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themselves private. He
would never know for sure, of course. That was the point
about privacy: it was private, which was what made it
so special. The pressure to share and to emote was so
all-encompassing it was exhausting.
    A banner hung from the roof of Trafford's office. How do
you feel? it asked. Tell someone right now! This was a slogan
promoted by the Ministry of Well-being, alongside Sharing. What's not to like?
    All day long on the TV, the radio and over the web the
community was constantly cajoled to ring in and emote.
    'Tell us how you feel,' the DJs demanded. 'We want to
hear from you ! What's making you angry?'
    Every health worker and spiritual adviser had the same
message: 'Deal with your issues. Be proud of your feelings.
Confront your demons. Talk about yourself! '
    Above all, this was the message of the Temple.
    'Man is God's work!' Confessor Bailey thundered to his
congregation. 'Everything we are, everything we do,
everything we say is the creation of the Lord and the Love.
    Therefore, when we talk about ourselves we are actually talking about God! Each thought we have, each word we
say, each part of the bodies in which we exult is a gift from
the Love and should be held up high for all to see! A desire
for privacy is a denial of the Love and he who denies the
Love has no faith !'
    Trafford wanted privacy, or even just a bit of peace. Every
day he wanted to shout, 'Here's an idea: why don't we all
shut up for five minutes?' But it was a very serious crime to
have no faith.
    It had not always been a crime. The Temple liked to
imply that it had been but it had not. Trafford knew this
because the change in the law had come about in his own
lifetime. The statutory obligation to have faith was the very
first of the Wembley Laws, or People's Statutes to give
them their legal title.
    As all laws were now Wembley Laws, it was increasingly
difficult to recall a time when there had been any other
form of legislation, but there had been. When Trafford was
a boy, laws had still been the creation of a misguided,
corrupt, out of touch, elected élite who called themselves
Members of Parliament.
    The change had come about due to the growing
frustration within the community and particularly within
the High Council of the Temple that the elected lawmakers
were not 'listening to the people'. No matter which group
of politicians was elected to govern, they always found
themselves immediately out of step with the 'will of the
people' and, what was worse, they refused to listen to it
and learn. It seemed almost to be a function of government
that it existed to frustrate the clear-sighted common
sense of men and women of faith.
    Strangely, this problem bothered the politicians as
much as it did the people themselves. Of course it was in
a politician's own interest to legislate for whatever it was
that the people wanted. The question was how best
could the elected representatives hand back power to
the electorate?
    The first solution they tried was the instant plebiscite.
Major issues were put before the people online and the
people were then invited to vote and, if they wished, suggest
alternatives and amendments. This had been a disaster,
promoting as it did not the will of the people but the will of
the person , the individual. For it was very soon discovered
that while crowds can be controlled, individuals often
act independently, and in the great democracy of the net
any computer-literate paedophile or ape lover could
communicate with the entire world and any number of
points of view could be exhibited and canvassed. Anarchy
ensued and, astonishingly, it became increasingly difficult
to define what the 'will of the people' actually was.
    It was the Confessors of the Temple who came up with
the solution. Physical laws would be made by physical
people. It would be a return to the very definition of
democracy. The Temple had access to the people, the
Temple regularly organized vast gatherings of the people.
What could be more