Keep Pledging
When I first read the following words in Joseph Heller's great satirical novel Catch 22, I distinctly remember thinking to myself 'that's exactly what organised religion is all about'.
And when I read the lines again the other day, I had this strange feeling of deja vu - because you really can't imagine a bitingly satirical novel like Catch 22 becoming such a success in President Putin's Russia or in a fundamentalist Islamic country.
Because poking fun at the ruling establishment in these countries would almost certainly land you a lengthy spell in prison - or very much worse.
"Without realizing how it had come about, the combat men in the squadron discovered themselves dominated by the administrators appointed to serve them. They were bullied, harassed and shoved about all day long by one after the other.
When they voiced objection, Captain Black replied that people who were loyal would not mind signing all the loyalty oaths they had to. To anyone who questioned the effectiveness of the loyalty oaths, he replied that people who really did owe allegiance to their country would be proud to pledge it as often as it forced them to.
And to anyone who questioned the morality, he replied that 'The Star-Spangled Banner' was the greatest piece of music ever composed. The more loyalty oaths a person signed, the more loyal he was; to Captain Black it was as simple as that, and he had Captain Kolodny sign hundreds with his name each day so that he could prove he was more loyal than anyone else.
'The important thing is to keep them pledging,' he explained to his cohorts. 'It doesn't matter whether they mean it or not. That's why they make little kids pledge allegiance even before they know what "pledge" and allegiance mean.' "
