Those you who know me well know that I am not a bad person and that I
always try to do what is right, whether it be what you think is or not.
I've made decisions in the past that later I have found myself
regretting, but there are others that I can honestly say I am proud of
myself for making.

First, I want to explain a little about myself. Apart from the Goddess I
choose to follow, I do not typically take sides. My close friends and
family will attest to what I am about to say. I am neither light nor
dark, neither good nor evil, neither life nor death. I try to be
unbiased in my opinion. NOT to avoid conflict, NOT to avoid upsetting
people at various extremes. Rather, I seek something else in my life.
Understanding. Knowledge. I want to know and feel in my heart that the
decisions I make, the path that I take is the correct one for me.

Recent events with the Church have baffled me, I have to admit. They
claim to be the purveyors of light, righteousness, and justice in the
land. I find it laughable, considering their actions. Firstly, they do
not understand chaos. Because they do not understand it, they fear it.
Their fear leads to hatred, and in hatred good can never truly live. The
Church breeds nothing but hatred and a distrust for any persons or
things that they do not understand or that is not themselves opposed to
those things.

What happened to talking things over with those whom you oppose? It
seems that the first action ever taken by the Church is to slash swords
or smash maces into their bodies. And that is supposed to convince those
same ones of the badness of their ways? Oh, please. That's just
pathetic. How many of you who have been attacked by members of the
Church can say that they first attempted to converse with you about what
they perceived as the wrongness of your actions? On more than one
occassion, I have overheard certain members of the Church make remarks
about killing people in such a manner that it seems to be all about the
bloodlust, the revenge rather than the justice.

I dislike the Church, not for the principles it proclaims, but for the
reality that it maintains. Yes, I myself am not a perfect man. I've
never claimed that I am, and I never will be. However, I do strive to be
a decent man. It might do you Church members some good to contemplate
just why I am saying these things, when I have never in all my life
worked directly against you.

Shame on you for the treatment you have shown Belldandy. It'd be amusing
how little you trust each other in the Church, if only that distrust did
not hurt so many innocent people.

As of now, I'm declaring myself the guardian of Belldandy. I will be
considering her every bit as much my family as I consider my own mother.
As such, anyone who messes with her will answer to me.

My apologies for taking up more space on this board on this subject, but
I could remain silent no longer.

Darryl Winterhart

Penned by my hand on the 25th of Chronos, in the year 304 AF.