God of Tarot by Piers Anthony

that purpose. You will likely find a Christian God, but you have no local Church to cater to, so you are relatively objective. The reputation of your Order has preceded you; Visionists are known not to interfere with other faiths, while yet remaining true to their own faith. I believe you will be approved.”
    “I had not realized that my mission here was subject to local approval,” Brother Paul said, a bit dryly. “What will they do if they don’t like me? Ship me back to Earth?” There was, of course, no way for the colonists to do that.
    “There are those whose faith is such as to destroy infidels,” Siltz said. “We believe our own village is secure, but we cannot speak for other villages. We shall, of course, protect you to the limit of our means—but it is better that we stand united in this matter.”
    “Yes, I appreciate that.” Brother Paul shook his head ruefully. Destroy infidels? That had connotations of fanatic murder! What nest of vipers had he matter-mitted into? He had been warned about none of this; obviously the authorities on Earth knew little of the social phenomena of their colonies. He could not afford to rely on his limited briefings. “Yet if most sects here believe in the Christian God—who is also the Jewish and Mohammedan God, whether termed YHVH or Allah—why should there be any need to qualify Him further?”
    “This is the question I have been trying to answer,” Reverend Siltz said. “We are an exceedingly jealous conglomerative culture, here on Planet Tarot. Your interpretation of God surely differs somewhat from mine, and both of ours differ from that of the Church of Atheism. Who is to say which sect most truly reflects God’s will? There must be one group among us that God favors more than the others, although He tolerates the others for the sake of that one—and that is the one we must discover. Perhaps God has dictated the savagery of our winter climate, forcing us to seek Him more avidly, as the God of the Jews brought privation upon them to correct their erring ways. We all depend on the largesse of the Tree of Life, and so we must ultimately worship the God of the Tree, even if we don’t like that God, or the sect which is that God’s chosen. Whether we call Him The God, or merely One among many, is of little moment; we must address Him as He dictates. We shall do so. But first we must ascertain objectively the most proper aspect of that God.”
    Phew! The colonists were taking this matter much more seriously than did the scholars back on Earth. “I really cannot undertake to do that,” Brother Paul said cautiously. “To me, God is All; He favors no particular sect. The Holy Order of Vision is not a sect in that sense; we seek only for the truth that is God, and feel that the form is irrelevant. While we honor Jesus Christ as the Son of God, we also honor the Buddha, Zoroaster, and the other great religious figures; indeed, we are all children of God. So we seek only to know whether God does manifest here; we do not seek to channel Him, and would not presume to pass upon the merits of any religious sect.”
    “Well spoken! Yet I think God Himself will be the final arbiter. He will make known His will in His fashion, and you—according to the opinion of the colony majority, which I question—shall reflect that will. God is power; none of us can stand against that, nor would we wish to.”
    Brother Paul was not certain he had established any solid community of concept with the Reverend, but found the discussion stimulating. Still, it was time to get more practical. “I would like to know more about your geography,” he said. “Particularly where the Animations take place.”
    “We shall show you that tomorrow. Animations are erratic, but generally occur in the oasis three kilometers north of here. We shall have to select guards for you.”
    “Oh, I don’t require—”
    “We value your safety, Brother Paul. If you should die within an Animation, as so