They tell me signs are ambiguous. I tell them they’re not paying close enough attention.
The Heckler and Koch PSG-1 sniper rifle isn’t sold in stores. But this is the one I buy. When I go into the Guns n’ Ammo building I know nothing about caliber or action. I don’t even know how to put the safety on. The owner can see this just by looking at me. I ask him where the rifles are and he points to the aisle. I ask him what has a range of 400 meters and he points to a rack. I tell him I’ll take one and he laughs.
“You can’t just walk out with one of those, boy. It takes a few days to get licensing.”
I plead with him “I need it today. It can’t wait. I need it.” I tell him.
He stands behind the counter and stares at me. “You look familiar son. What’s your name?”
“Jim Sanderson.”
“Sanderson! I knew you looked familiar. You sit in the front row at St. Emily’s every Sunday. Why do you need one of these rifles so badly?”
“I need to go hunting.” The bible teaches you not to lie. This isn’t a lie. I never said I was hunting animals.
The owner keeps looking at me suspiciously but then shrugs and says “Listen, I can’t sell you one of those today. It takes a few days to get all the paper work right. You know, the background checks and everything. I know you’re a good man though. I mean damn! Church every Sunday. How bout I sell you something from my private collection? Only thing is, it’ll be expensive.”
I tell him that’s ok. That it’s not a problem. I just came into some money and I’m willing to let some of it go. He tells me the gun plus the ammo is going to cost a little over six thousand dollars. I smile and tell him I know.
This is how I walk out of the Guns n’ Ammo building with the Heckler and Koch PSG-1 sniper rifle. It can shoot up to 600 meters accurately. My church is only 400 meters away from the mosque.
On the day of the rally I sit in my car. I park it right over the spot where I found the envelope. The secret service is all over town, but they don’t bother to secure the church. They assume God is on their side.
I lie on top of my car and use the tripod to steady the rifle. A police escort accompanies the candidate’s limo. Secret service agents surround the car and speak into their wrists. They think they’re in control of the situation.
The candidate steps out of the limo and waves to his waiting public. I take a deep breath. As I breathe in I feel the Holy Spirit enter my body. I don’t even need to look. I know I’ll hit him right between the eyes. And I do.
This is how I do God’s work. This is how I get into heaven.

Publication Date: 01-24-2009

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