Stranger in a Strange Land

Patricia gives Ben a tour of the facility: bedrooms, library, living room with swimming pool, and bowls of cash by the door for use when necessary. The facility is home to about 20 people of all faiths and ages. She then invites Ben to watch Smith preach; Jubal, apparently, is the church’s official patron saint. Smith’s “spiel” is an enticing version of pantheism augmented by showmanship and miracles. Worshipers can work their way through a series of nine circles before being invited to the inner sanctum. Baskets of cash are passed, and congregants are invited to either donate or take, according to need. Ben describes a ritual in which congregants reach a state of ecstasy through meditation. As he wanders the halls of the temple, Ben realizes that nudity is the norm, not the exception.

Back in the foyer, Ben is reunited with Gillian. She tells him that Smith’s church isn’t a church at all, not in the conventional sense. He doesn’t proselytize, he’s not trying to “convert” anyone or save their soul (“Souls can’t be lost” (347), Gillian argues). The only way to fully grok Smith’s message, however, is to learn Martian. They have dinner—along with Dawn, another priestess of the temple—and Gillian leaves to teach a “transition class.”

After a night of “growing closer” with Dawn, Ben wakes, showers, and finds Duke cooking breakfast in the kitchen. Duke tells him he’s “First-Called” (someone who’s a water brother without having learned Martian first). He is scheduled for a Water-Sharing that evening, the ceremony admitting him into the Ninth Circle. He meets Ruth, another member of the inner circle, who testifies to the communal bliss of Smith’s church. He finds Gillian, and he brings her food. Soon after, Smith joins them, and Ben is uncomfortable with their open displays of intimacy. Despite Ben’s misgivings about joining the Ninth Circle, Gillian insists he not leave until he has been initiated. She lulls Ben into a sense of “euphoria,” but he is shaken out of it when Smith suddenly sheds his clothes.

Ben flees, confessing later to Jubal that he’s worried Smith has his flock hypnotized. He is offended by the whole concept—group orgies, communal marriage—but Jubal argues it’s not better or worse than any other arrangement, just different. He suggests Ben fled the scene because he was jealous of Smith’s intimacy with Gillian. He also believes that Smith’s church is in danger from outside forces because he dares to subvert sexual norms, and because he dares to offer happiness as the greatest social good. Further, he concedes that, while he doesn’t subscribe to religious dogma, he can’t rule out its possible truth. He accuses Ben of judging Smith’s church by his own standards. Eventually, he convinces Ben to give the Ninth Circle another chance. A week later, Ben sends a message to Jubal, informing him he’s “Studying Martian.’”