Lilla. What is all this food doing here on the street?
Stanis. It’s for the cows.
Lilla. I think it’s ironic that there are so many hungry people here and a source of food is just walking amongst them in the streets.
Stanis. They could never eat a cow. It’s against what they believe in.
Lilla. But the food that they leave for these cows could be used to feed people.
Stanis. The cow is the holiest of all beings, though. They should take care of them.
Lilla. I should start a new cult where we would worship the poor and it’ll be necessary for all of us to ensure they are being fed.
Stanis. So a poor person would be the highest form of life in your cult?
Lilla. Yeah, if we live our lives well, we will gradually become poorer.
Stanis. I don’t know if people would warm up to this idea.
Lilla. It would be an honor to be poor. It shows that the god of the poor believes that those who are poor are strong enough to be poor.
Stanis. Then would the rich strive to be poor?
Lilla. Not necessarily. The rich are weak and could not live like the poor, but they would have the utmost respect for the poor and worship them, wishing that they themselves could be poor. Plus, one does not decide to be poor. That would be against the beliefs of my cult. Only the god of the poor can decide that you will be poor.
Stanis. What happens if you force yourself to be poor?
Lilla. That’s going against the god of the poor. Maybe he knows you’re not ready to be poor, but when you are, he’ll let you know.
Stanis. How’s he going to do that?
Lilla. A number of ways. He’ll take away your possessions, or tell you throw away everything and become poor.
Stanis. He’ll give you the choice to become poor?
Lilla. That’s when you’ll know you’re ready to be poor.
Stanis. Is it okay to be rich?
Lilla. It just shows how weak you are, but you should strive to become poor.
Stanis. How do you strive to become poor?
Lilla. It’s not actually striving, it’s more of your reaction when you are humiliated. The rich will try to become more powerful so they would not be humiliated while the poor will agree with his humiliation. It’s a love with being poor.
Stanis. I don’t think I could love being poor.
Lilla. Me neither, but it’s because we’re not ready. We should then feed and love the poor. The god of the poor would want that.
End. Cult of the Poor
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