How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph.)
Quote #7
"You're fools if you still believe what the priests tell you. All they want is your money. What has God ever done for you? […] Oh, everything will be fine when you are dead, they say. I tell you, everything will be fine when they are dead, and you must help." (2.1.117)
The lieutenant should remember Westley's line from The Princess Bride: "We are men of action. Lies do not become us." He's speaking in the same simplistic caricatures he so despises in the clergy.
Quote #8
"Have you ever seen the priest?"
"No."
[…]
"Are you married?"
"Yes." (2.1.122-7)
This exchange between the lieutenant and the priest is peculiar because the priest, who usually deceives others indirectly, makes statements that are flatly untrue.
Quote #9
"Won't you say a prayer, father, before we sleep?"
"Why do you call me that?" he asked sharply, peering across the shadowy floor to where the half-caste sat against the door.
"Oh, I guessed, of course. But you needn't be afraid of me. I'm a good Christian."
"You're wrong." (2.1.287-290)
The priest and the half-caste are both deceiving each other and know they're each being deceived. Are they both wrong to lie? Does it matter that the priest deceives with evasion while the half-caste tells blatant lies? Is there a moral difference between these two deceptions?