This is my response to all the Christians that look at me, and quote
verse and dogma:  (By Banshadderaxx, Fox and Dragon Inn, Victoria, BC)

        "So, as I understand it, this is what happened.  At least, this
is how it was told to me."
        "The old creature himself couldn't have picked a better night.
It was perfect for such a sombre and worldly occasion.  I wasn't there,
but I saw all the pictures...  I'm certain you did too.  Picked one of
the busiest intesections, did Satan, one of the busiest intersections in
New York, right on Wall St.  Left the cage right there, for all to see. Lord
knows, pardon my blasphemy, how The Devil gained the power to perform such
an act, but perform it he did."
        "The cage was formed of gold, and measured, precisely, 6 hundred
and sixty-six centimeters along all sides.  I remember, it took two days
for some French citizen to convert the imperial measurements that the
US media gave.  Gold, gilt with pearls and precious gems of all kind, an
insulting cage for such a majestic creature, such a noble spirit as did
Satan dare to display in that cage.  The cage itself was suspended, by
some fell enchantments, immobile, untarnishable, untouchable.  A stroke
of demonic genius."
        "And in it, an old man.  Not too old, but old enough.  Tied and
gagged was He, but there was no doubt, even in such ignoble positions,
that it WAS He, the Noble, The Mighty Jehovah God Himself.  I remember
that day, as do most.  June 6th.  They closed the Stock Market for the
day, for fear of how low it would plummet.  When they dared to reopen
it, the Dow Jones dropped two hundred points in half an hour.  The
computers that kept track of the transactions crashed, twelve minutes
before ten, causing the final average to close at.. you guessed, that
fell number of Satan himself."
        "But I digress.  The Man in the cage, noble and majestic despite
such a humiliating position, was God himself, looking worn and tired.
And, did Satan proclaim to all who came to see the fallen one, 'Lo, ye
sinners and vipers, look down upon thy old Master, for thou hath seen
that He is weak, and I am strong.'  So did he say unto the citizens of
that American city, proclaiming to its brothels and its crack houses,
'And here, my children, shall your God lie, intouchable, removed, and
forever captured.  For I challenge any one of you who claims to be a
true Christian, to come and try and open the doors, and I say that you
shall fail.  I shall allow,' he paused, to frame his evil smile, 'six
hundred and sixty six people a day, to come forth and try and open this
cage.  And I shall let you try this, for six hundred and sixty-six days.
And when you have failed in your attempt to free your God, I shall
declare your religion dead, and proclaim the world as my own.'"
        "And with that, did Satan leave.  For several minutes, the
stunned citizens of that city came forth, rushing to see their God,
crying, praying, clutching bibles.  So many tried to open the cage,
that within five minutes, the day's quota of tries had expired, and the
six hundred and sixty-seventh person lay charred and dead on the street,
with four others that had not become aware of the death of the first."
        "For days did persons come to try and open the door.  Bishops,
 Priests, Theologians, and scolars.  Munitions and explosives experts.
 Masters of riddle and mystery.  The Pope himself, and all the Cardinals
 came to try and clutch the bars of the cage and open it.  They brought
 their scriptures and their scrolls, and held twenty-four hour prayer vigils
 in Central Park.  I even remember a Buddhist Monk, who came to try, and
 he, too failed."
        "I recall also, the Evangelists, who drew upon their faithful for
 great sums of money.  One in particular, claimed that God had given him
 a dream, that if he, the evangelist, could raise enough money to forge
 a similar cage of gold and jewels, that Satan could be imprisoned with
 the power of prayer, and God would be freed for all eternity.  Little
 did the evangelist realize that by the second week, the value of the
 dollar had fallen to the point that three thousand dollars couldn't buy
 a hamburger."
        "And so it was, for days on end, for many weeks, and soon,
people began to despair.  Cults of Satan began to form already waiting
to proclaim the Devil as their new Master. And soon, the security around
the cage began to dwindle.  As if reflecting the mood, that summer's
rain seemed never to end, as did the strife, and fights.  With the stock
market crash, and the fall of every major world currency, people began to be
concerned more about feeding themselves and surviving the next day, than
freeing their God."
        "Christmas came and went, without the usual fervor.  Very few
could muster the money to purchase their children toys, for they were
most concerned with finding bread for their starving mouths.  And still,
sitting motionless in the cage, was God.  Occasionally his eyes would
move, but his gagged mouth uttered no sound, and his bound hands only
moved on rare occasion, as he shuffled in the golden chair to which he
was bound, and placed on display."
        "New year came and went.   Now, for some reason, I have no idea,
I felt the urge to go to New York in that month.  And for some reason,
Lord Himself knows, for I do not, why I went there, but I was there.
And I honestly say I was the only witness to what happened."
        "I'm still not sure whether it was a boy or a girl.  I think it
was a girl, but I am not sure... I shall call the youth a girl, and Lord
forgive me if I am wrong.  For I saw her, and heard her.  I have to
admit I was doing what most others were doing there.  Staring at the
cage, and getting utterly drunk.  But I was sober enough to realize
there was something odd about her.  I remember every word she said."
        "'Hello?' she asked timidly. 'I'm sorry if I've done something
wrong.  I really am.  I.... I've read the papers, and heard the radio,
God, and I know you can't speak.  I don't even know if you can hear me.'
She looked up at the cage, suspended above the snowy ground, and I saw,
like many, she had tears in her eyes.  'God, I am sorry.  I've never
read the whole bible.  My mother and father used to send me to Sunday school
when i was a child, and I read some of it, but I stopped going when I
was seven.  I hope you don't mind listening to me, but I've come all the
way from California, to talk to you.  My parents were coming to see you,
but their car was stolen two weeks ago, and they aren't with me anymore.
They were killed, God, by a gang that wanted money for food....
But I don't care.  They've told me so many wonderful things about you,
about how you sent your child to us, and how he died for our sins.'"
        "'But God, I can't beleive everything they say.  I can't read
the words in the bible and see how they mean anything. I mean.. ' she
fondled a little crystal of quartz that hung from her neck, 'I don't
beleive in much.  My friends at school gave me this, but I don't see
what this has to do with anything. They speak of chanelling power, and I
don't feel a thing.  Is that what is wrong, God?  I don't understand.  I
mean, I've sinned.  I remember last summer, just before.. before..
*this* happened, that I made love on a deserted beach, as the tide came
in.  I couldn't tell my parents, they'd think it was a sin.  But to me,
it was beautiful.   Isn't that the point?  And walking along the beach,
looking at seashells....  I..  But I can't feel like I've sinned, even
though the bible says so.  And my father would say so.'"
        "' God, there are times when I feel all alone.  Like I have no
friends, and no-one understands.  I went away last summer, and I never
went to church. I stopped wearing the cross my grandma gave me.  But I
don't feel that was wrong.  Is that a sin?  I.... I'm sorry, God, but I
don't think so.  If you really gave us life, and I think I really
believe that, sometimes, why can't we enjoy it?  I'm sorry, God.. I
don't mean to offend you, but this is how I really feel.'"
        "She stopped a moment, and stamped her feet together, a pair of
dirty sneakers in the snow.  She was obviously cold, but she drew a
breath and continued speaking."
        "' I don't know why you're trapped, God.  I don't.  I mean...'
she stopped, and held out a gloved hand, waiting for a few flakes of
snow to fall onto it.  When she had gathered a few flakes, she held them
out to God, and continued, 'I don't know if you can see that, God.  But
I can.  God, if you are in that cage, how come the world is still
beautiful? I don't understand.  The bible doesn't tell me anything, but
that is what my heart feels.'"
        "'Then tell me what your heart feels.'"
        "I sobered, instantly.  The voice was soft, and yet it was all
voices, yet it was none at the same time.  I knew, then and there, that
if I had been Muslim, I would have heard Arabic, or Indian, I would have
heard Punjabi, if I was Chinese, I would have heard mandarin.  For God
had spoken.  I looked up, and saw that one hand of God had freed Satan's
shackle, and removed the gag from his bearded mouth."
        "I am not sure if the little girl noticd.  Maybe she did."
        "'God, I don't know.  I am lonely, sometimes.  Whenever I feel
alone, I go for a walk, or look outside.  I see people that are hurting
each other.  I walk past the drug dealers in my neighbourhood, and go to
the little park by the sea.  And I sit in the swings, even though I'm
fifteen, and people say I'm too old for it.  Or I walk to the beach, and
sit there, listening to the sea....  I never really thought of religion,
God, until this past summer.  I don't beleive, or I didn't, in either
you or Satan.  I'm sorry.  I just... '"
        "'Go on, my child.' Spoke God."
        "'I don't understand.  I.. you're here, but... if you are here,
 are you not everywhere?  And if you are everywhere, how can you be
 caged? I don't understand... I..  You're not as the bible described.
 You're not what my old Minister described.  I'm still not sure if I
 beleive in you.  I don't know why.  I hear of how you created the
 earth, and yet i see all these fossils from ages past. And I don't see
 what is so important. Isn't it more important to live each day in
 happiness, and make the world a better place for everyone?  Do we have
 to go to church?  I'd rather take a half hour to pick up litter in my
 street than go to church, though I only did that once.. I got laughed
 at.  Maybe when I get home, I'll do that for you.'"
        "The youth inhaled, and looked up at God.  And yet, she was not
 as I was, afraid, silent, awed.  'God, I don't see why you are here.
 Who told you to be here?  Are you here?  I mean, I see people over
 there, huddled together for warmth...  a white man, and a black man.
 Six months ago, they may have been fighting, and now they are as brothers.
 I used to hear about wars in Ireland, and now they are too busy trying
 to live to worry about killing each other.  There are no guards at the
 Mexican border.. people come and go as they please... there are no
 nations anymore.  Isn't that good?  Isn't that a start?  The
 industries, the factories... no-one wants to buy plastic dolls, since
 eating is more important.  Aren't the rivers a little cleaner now?'"
        "'God,  I think we forgot something.  I think we spent too much
 time trying to find out what Christianity was, to actually remember we
 are supposed to feel it.  I don't know.  If I had a choice in the matter,
 I'd throw all the bibles away, and take everyone for a walk along the
 beach. I'm sorry, God, I know that's a sinful thing to say, but that's
 how I feel.  Who needs words?  Give me a seashell, or snowflake
 anyday.  To me, that is more important than a church or a dumb old
 book.  She held out her hand for a snowflake, 'This snowflake, is more
 important than any cross.'   She looked up to show the little flake
 to God... and only then, in the moonlight that peeked through the
 clouds, did she see what I was staring at."
        "For there, gleaming in the moonlight that had just peirced the
 clouded sky, was an open, empty cage."