Word: belial
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...Horns. Captured by the post-atom Californians, Poole is condemned by the Chief of the Californians to be buried "alive or dead ... as you like," but when he promises to teach the barbarians something about science, he is grudgingly let off-on condition that he swear by "Almighty Belial" and make "the sign of the horns." For in lower California during the 22nd Century, Belial, the devil himself, rules; his victory over "the Other One" was consolidated in Atomic War, though his battle for power began centuries before...
...weaving on primitive looms. The Chief explains to Poole that "none of these vessels [as the Californians call the women] had a baby this season [in the communal mating] . . . When they're not producing monsters, they're sterile. What we're going to do for manpower, Belial only knows...
That night in the Los Angeles Coliseum, Poole witnesses the rites of "purification" of Belial Eve and the beginning of the mating season at California's biggest celebration: Belial Day. "His Eminence, the Arch-Vicar of Belial, Lord of the Earth, Primate of California, Servant of the Proletariat, Bishop of Hollywood," explains to Poole that the triumph of his lord was assured by the rise of two doctrines during the pre-atom era: "Progress and Nationalism . . . the theory that Utopia lies just ahead and that, since ideal ends justify the most abominable means, it is your privilege and duty...