...and what could God ask for? If It were to open Its mouth, the universe would come crashing down around It...
...therefore, It remains in perfect ignorance...
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...and we were glad to punish them, as though the laws they had broken were as real as the ones which kept our feet pressed firm against the earth. We smiled at the sight of their faces which bore in their musculature a subtle tension which we knew was the knowledge that, for them, salvation would not come. Taking up the first, always selecting the most stoic, we would take a length of thin wire, sharpened at both ends, and, after bending it at its midsection, heat both tips carefully in the flame. Then, one with a steady hand would begin carefully stitching it through the skin and into the muscle or internal cavity...
...the act was not really pleasurable in itself, either to perform or observe, but each of us resolved to really enjoy it, as it was the traditional ceremony and was preferable to inventing some other less troublesome ritual. Next, a large vessel filled with a thick, rich broth (made of discarded meat, offal and bone simmered until they were quite softened and mostly dissolved) is brought to the offender’s lips and he is made forcefully to drink if necessary. While quite pleasant in small quantities, after the third or fourth vessel is emptied down the throat...
...secured by the inserted wires to the raft...
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