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The end of faith, chapter 3. In the shadow of God,

with outwarning you were seized and brought before a judge. Did you create a thunderstorm and

destroy the village harvest? Did you kill your neighbor with the evil eye? Do you doubt that Christ

is bodily present in the Eucharist? You will soon learn the questions of this sort admit of no

exculpatory reply. You are not told the names of your accusers, but their identities are of

little account. For even if at this late hour they were to recant their charges against you,

they would merely be punished as false witnesses, while their original accusations would retain

their full weight as evidence of your guilt. The machinery of justice has been so well oiled by

faith that it can no longer be influenced. But you have a choice of sorts. You can concede your

guilt and name your accomplices. Yes, you must have had accomplices. No confession will be accepted,

unless other men and women can be implicated in your crimes. Perhaps you and three acquaintances

of your choosing did change into hairs and consort with a devil himself. The sight of iron boots

designed to crush your feet seems to refresh your memory. Yes, Friedrich Arthur and Otto are

sorcerers too. Their wives? Which is all. You now face punishment proportionate to the severity of

your crimes. Flogging, a pilgrimage on foot to the Holy Land, forfeiture of property,

...