Did They Have Rainbows Over Dachau? [FICTOID]

The air being clear and dry, there was no logical reason for the rainbow to be hovering over the Apostolic Church of Dynamic Christianity.

Nonetheless, hover it did.

“It’s a miracle,” the pastor said.  “A miracle sent by God to reclaim the rainbow for His people.  Hallelujah!”

“Did they have rainbows over Dachau?” the artist asked.  She lived in a small bungalow across the street from the megachurch, her front porch festooned with dream catchers and wind chimes and other gewgaws the AC / DC pastor deemed satanic, thus only reinforcing his determination to force her out and use her property to expand the parking lot of his church.

“What a silly question to ask,” he said.

“Is it?” she asked.  “Physics and meteorology and optics being what they are, there was almost certainly a rainbow over every death camp in the Third Reich, the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the killing fields of Cambodia, the bombed out homes of Gaz.,  Did those rainbows indicate God’s blessing on those places?”

“But our rainbow is different,” said the pastor.  “See?  It doesn’t touch the ground on either end, it just floats above the church.”

“Yeah, almost like it doesn’t want to touch it,” said the artist.  “As if God is rebuking you by dangling it over your heads, not bringing it down to you, but keeping it forever out of your reach.”

The pastor glared at the book the artist held, her index finger in the middle of it as a placeholder.  He tilted his head sideways to read the title:  The Communist Manifesto.

“Hmph!  Should have known.  You’re a godless commie artist.”

“If I was -- which I’m not -- wouldn’t ‘godless’ and ‘atheist’ be redundant?”

“You should read the Bible,” the pastor said.

“I have, several times.  It has quite a lot to say about greed and wealth and mercy and justice.”

“God helps those who help themselves.”

“The Bible doesn’t say that.”

“You’re just envious because you’re not the one blessed with a megachurch of your own.”

“What would I do with a megachurch?  I have a roof over my head, food in my pantry, clothes on my back, and shoes on my feet.  I make art all day long for others to enjoy.  Why would I want a megachurch?”

The rainbow suddenly blinked out.  The pastor gaped in amazement then turned angrily on the artist.  “See what you did?”

“What I did?  I didn’t do anything!”

“Your attitude forced God to withdraw His wondrous sign!”

“I wouldn’t bet on that rainbow being from God.  It violated several known physical laws.”

“All the more proof God was behind it!”

No, God was not behind it.  The test team for Ariel Night Glow Electronics were behind it.  They were testing out their new light show drone swarm and opted to do a rainbow as something that would draw the least amount of attention; they chose the airspace over the church if its large parking lot.

Later that day they saw the pastor on TV, telling viewers about the miracle of the rainbow and how God wanted the AC / DC church to chastise all sinners but especially sexual ones and most especially homosexual and transgender.

So the next day when the team test flew the drome squadron over the AC / DC campus in the shape of a giant penis.

© Buzz Dixon