Stranger in a Strange Land

portion of the backlog should be reinvested? Mike hadn't bothere~l to answer his letters. I told him that was his headache . . . but that if I were steward, I would follow my principal's last instructions."
                "No withdrawals? Jubal, he's spending a lot."
                "Maybe the church racket pays well."
                "That's the odd part about it. The Church of All Worlds is not really church."
                "Then what is it?"
                "Uh, primarily it's a language school."
                "Repeat?"
                "To teach the Martian language."
                "Well, no harm in that. But I wish, then, that he wøuldn't call it a church."
                "Well, I guess it is a church, within the legal definition."
                "Look, Ben, a roller skating rink is a church-as long as some sect claims that roller skating is essential to their faith and a part of their worship. You wouldn't even have to go that far-Simply claim that roller skating served a desirable though not essential function parallel to that which religious music serves in most churches. If you can sing to the glory of God, you can skate to the same end. Believe me, this has all been threshed out. There are temples in Malaya which are nothing to an outsider but boarding houses for snakes . . but the same High Court rules them to be 'churches' as protects our own sects."
                "Well, Mike raises snakes, too, as well as teaching Martian. But, Jubal, isn't anything ruled out?"
                "Mmm ... that's a moot point. There are minor restrictiOnS, adjudicated. A church usually can't charge a fee for fortune telling or calling up spirits of the dead_but it can accept offerings . . . and then let custom make the 'offerings' become fees in fact. Human sacrifice is illegal everywhere-but I'm by no means sure that it is not still done in several spots around the globe-and probably right here in this former land of the free and home of the brave. The way to do anything under the guise of religion that would otherwise be suppressed is to do it in the inner sanctum and keep the gentiles out. Why, Ben? Is Mike doing something that might get him jailed or hanged?"
                "Uh, I don't know. Probably not."
                "Well, if he's careful- The Fosterites have demonstrated how to get by with almost anything. Certainly much more than Joseph Smith was lynched for."
                "Matter of fact, Mike has lifted quite a lot from the Fosterites. That's part of what worries me."
                "But what does worry you? Specifically."
                "Uh, Jubal, this has got to be a 'water brother' matter."
                "Okay, I had assumed that. I'm prepared to face redhot pincers and the rack, if necessary. Shall I start carrying poison in a hollow tooth? Against the possibility of cracking?"
                "Uh, the members of the inner circle are supposed to be able to discorporate voluntarily any second-no poison needed."
                "I'm sorry, Ben. I never got that far. Never mind, I know other adequate ways to put up the only final defense against the third degree. Let's have it."
                "You can discorporate at will, they tell me-if you learn Martian first. Never mind. Jubal, I said Mike raises snakes. I meant that both figuratively and literally-the whole setup is a snake pit. UnhealthY.
                "But let me describe it. Mike's Temple is a big place, almost a labyrinth. A big auditorium for public meetings, some smaller ones for invitational meetings-many smaller rooms-and living quarters-quite a lot of living quarters. Jill sent me a radiogram telling me where to go, so I was dxopped at the living quarters entrance on the street the Temple backs onto. The living quarters are above the main auditOrium, about as private as you can be and still live in a city."
                Jubal nodded. "Makes sense. Be your acts legal or illegal, nosy neighbors are noxious."
                "In this case a very good idea. A pair of outer doors let me in; I suppose I was scanned first, although I didn't spot the scanner. Through two more sets of automatic doors any one of which would slow down a raiding squad-then up a bounce tube. Jubal, it wasn't an ordinary bounce tube. It wasn't controlled by the