Chapter 25

And that wasn't the end of it. There are always those whotake it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality,as if the sustaining frame of existence, were something weakand helpless. These people walk by a widow deformed¹ byleprosy begging for a few paise, walk by children dressed inrags living in the street, and they think, "Business as usual."But if they perceive a slight against God, it is a different story.
Their faces go red, their chests heave mightily², they sputterangry words. The degree of their indignation is astonishing.
Their resolve is frightening.
These people fail to realize that it is on the inside that Godmust be defended, not on the outside. They should direct theiranger at themselves. For evil in the open is but evil fromwithin that has been let out. The main battlefield for good isnot the open ground of the public arena³ but the small clearingof each heart. Meanwhile, the lot of widows and homelesschildren is very hard, and it is to their defence, not God's, thatthe self-righteous should rush.
Once an oaf chased me away from the Great Mosque⁴.
When I went to church the priest glared at me so that I couldnot feel the peace of Christ. A Brahmin sometimes shooed meaway from darshan. My religious doings were reported to myparents in the hushed, urgent tones of treason revealed.
As if this small-mindedness did God any good.
To me, religion is about our dignity, not our depravity.
I stopped attending Mass at Our Lady of ImmaculateConception and went instead to Our Lady of Angels. I nolonger lingered after Friday prayer among my brethren. I wentto temple at crowded times when the Brahmins were toodistracted to come between God and me.

1 deformed   

adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的

参考例句：

• He was born with a deformed right leg.他出生时右腿畸形。
• His body was deformed by leprosy.他的身体因为麻风病变形了。

2 mightily   

ad.强烈地；非常地

参考例句：

• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet. 他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。
• This seemed mightily to relieve him. 干完这件事后，他似乎轻松了许多。

3 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

4 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。