Chapter 1: False Witness
“Reverend Thorne,” said the voice in his ear. “We’re back in five.
“Four…three…two…”
The light at the rear of the huge, multilevel arena flashed from red to green.
“Welcome back, friends,” Donald Thorne said. The microphone attached to the lapel of his thousand-dollar suit transmitted his words not just to the hundreds of parishioners in their seats, swaying with sweaty, ecstatic furor, but tens of thousands of others, watching from home on the Christ First Broadcasting Channel.
“Now,” he went on, walking back and forth across the stage. “I’ve got something that I want to talk to all of you about on this beautiful Sunday morning.
“We’ve been hearing a lot about ‘rights’ lately. It’s all over the television and in the newspapers and on the internet. Rights for
