Then, My Pride (good old Pride) reasserted Itself. I was literally bowled over by the strength and depth of the Inspiration It gave Me.
This happened while I was standing in an open air market in Los Angeles in late 1945. Prowling about in the body of a monster in human form (I find it easiest to possess serial murderers, especially of the sadistic variety); I found a copy of a work by British critic Cyril Connolly, called the Unquiet Grave. (I've always been a Fan of critics: so arrogant, so malevolent; they remind Me of Me.) In Part One there was a quote that caught My Eye, "There cannot be a personal God without a pessimistic religion. As soon as there is a personal God he is a disappointing God."
Reading Connolly's astute observation of human nature, I asked Myself the Question: How can I turn this to My advantage? I looked up from the tract I had been reading and I saw a handbill stuck to a lamp post. In that instant, the basic concept for a new approach to My project crystallized like a supersaturated solution.
The handbill that had provided Me the vehicle for My latest plan had been for a "Revival Meeting" featuring "The Old Time Religion." Using My Adversary's followers for My purposes had always been one of My favorite stratagems. From the Catholic Church suppressing the Manicheans, to the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the list of atrocities committed against His followers in His Name are legion.
Returning to My Palace, I called together My Privy Council, and sketched out the basic concept for them. At first, there was doubt amongst them, but as I explained some of the more subtle Aspects of My Plan, their heads began nodding up and down. By the end of My presentation there were a sea of horrific grins and a hellish gleam in the eyes of My Dukes that I had not seen since the Crusades.
For My tools to accomplish My Plan, I decided to concentrate on Avarice, Sloth, and Pride: the most all-embracing and long enduring of the Seven Deadly Sins. For my vehicle, I chose the most powerful nation on Earth: the United States of America. For My target date I chose the early Twenty-First Century.
My plan required instilling fear throughout the planet that the end of the world was approaching. The instilling of fear has always been one of the most important tools of My Trade. Fear has an immediate and measurable effect on you mortals; destroying whatever reason and compassion you have, leaving you with only an easy to manipulate sheep-like instinct. Mankind's development of ever more powerful nuclear weapons, together with the approach of the millennium, aided me tremendously in this regard.
The first major steps for My Plan took place in 1948. The assassination of Mohandas K. Gandhi by a Hindu fundamentalist, the founding of the State of Israel, and the "formal" start of the Cold War in Berlin with the blockade and airlift, were among My opening moves. I also began the winnowing process for the mortal who would be My mortal representative when My bid for dominion over the earth reached fruition. I had a host of potential candidates, all of whom were scions of families long sworn to My Service.
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