"Can you hear that sound?
Can you?
It is the Lord!
He speaks through us - all of us! He wishes for us to hear Him! He is speaking through you and you and yes, my sons and daughters - He even speaks through me.
And He tells me that we are the voice of the people. We are His voice!
It is His divine will that we live for Him, we honor His sacrifice, we rise up and say...
There is no president.
There is no king.
There is no monarch or dictator or politician in sheep's clothing that speaks for us - they live by greed!
They live by gluttony! They live in sin, protecting the non-believers and paying ear to the sinners!
They are not for us - we must be for us.
And, what’s more, we must speak for Him and all that He had stood for!
And I don't know about you but my words from God are clear:
And the Lord God said to His people: "Go forth and claim your righteousness - the land, the home, the country that is yours! Reclaim it from the sinners, the wicked, the rebels for they have no place on this Earth! They must be purged to protect the pure, the meek, the innocent!"
Together, we can create a country - perhaps even an entire world - that is for God's people!"
A cesspool of corruption and sin, compounded by politicians who claimed to be 'for the people'. They would belittle their struggles and trample over their own supporter's beliefs by amending the laws for the deviants or by creating tax breaks for the lazy lower class. Debt all across the country sky-rocketed but property taxes continued to rise to astronomical levels, leading to homelessness and poverty that ran rampant in every major city in the United States. Crime became a commonplace, as a last ditch effort to survive in a failing economy. But there was a ray of light that held it all together: religion. The mere idea of God was enough to keep some people on the right track, one of innocence and sanity. It was this tie that kept families together and that the mention of God in presidential speeches brought strength and the hope that one day, things would improve. It was promise; sworn by the politicians that all of their fears would be quelled.
Such a time never came.
Even the most devout followers of Christ could only follow for so long in the face of hardship. As months turned to years, and years became two useless presidential terms followed by another equally useless man, there seemed to be no reason to continue the facade. Sundays became just another day at work to pay the bills. Churches were left empty, some even boarded up following repeated vandalism. All the while, the idea of the nuclear family disintegrated right before America's eyes. New generations were forming, ones who didn't know the Lord, with parents as apathetic and hopeless as they were.
There must be a cure.
One that reached people through social media, lending a hand to those in need by providing donations – or even by sending its group out in droves to build houses for the needy. There was a house of worship, of course, a mega-church so large that it took up acres upon acres. It was truly a pinnacle of faith that's size rivaled even that of the White House. People would come from all over the country to witness it but soon, they wouldn't have to - more churches bearing its name sprouted up over night so no matter where a person went, they could find solace, not sin, in their daily lives. Pre-packaged and readily available.
And it wasn't just the religion the people came for.
The founder acknowledged the suffering of many and the plights of the downtrodden; they were in need of help and the president, nor the cabinet, had done their duty. Instead, they were just biding their time in office so that they could pass along the problems to the next sorry sap that stepped through the door after them.
No, they had no intention of fixing the problem.
But the founder, he had nothing but intentions. Great intentions put into play by a council - a large group of devout believers - that mingled with the people, heard their woes and took their suffering into account. Armed with the feelings of the people, they fought back against the government amendments, stripping away the 'equality' that was a sin against God and the murder described by the ignorant as a 'choice'. They even fought for the rights of the people in terms of wages, demanding to know where their tax revenue was being spent, eventually marching on Washington to get answers. This, and so much more, all in the name of 'The People'. But to get real change, they would need more power - and they knew exactly where to get it.
Running under 'The People' - the church that amassed a following so large that it surpassed any other religion in the United States - put its name forward to run in the presidential election. Per the rules, they ran only under their founders name but the founder assured them all that they would each have a voice in the new world they were set to create. Winning by a landslide, the people now had a choice in their own lives, their own country and how things were finally being run. And the first place they'd start was with a slogan used on the campaign trail, the hope of a 100% pure, moral America.
Campaign promises soon became a reality as the law-abiding citizens were asked to turn over all other religious texts, materials, clothing, anything that might turn them away from their goal of a Christ-driven society. For their obedience, they would live in cities free of crime, poverty and the misery that they lived before. These cities of the blessed were a utopia, filled with people of good moral fiber, strong homogeneous faith and a God-based foundation for which to build their family. And jobs would be prosperous as those undeserving of God's love would be removed, placed into jail until they, too, saw the light. A mass deportation began of all those that refused to convert in the name of the Lord, some by law, others, by force. Those that dared to fight were jailed on disturbing the peace, destruction of public property and in some of the most severe cases, even treason. Anything could put them behind bars. While they awaited their sentences, they would be generously provided with broadcasts from the church and reading material (the Holy Bible, of course, as well as a few others the founder had added), given (little) food and water to drink and worked day and night until their spirit was finally broken.
"But once broken, you can be pieced back together by the Lord's hand and in every fiber of your being, He will be stitched."
Those that offered to repent would be given the opportunity to speak to a panel to determine their sincerity; if they were nothing more than heathens and liars, they would be placed back in their cells to await absolution. Those that truly spoke of the Lord would be paroled, placed into transitional cities going through the 'moral cleanse' that was sweeping across the nation. Eventually, the transitional city in which they lived would be 100% cleansed or they would be moved to a blessed city to join society once again.
It's been twenty years since the church was created and as the founder comes up to the end of his second term as president, a new member of the council is looking to take his place. Per the word of God, "this is to be the natural progression of things. That one of God's chosen people will always retain control". But not everyone is so willing to accept their message.
Enter Warren, a known arsonist and troublemaker since the time he could talk. Warren, like so many others, has been detained by the church and ordered to confess his sins, as well as repent for all the pain he's caused. And while the last thing on Warren's mind is to seek forgiveness, he agrees if only to escape the conditions in which he was kept. Now finding refuge in a transition city, Warren to find himself a disguise as an unsuspecting soldier ready to 'execute the sinners' in a public show of power. But, true to Warren, he's never played by anyone else's game.
After firing on the soldiers, the sinners scatter and Warren disappears just as quickly as he had come. But this time, he has a tag-a-long. Thomas, a man from one of the blessed cities, had unintentionally stumbled across the execution and is intrigued by the man he's just laid eyes on and follows him with hopes that he'll find the answers he seeks. Instead, all he finds are more questions. Together, the two blaze a trail of destruction and death wherever they go, taking down one of the major blessed cities and opening their eyes to the lives of the other half. Furious that the People have seen too much and may begin to question all the founder has built, he orders that all sinners, whether in the transitional cities, the streets or even in the jails, be executed.
"It is not without love that He sends these words, asking that we take up arms against the sinners. In fact, it is with the deepest love. The Lord wishes for us to send his wayward sheep home for only He can truly change their mind."
Now, Warren and Thomas are two men on the run from what can only be described as attacks of biblical proportion. Fire raining from the sky, stars falling to the Earth and civil war cripple the United States, all in the name of moral cleansing.