New Gods of North America.

Chapter 429 Distinguishing
After initially dealing with Reverend Tyrell, Wayne planned to bypass Reverend Bazzini and continue to talk to other priests privately.

It happened that the other two teams of exorcists also came back at this time, so Wayne turned a corner and chose to ask if there was any new situation first.

Neither Inissa nor Lina were in the returning queue.
The former is still leading some people to continue searching for the killer and Mr. Weissman, but he asked some people to come back to rest and take over the shift when the time comes.

The latter had basically completed the task of searching the priests' residences, but used the excuse of being "tired" and wanting to get back to the detective agency to rest as soon as possible, and had no intention of entering the church at all.

Wayne reacted quickly. He immediately asked the agent to stop Willy who was driving the carriage and pulled Lina back to the church door.

After handing over the items that had been filed, Lina opened the bag and looked at it. "Where did you find these Satanist items?"

Wayne said simply, "It was given by Reverend Tyrell."

Strictly speaking, "Satanism" is not "one" sect, but a general term for "a bunch" of sects.

Since the Middle Ages in the Old World, the Holy See has set a precedent for organizations that believe in the Holy Spirit and began to systematically distort the doctrines and images of gods in other faiths.
For example, the god who was originally in charge of "harvest" in the worship of believers was changed to cause "disasters", and the god who was originally in charge of "fertility" was said to be tempting "immorality".

The "names" and images of these gods would also be modified, and they would usually be described as fallen devils or demons.

Originally, under the strong pressure from the Holy See of the Old World and branches such as the Windsor Church, this matter had been going relatively smoothly.
However, unexpectedly, during the "Age of Discovery", the situation ushered in a huge reversal, or perhaps a "backlash".

When people were no longer confined to a certain place for a long time, some people who had been educated in the faith of the Holy Spirit for a long time did not question the "world" described in the Holy Scriptures, but still chose to actively embrace and believe in various evil gods, demons and monsters.

In addition, some distorted beliefs have strong vitality, and believers of those gods continue to grow.

Once the two merged, they turned into various new "heresies".

Some of the larger heretical beliefs with a long history have their own names, such as "Wisdom Sect" or "Life School".

Other relatively small-scale, unsystematic heretical beliefs are collectively referred to as "Satanism", which is synonymous with Satan, the most powerful devil in the propaganda of the Holy Spirit. But in fact, the specific objects of their beliefs may be strange and inconsistent.

In fact, it means "devil's faith".

This situation is particularly prominent in the New World. When the colonies were being developed, if a Satanist infiltrated some places, a bunch of cultists might appear after a few years.

Some founders of demonic beliefs are themselves "wandering soldiers" with only limited theoretical knowledge. So they copy and modify some of the knowledge and then think about it a little on their own, and their doctrines often become a mess and form their own school.

It is easier to deal with. As long as the founder or the core team is eliminated, this evil belief will perish on its own.

If it is a little more troublesome, the wildfire may not be completely extinguished.

When Wayne was taking a theology theory class, he heard that there was a Satanic sect in the New World that believed in succubus and advocated indulgence and pleasure.

What to say?

It seems that its market prospects are very broad just by listening to it...

Lina rummaged around in the bag a few times, and Peter popped his head out of the bag without her noticing.

A jeweled brooch and a metal sachet ball that looked like an extraordinary item were quickly picked out.

Wayne asked a serious question nearby, "Are there any problems with the pastors' residences?"

Lina was busy with the appraisal at the moment, looking at the quality of the gemstones against the light. She didn't even raise her head when she heard this:

"No. We were not allowed to look through these guys' personal collections, documents, and letters. Although we did find some hidden safes, as long as we couldn't find any problems on the surface after opening them, the church wouldn't allow us to continue to check them carefully.

"If there really is a problem, there must be a more private residence, or it must be hidden deeper. All I can say is that no 'crappy little thief' has been found among them so far."

After looking at the gems, Lina snatched the metal sachet from Peter and continued to look at it. "I think this should be very useful. If any agent is distracted in class in the future, give him this."

I go,

Is this the way this thing is used?

But the route of "investigating the residence" is really not feasible... If it is just a search in the void, Wayne can actually collude with Reverend Tyrell to "trick" people together. Considering the degree of the old man's treacherous behind the scenes, he should be willing to help.

But this will turn things into a pure "struggle" of taking sides. At least Wayne is currently more willing to "follow the rules." He will not cover up problems if there are real ones, and will not put labels on people who have no problems.

So Wayne handed over another bigger bag.

Lina opened it and looked, "What is this? Can't you go back to the detective agency to change your clothes?"

Wayne shook his head. "These are not my clothes. They belong to Mr. Weissman who escaped. As far as I remember, it has been less than a month since the last time the detective agency was attacked and you summoned the sage. If you still can't find that guy by then, you may need to pray to the sage to confirm his location."

Lina said "Oh", then tightened the pocket of dirty clothes and threw it aside with disgust:
"There is no problem with praying. But referring to the previous experience, the murderer of the last case where the holy emblem was contaminated was also related to the Church of Light, and the sage did not respond at that time. You may need to be prepared for a 'bad result'."

"I see." Wayne responded.

Then Lina picked up the gem brooch again, "Can I take this gem off? It looks pretty good, but the devil pattern next to it is too ugly. I don't know who imagined it."

Well……

The "believers of the new devil" seem to be despised by the "followers of the old evil god"...

Wayne quickly gave up complaining and spread his hands. "If Inesa thinks it's okay after reading it, I have no objection."

Anyway, this thing should not be worn outside normally. Since it is not an extraordinary item and does not seem to be related to the real evil gods, "recycling" is not a bad thing.

I went back to the church and continued to talk to the pastors one by one. With the so-called "standing in line" assumption, I realized that the ecology of the local church seemed a little unhealthy.
Of course, from another perspective, it can also be said to be "very healthy". The local pastors are all so-called "Southerners" who generally come from good family backgrounds. Privately, they often have the "anti-outsider" temperament that is now quite common in America.

Priests are people who are good at dealing with people from all walks of life. This kind of thing is naturally not visible at ordinary times, but as long as you are attentive, you can actually find out from the side.

For example, when they change the subject and start chatting about daily life, listen carefully to the things they say about the past.
If your family had servants or slaves during your childhood, or if your family owned a mill or attended dances, then you could not have come from a working-class family.

As for the "North-South" stance, it is easier to distinguish.

America's so-called "North" today was developed in a broad sense from some "Old World civilian colonies" including the April Grass landing site. Although there was a gap between the rich and the poor, tracing back to the source, in the beginning, they were actually some "ordinary" or lower families who could not survive in the Old World.
Because the initial starting point is low enough, everyone has no way out and room for maneuver. In order to survive, they can only "stick together for warmth". Once they are separated from the "collective" and "consensus", they are almost impossible to survive.

When some people gradually become successful in such an environment, the temperament they inherit will generally be closer to the so-called "union leaders", pursuing a feeling of "everyone is the same" and "we are one of us".

Just like the mayor sometimes takes care of his own lawn himself and then competes with his neighbors to see who takes care of it better, even the poorest townspeople in the town can have a drink, chat or have a fight with him face to face in the pub.

To use an analogy, it’s like the trees in the forest are of different heights, but we would think that “they all grow on the same land”, it’s just that some trees can breathe “air at different heights”.

The "South" is currently based on the aristocratic colonial rule left over from the Old World, mainly the Kingdom of Windsor. From the beginning, there have been divisions such as "nobles", "knights", "commoners" and "slaves".

At this moment, the social order and customs in the south are more like "living in a building". People can of course "go up" or "go down", but the different floors are still relatively "clearly separated".

It is believed that people on different "floors" should do different things, the master is the master, and the servant is the servant. This reflects a division of "we are different", and at the same time, not everyone is qualified to "move up".

If anyone wants to become a "master", then join us, have less contact with those guys in the future, and learn to look at problems from "our" perspective.

Wayne does not want to judge which of the two underlying logics is higher or lower, or which is better or worse. When the distinction between them is applied to specific individuals, it is actually not completely absolute in terms of the correlation between "region" and "origin".

But some things are like "sweet soy milk" and "salty soy milk", which look similar, but you can find obvious differences after just one bite.

Then he pondered the taste and suddenly felt that Reverend Tyrell's opinion was not unreasonable.

But Wayne still prefers simpler ideas, whether you are from the South or the North,

As long as you do bad things, you are a "bad guy". If you hit me, you are an "enemy".

vice versa.

(End of this chapter)