The Scientologist Diplomat

Boarding the hyper bullet train from Los Angeles to the G.M.R.Z. was unrestricted. His diplomatic immunity granted him unfettered travel to various parts of the intercontinental states since he represented the People’s Democracy of the West Coast.

The train would take 2 hours and 27 minutes to reach Salt Lake City. Albeit fast, the diplomat was limited to only government permitted Scientology Network programing for entertainment and he had had his fill of it. There was no way to do any scientology work on the train since he had to be in person with an auditor to do so. He would have to be at a Church of Scientology building to do the auditing or as his mother used to say “soul cleansing therapy.” Luckily, Salt Lake City had a Church he could do some auditing in. Zacharias Bender set an alarm into his sleep aid app - meditation setting - and woke when the train arrived.

He waited in his seat for G.M.R.Z. security – the Helaman Force – to escort him as per their directive in the communications proceeding this meeting. As a diplomat, Zacharias did his best to adhere to local rules and order.

Two men from the Helaman Force came onboard. They wore printed blue camo uniforms similar to the old United States Navy uniforms. This uniforms however had larger patches and a shade of “Book of Mormon” blue. They said nothing. Following them, Mosiah E. Cummings, the Captain and Director of the Helman Force stood in-between the two me folded his arms, and faced the diplomat.

Captain Mosiah E. Cummings in his traditional blue cowboy duster said, “Welcome to the Greater Mormon Republic of Zion and its capital Salt Lake City. We thank you for coming to this meeting with the Prophet and will escort you to the Office Building.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

They exited the train and walked through the giant lobby with murals of pioneers from the days the Mormons moved out west and even museum areas with the old Utah flag from before the Second Civil War had broken the country apart.

“The train station used to be the capital building for the state, correct?” asked Zach Bender.

Captain Cummings responded, “Yes, it was. After combining the government with the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and expanding to the old Deseret borders, we didn’t want that relic of the past.”

“You are very knowledgeable, Captain. Weren’t you on the front lines during the Second Civil War?”

Captain Cummings turned to Zacharias Bender with a restrained face; his two guards behind him.

“As a political and military figure, it’s difficult for me to express my true feelings. Keep in mind that we see that ‘Civil War’ as our War of Independence. As a representative from the Church of Scientology, it is always wise to respect local beliefs. The West Coast may say you represent them but we understand who is really in charge.”

Finally exiting the building, they were met by an armored Humvee painted in blue camo. The solider on the left opened a door for the Scientologist Diplomat and followed him inside. Captain Cummings walked around to the passenger seat while the last soldier drove. There were no more words spoken as they drove to the west side of the LDS Church Office building.

The underground parking security guards let them through and they parked. Upstairs, Giant paintings of Christ ministering to people in the Middle East and ancient America greeted them as they entered the Office Building for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Passing by a giant statue of Joseph Smith kneeling before two floating statues suspended from cables came three men dressed in dark suits, white shirts, and blue ties. In the center was the Prophet of the LDS Church.

“Mr. Bender!” said the prophet as he extended his elbow. Zach used his right elbow as well to shake and greet the prophet. This custom had been present prior and during the Second Civil War.

“Your eminence, I am so pleased to meet you,” said Zacharias Bender.

“Eminence? I’m not catholic. You can call me President if you would like,” grinned the Prophet of the LDS Church, “By the way, this is Mr. Runson and Mr. Dillon who act as my personal security.” He gestured to each man respectively and turned his full attention towards the diplomat.

“My apologies, sir. My sources told me to call you Eminence.”

“No apology necessary, Mr. Bender. Thank you for telling me. Captain, you’re dismissed.”

The Captain of the Helaman Forces nodded his head, smiled; then walked away with his two soldiers.

“Come with us, Mr. Bender, to my office. We can speak privately and enjoy some refreshments as we go over our agenda. My personal security will be outside the doors.”

“I must have been scanned either at the station or here in the office building. I forget about G.M.R.Z. technology.”

“Or both!” laughed the Prophet.

With a forced smile the diplomat said, “It is pretty remarkable that you can show a level of peace even under heightened security.”

They left the lobby to ride the Prophet’s personal elevator to his office; Mr.’s Runson and Dillion maintained a distance between the Prophet and Mr. Bender.

The elevators doors opened at the destination floor; Zacharias was surprised at the amount of security.

“I apologize for the increased security. We have had problems with the Church of Scientology as we will discuss in our meeting.”

Multiple Helman Force soldiers were in the hallway staked to the floor like sentinels. Mr. Runson opened the office door to which the Prophet with a slight bow motioned for Mr. Bender to enter first. The Scientologist obliged as the Prophet closed the door behind them.

“I have soda and milk. We also have fresh fruits and nuts. Is there anything you would care to have while we talk?” invited the Prophet.

“A water and apple from those Food Silos would do nicely,” smirked the Diplomat.

“Take a seat, Mr. Bender, and I’ll grab an apple and bottled water for you,” said the Prophet as he pointed to a chair.

The furniture was of a highly polished wood unfamiliar to the diplomat in front of a wall of giant bookshelves filled floor to ceiling with many different titles and scriptures. Most seemed to be religious yet some books were self-help, business, and historical.

“Thank you for having me. In the elevator, it sounded like we already moved to the subject of religion. The Greater Mormon Republic of Zion claims to adhere to religious freedom yet you’ve outlawed the Jehovah’s Witnesses and would likewise treat Scientology. I have to be honest. It seems hypocritical,” Zacharias boldly said.

“We do have religious freedom. We outlawed the Jehovah’s Witnesses because we consider them to be terrorist and cult organization which seeks to overthrow our government. They are also outlawed by your government.

“We feel the same about your religion, Mr. Bender. We find it disturbing that the People’s Democracy of the West Coast works so closely with your religion. You don’t run it directly, yet the oligarchy in Los Angeles includes many members of the Scientology Cult.” The Prophet settled back in his chair and waited.

“What basis for outlawing our religion do you have? We have not attacked or threatened you directly!”

The Prophet leaned forward and firmly stated, “That’s exactly it. ‘Directly.’ The West Coast would love to attack us to obtain our food silos. We have evidence the Church of Scientology has covertly operated in our lands for the past year. These agents have even meddled in our territory in Missouri.”

Zacharias Bender needed to show his literal feelings as L. Ron Hubbard’s teachings had instilled. He stood up to angrily pace the office.

“The West Coast still has aspirations to unite the former states. It seems you Mormons want to keep your theocratic rule and prevent state reunification!” shouted the Scientologist Diplomat.

The Prophet shifted in his chair. The neutral lines of age on his face did not react to the change in the Diplomat’s tone.

“We have been resolute in uniting the former states; this is why we work with Texas and East Coast Governments,” responded the Prophet, “We would enjoy peaceful coexistence with your religion and the People’s Democracy of the West Coast as well. However, these recent events tell us you do not wish to cooperate. We have arrested multiple spies that tie back to the followers of L. Ron Hubbard, including two who were attempting to sabotage the food silos in Logan, Utah. That technology is proprietary and we only will share it with like-minded governments. That could have come in time with your government but sabotage is an act of war in the eyes of the G.M.R.Z. Weren’t Hubbard’s wife and other Scientologists arrested back in the 1970s for infiltrating the United States government?”

Continuing to pace, Zacharias Bender scanned the book shelves for an example from LDS history. And there he saw it.

“That was an egregious exaggeration. Didn’t your people murder innocent women and children at the order of Brigham Young?”

“Mountain Meadows? Yes, members of the Church did do that. However, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave it no sanction. Brigham Young explicitly told them not to but they disobeyed. We regret it ever happened and have publicly apologized. Your analogy is not valid.”

The Diplomat sneered. His left hand fidgeted; tracing the shiny silver trim on the cuffs and folds of his trademark Scientologist uniform. He tapped the pin of the coiled S and two triangles, a prevalent Scientology religious symbol.

The Prophet continued, “The Church of Scientology causes death and suffering. The ‘Rehabilitation Project Force’ labor camps were exposed before the Second Civil War and our intel indicates the program is still in operation. The Church of Scientology is more like the KGB, the Gestapo or the MSS as opposed to a legitimate religion.”

“And the G.M.R.Z. is the New Jerusalem, the Israel of America,” quipped the Diplomat.

The Prophet unfolded and folded his legs with no change in the tempo of his breathing.

“See it’s so unclear on who you exactly represent. The members Church of Scientology or the People’s Democracy of the West Coast Government? You had a religion of 40,000 members and it increased to a reported number of 23 million percentage of the People’s in the West Coast.” The Prophet had yet to change the tone of his voice and his movements were ever stoic and minute to the radical opposite of Zacharias Bender.

“That is organic growth through outreach. We don’t just grow through birthrates!”

“Birth is the best organic growth,” said the Prophet rising from his chair, “While the Church of Scientology provided money, shelter, free ‘education’ and other good acts after the war to many states including Utah, those deeds still served to increase your numbers and influence. How many people are in concentration and reeducation camps in the People’s Democracy? Scientology’s elite, the ‘Sea Org’, runs those camps.

"In contrast, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints works in conjunction with the Secular Representation to govern the Greater Mormon Republic of Zion. All secular representatives are voted in and various parties are represented. Your government does not have direct representation of its peoples. You are like the enemies overseas which the East Coast governments and the Republic of Texas are desperately trying to stop.”

The Prophet’s voice had risen slightly but in no way close to the Scientology tone scale that Bender had fallen upon to help in diplomatic debates.

“Mr. Bender, we could use scripture from both of our religions and our founders against each other. In the end, we have evidence of tampering here in the G.M.R.Z., not to mention the harassment of Church of Jesus Christ members and the defacement of temples in the People’s Democracy of the West Coast. As the world prepares for war, it is crucial that we secure our borders and see to it that all the people of Zion are taken care of. The Quorum of the Twelve and the Secular Representation are in agreement on this: all citizens of the G.M.R.Z. will be asked to return to Zion within the next two weeks at which point we will end all diplomatic relations with the West Coast.”

The Scientologist Diplomat who had erratically paced the office of the Prophet stopped and approached the President of the Latter-day Saint Church. With his shoulders tight, neck shortened, and index finger pointed right at the bridge of the Prophet’s nose he let out, “That will DEFINITELY start a war between our peoples! I suppose my time here has been wasted then. What conclusion are we to come to if you aren’t going to even negotiate a treaty?”

This caught the Prophet by total surprise. He wiped his hand on the left side of his suit jacket and sat back down.

“What kind of treaty?”

“A Peace Treaty, of course,” said the Scientologist Diplomat as he sat back down in his chair, opposite the President of the LDS Church. The silver lining in his suit managed to catch the light from the window, shimmering with his announcement. The Prophet did not fall for it.

“Who is the treaty from?”

“Why, the Church of Scientology, of course. You can maintain your temples in the West Coast and we will allow individual worship within people’s homes; not in meeting buildings. They can have unrestricted access to Church of Jesus Christ websites but as citizens of the People’s Democracy some online areas will be limited due to their perverse and dangerous nature.”

The Diplomat paused. The Prophet remained unmoved so Bender continued.

“The treaty also stipulates that you release all imprisoned Church of Scientology members. We will also commit no more acts of stability or peace keeping reconnaissance if you grant us access to your Food Silo Technology.”

The Prophet remained unmoved.

“Is something the matter, President?”

“What if we do not agree to these terms? What consequences will befall the G.M.R.Z.?”

“Nothing would really change as it is.”

“So, it would be war then?” The Prophet concluded from unspoken threats.

“Only if the G.M.R.Z. wanted it,” said the Diplomat.

“Is your treaty up for negotiation?”

The Diplomat snorted, “What’s there to negotiate? What?! You don’t want to share the food silo technology with us?”

“No. We do not,” firmly said the President of the Church of Jesus Christ.

“Where is your Christian Charity?”

“We have had aid from us in the past. The People’s Democracy will not receive any more aid from the G.M.R.Z. until you have reinstituted basic American rights such as freedom of religion for all, assembly, and speech. We still have those things here. People can leave if they so please. The Church of Scientology will fall if it does not change. We are close allies with Florida and will continue to be. We will always respect Clearwater as long as you respect Salt Lake City.”

Zach Bender stood up again and took a step back and gasped, “You mean to tell me that you would attack Clearwater, Florida just because it is our headquarters!”

“Only as retribution if you attacked Salt Lake City. The same cannot be said for the G.M.R.Z. Salt Lake is essentially a city state within the G.M.R.Z. and I have complete authority here. The Secular Representation would have to come to a decision on what policy is with the People’s Democracy. The peace treaty would need to be drafted so I could present it to them. I will say they won’t let you have access to Food Silo Technology. If that is all the treaty is for, that would be disappointing.”

“We have people who are starving!”

“And so do we and the East Coast and Texas! You think five years fixes two years of massive bloodshed and destruction? It doesn’t.”

“You have to share that technology! You claim to uphold the Constitution by a thread but you can’t even spare us a human right!”

“Providing Food Silo Technology is not a human right. The hypercritical nature of the Church of Scientology is astounding. You mentioned prisoners but you have been on and on about the food silos. Do you even know who we have imprisoned? Do you even care about your members?”

Mr. Bender grabbed his suitcase and slammed it on the table in-between the two chairs. He sat down again and unsnapped the top button of the flap that closed his brief case. He pulled out a manilla confidential mailing envelope and unwrapped the red string that closed it. Inside were a stack of papers with the official S and Double triangles wrapped through them. The flag of the West Coast was not present.

“The treaty,” announced the Diplomat.

“So, you are open to other negotiations?”

“All out war doesn’t suit us at the moment.”

The Prophet stirred, “When would it?”

Suddenly, the office slammed open with Captain Mosiah rushing in.

“President,” he exclaimed breathlessly, “we caught an informant and he told us Mr. Bender is not only a diplomat for the West Coast and the Church of Scientology: he is also an agent for the enemies overseas. They are secret allies.”

The Prophet stood up and pointed to the door. The Diplomat stood up and grabbed the treaty and started to exit.

“Go back to your leaders. There will be no treaty and the East Coast and Texas will be informed. From now, Clearwater will not be safe!”

Zacharias Bender was escorted to the hyper bullet train station and was sent back home to his masters.