S213

Society Protocol Season 2_13

A Pastor's Repentance

Pastor Branson was sitting alone in a chair, praying, at a church near Washington D.C., the capital of the United States.

He was one of those who received a revelation from God for the first time, just like Pastor Kang Il-do of Korea.

When he first heard the voice of God, he was terrified.

This was because he was one of those who were eating the fruit of wisdom.

He grew up as the son of a pastor.

Some pastors' sons lived faithful lives serving God, just like their fathers,

while others, on the exact opposite side, lived dissolute and corrupt lives. Branson was the latter.

There were so many things to do in the world. And there were many enjoyable things.

An ascetic life did not suit him. He drank alcohol and partied with women.

And he used his status as a pastor's son to satisfy his sexual desires. Eventually, he started using drugs as well.

While doing drugs, he would roll around with women until he fell asleep, and when he woke up, he would drink again and get into fights with people. Rumors of his bad character had already begun to spread within the church.

His father, the pastor, called Branson a man who had sold his soul to the devil,

and dragged him into his garage, hung him upside down with chains, and beat him mercilessly with a club.

The people who had been criticizing the church pastor began to sympathize with Branson instead.

And they even went so far as to try to stop Branson's father, the pastor.

In his early twenties, Branson ran away from his father and began living with friends in California.

He became a hippie in San Francisco and believed that everyone should live for love.

He participated in anti-war protests and attended rock festivals.

There, Branson played a kind of leadership role.

Branson was handsome and articulate. He also possessed a keen intellectual sense.

As a result, he was particularly popular with women. He also sang well.

Having grown up listening to hymns, he was also quite good at playing musical instruments.

Living this hippie lifestyle, he spent his youth working in carpentry with his peers.

Then, one day, while under the influence of high-concentration drugs, he experienced a hallucination.

It was a vision of angels approaching him.

Then, everything suddenly turned into a bright light.

The car he was riding in had overturned after an accident.

A friend was driving, and two women were also in the car. The Volkswagen minivan they were driving was struck by a truck and disfigured beyond recognition.

All the friends who were with him lost their lives, and only Branson survived.

Furthermore, he wasn't even seriously injured.

Although the grief of losing his friends was immense, he could not believe the reality that he was the only one who had survived.

It was while he was lying in a hospital bed, battling withdrawal symptoms.

A girl who was volunteering at a church in San Francisco nursed him back to health.

She was, in a sense, a companion.

The girl said that Branson's survival might be a form of God's will.

If saving his life was God's will, did that mean his friends' deaths were also God's will?

Branson was thrown into confusion. However, overcoming the pain of withdrawal symptoms, he slowly began his rehabilitation.

While doing so, he read books. It was the Bible.

The Bible was something he had hated as much as his own father.

Yet, every single word of the Bible resonated with him.

There was not a single person in the Bible who was kind and naive.

Even the famous David, who defeated Goliath with a slingshot, was described in the Bible as a scoundrel who raped married women.

As Branson read the Bible from beginning to end, he discovered a certain message.

[Jesus said that for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven is like a camel passing through the eye of a needle. He acted as if he were an anti-capitalist. However, on Jesus's birthday, Santa Claus gives gifts. Only good children are allowed to receive gifts. This is instilling materialism. The events held on Jesus's birthday are akin to an anti-Jesus act.]

Branson began to question the current state of Christianity. In a way, it would seem only natural to live according to the words and actions of Jesus,

but the people attending church were acting in the exact opposite way.

They were offering money to the church, buying goods, and praying to God for even more material wealth.

[Jesus left behind a considerable number of achievements. He healed the sick for free. And he taught the word of God on a hill. However, the symbol of the church was the image of a sinner crucified on a cross. Isn't this a sort of implied that if you live like Jesus, you will be crucified and die?]

It was Branson who came to the realization that Christianity might actually be an anti-Jesus group.

However, those who believed in Christianity and attended church were not entirely evil people, and even if they were, they did not commit even the slightest bad acts openly.

Perhaps that alone gave them value in society.

Branson fell in love with a girl who had come to him to keep him company.

And she was a devout Christian. Branson shared his thoughts with her.

Then, smiling, she made a suggestion to Branson.

“Why don’t you try studying theology? Wouldn’t you be able to understand it in more detail then?”

The girl, whom he had expected to be an unconditional fanatic, listened to his story and

actually helped him find a way to resolve those doubts.

The girl’s father was also a church pastor. He kindly accepted Branson.

And he supported him in enrolling in theological college.

Branson and the girl loved each other, and while attending theological college, the two got married. When he got married, held his child, and went to visit his father, the pastor, to greet him,

his father wept bitterly and offered a prayer of thanksgiving.

Branson confessed to people that he had repented of his dissolute life and become a pastor.

He was treated much like Saul, who went from denying Jesus to becoming Paul, the most fervent believer.

And like Saint Augustine, who was the epitome of debauchery, he repented and became a central figure in Christianity.

He supported young people addicted to drugs in San Francisco and cared for the homeless.

He volunteered to distribute daily meals to the homeless overflowing in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

The first to begin helping his activities were global venture firms in Silicon Valley.

And Hollywood stars in Los Angeles began to support Branson.

Branson became one of the most famous pastors in America.

It was not because he was the most honest and good person.

His life itself was practically proof of God's miracles.

And he took unconventional actions.

He officiated at the weddings of Hollywood celebrities and even made cameo appearances in movies. Even athletic sports heroes would offer a blessing before stepping into a game.

He grew up with the media. And he grew up with the engineers of San Francisco.

He also encountered various new technologies.

When a young man starting a business in a garage was struggling to produce results, Branson prayed for him.

And he quietly whispered an idea to him.

Then, they would go on to create a groundbreaking product that didn't exist in the world.

They willingly used the wealth they gained from such tremendous success for Pastor Branson.

Pastor Branson became a member of the SS just as he entered theological college.

It was while he was having Thanksgiving dinner at his girlfriend's house with her father, a pastor.

Her father quietly called Branson over.

“Do you love my daughter?”

“Yes, I love her more than anything in the world.”

“Then you are like my son now. Please think of me as your father.”

Although Branson was not particularly close to his own father, the atmosphere was not conducive to bringing up such a topic.

“I know what kind of relationship you have with your father. You know that is not what I meant.”

Branson was surprised by the words of his prospective father-in-law, who seemed to see right through his heart.

“Actually, I have something I want to propose to you.”

After finishing the meal, Branson followed his father-in-law somewhere. And so, he became a member of the SS. Branson had always harbored doubts about the discrepancy between current Christianity and God.

He came to gain the wisdom to resolve all of those doubts.

The organization was growing alongside Christianity.

The will of God and the religions created by humans did not align at all.

He realized that all religions were merely attempts to exploit God's name for human gain.

However, because their very existence benefited humanity, he judged that it was right for him, as a human, to use the power of religion to help people, and he lived believing this.

Branson, a renowned pastor with a deep interest in the mysteries of Christianity,

had planned to personally visit Christian historical sites during his sabbatical year, which came around every few years.

It was there that he met Pastor Kang Il-do and Pastor Hwang.

They actually discovered terrain and evidence suggesting that events similar to those described in the Bible might have occurred there.

This served as a catalyst that made him believe in the existence of God even more.

A form of rationalization regarding his life was at play, asserting that although he had used God's name for the sake of humans, it was for the benefit of all humanity.

However, he began to suspect that God's will might actually be completely different from the doctrines of the religion he belonged to.

It was then that God delivered a message directly to Pastor Branson while he was living in this state.

From that moment on, Branson began to fall into confusion.

Nevertheless, as a member of the SS who had risen to a considerably high position, he could not betray the organization. It was because he believed that his success would serve as a kind of fence to keep the weak lambs alive.

But why did God give a message to him, who was working with the descendants of the serpent?

It was Branson who personally reported to headquarters that there was a meeting in Las Vegas.

He even disclosed the entire contents of that meeting.

The organization was watching MS’s every move through him.

They also observed the situation unfolding during the general assembly.

Although everyone initially opposed eliminating the pastors and believers, it was impossible to predict what would happen next because they had declared that the most important figure would become a threat.

This was because they already knew that if they said they would do it, they would do it, and the results would end in a considerably cruel manner.

The greatest happiness for the greatest number.

They held the logic that it was only natural to sacrifice the minority for the sake of the majority of humanity.

Pastor Branson gradually began to distance himself from the SS.

This was because ordering the elimination of all humans who followed God’s words, even though God had given a direct message, was something they could not do recklessly, even if they were people who lived for human gain by exploiting God's name. This was similar to a situation where a king's subject, while in charge of a region and wielding power by exploiting the king's name, would ultimately have no choice but to obey the king's direct orders.

However, he had dedicated decades to the organization, and the organization was fostering the growth of humanity.

He also held the justification that his success would equate to the success of humanity, as humans would now dominate the entire universe.

But hadn't God chosen him personally?

Branson continued to struggle and agonize.

However, the day finally arrived when he had to choose one of the two.

It was after he received a call from the SS.

The organization's messenger quietly visited the church where Pastor Branson was.

They met periodically to relay updates on MS's activities.

But that day was not the scheduled one.

"I have come to inform you of something."

Pastor Branson listened to the organization's messenger's story in the empty sanctuary.

"I am telling you that the personal guard of the most important person has turned a messenger of God into light."

"What kind of person is a messenger of God?"

The messenger rose from his seat, said one last thing, and left.

"He is not a human."

Branson was shocked.

He was not the type to speak nonsense, nor was the atmosphere conducive to it, nor was he in a position to do so.

[To think he killed an angel.]

Branson had now made up his mind.

The organization was to cease to exist.

However, this very thought of his would be read by them.

He had to hide himself as much as possible and bring everything from within out.

This was like the Trojan Horse, and like Jonah entering the belly of the whale.

The organization must have thought of Branson as a double agent.

But God himself approached and changed everything in a single stroke.

This was like a game of Othello with white and black pieces placed side by side.

Everything could be turned upside down in a single move.