Mars is now the fifth level of paradise. Dante takes the path of the Roman world and Mars is home to the warriors of god. There is some talk about the knights or fighters of the Crusade era but most of the conversation is with one particular spirit named Cacciaguida.

As luck would have it, Cacciaguida is the great, great grandfather of Dante. It is pretty fortunate that Dante has become a special interest of God but even more so that his distant relative is one of the saviors of Florence and very pious. My research has not been able to substantiate this claim. But the truth is I didn’t look very hard either.

Since Dante serendipitously has this encounter, he gets a lesson in his family tree. Another advantage of heaven is being able to see the future. After Dane’s history lesson, he is informed about the fact that he is going to be exiled from Florence. This of course is very concerning and takes a couple of Canto’s for him to get over the news.

The ironic (or obvious) thing is that his exile has already occurred. So, this is a story that is written in the future about events that have already occurred in the current time. I don’t know that all that really mattered and surely most of the people reading or watching this would not have all of that knowledge. No suspended belief is really necessary from that standpoint.

Things have kind of run their course for me. I am ready to move on with this story and book. The story is so heavy and obscure that I am having a hard time keeping my interest. I find that when I start reading that my eyes become pretty heavy. I have to fight with all I have not to fall asleep. Each Canto is becoming a slog.

You all remember that this epic began in January. I am going to save my final analysis for a few weeks from now. But, I cant help to lay out where I am now. I would say that eight plus months is just too long to do something like this. I have already purchased three or four books in the meantime that I am looking forward to getting to. But, I have to put this one to bed.

From Dante’s perspective, I can see why the likes of Charlemagne or Roland is a hero. I have a lot more difficulty buying into that. History is history but it reminds me of the saying “the ends don’t justify the means”. The reality is, the acts of the Crusade is not that much different than teaching the Taliban a lesson. My own empire is just as complicit as the Holy Roman empire in the imperialism.

There is an argument to be made that true believers must put their money where their mouth is. Hence, for a Catholic king, there is only one true religion and all others are sinners or at least heretics to said religion. I don’t believe that. All monotheistic religions follow a similar core set of beliefs. I have a hard time believing that a good and righteous God would only favor western Europeans in the one true light. And so salvation depends on your birthright.

As a Christian my entire life, I do subscribe to the tenants of the religion. But, they are pretty bad when it comes to the edges of theology. As an example, when does turn the other cheek turn into abuse? Surely Jesus doesn’t mean love your neighbor as you are getting raped. Even the act of accepting we are sinners while we keep on sinning is a real dichotomy. I have found very little comfort when it comes to the transition points of the religion.

Canto XVIII is more on Jupiter than on Mars. I made a decision to cover the entire level even if it bled into the next. That means that next week is Canto XIX and XX. This will be the level of righteous rulers like David (of Goliath).

End Your Programming Routine: My end you programming recommendation is get out of your head. Just because we believe that we are anointed by God doesn’t mean that we are. We are fond of saying love the soldier, hate the war but we are turning a blind eye to our politicians. Ukraine, Russia, Israel and Iran are not worth fucking around to find out. We didn’t learn a thing in Afghanistan.