I Appeal To Caesar!

reach for something to throw or heave at the condemned man attempting to stand and speak to his critics from the center of the pit. “Witnesses” yell him down! They are in no mood for a speech. * * * * * Smaller rocks begin to fly, their trajectories at first inaccurate, spoiled by eagerness and emotion. Close by, an abandoned, broken-down, rock wall furnishes special ammunition: heavy bone-crushers, ideal for hoisting overhead and sent crashing into the victim’s body. “Where is this great God of yours now?” bellows a large, muscular man, who is not an actual witness, but a hired assassin. He hurls a five-inch rock that busts one of the condemned man’s ribs. Groaning with pain, Stephen grabs his side, crumbling to the ground. A calloused voice is heard, causing the righteous to wince: “Cry out, sinner, but your false god will not deliver you!” Pressing close, two men heave a boulder at the fallen body, making bones snap! Paid witnesses cheer. Fanned into flame by priests and leaders, an inhuman frenzy grips the “witnesses.” * * * * * Some rock-throwers are religious men; not now, however, for they are part of a rigged murder trial with set- up, lying “witnesses” who abuse the ancient law of “stoning to death.” An innocent man is executed, a good man the authorities wish to silence because they can’t dominate! Rocks, small and great, descend on the fallen man.