The following is a rather amusing quote from Martin Cruz Smith‘s “Wolves Eat Dogs,” the fifth Arkady Renko novel:

“Wolves Eat Dogs,” by Martin Cruz Smith:

“Good, because the captain’s brain is like a closet light that sometimes lights and sometimes doesn’t. This time it didn’t; the next time it might, and he’ll connect Timofeyev and me and you. He’ll check on your papers or call Ozhogin. He has the colonel’s number. It might be wise to go now.” [ Arkady Renko said.]

“We’ll wait. By the way, Noah was an asshole, too.” [Bobby Hoffman said.]

“Why Noah?” Arkady asked. This was a new indictment.

“He didn’t argue.”

“Noah should have argued?”

Yakov explained, “Abraham argues with God not to kill everyone in Sodom and Gomorrah. Moses pleads with God not to kill worshippers of the golden calf. But God tells Noah to build a boat because He’s going to flood the entire world, and what does Noah say? Not a word.”

“Not a word,” said Bobby, “and saves the minimum. What a bastard.”

I must confess, I never thought about it that way. Martin Cruz Smith has a point about Noah. I’m not entirely sure what that point is given that in the Abraham and Moses stories God is talking about killing a few thousand people, and not the entire blippening world. I’m not sure I would argue either if I thought the whole of humanity sans my family was going to be exterminated. But that is most likely Martin Cruz Smith‘s point, most people wouldn’t argue, not if they were honest. Just like nobody argued with Hitler or Stalin or W. Bush come the end. “Befehl ist Befehl,” or “I was just following orders.”

10 USC § 892 – Art. 92. Failure to obey order or regulation

Current through Pub. L. 113-36. (See Public Laws for the current Congress.)

Any person subject to this chapter who—

(1) violates or fails to obey any lawful general order or regulation;

(2) having knowledge of any other lawful order issued by a member of the armed forces, which it is his duty to obey, fails to obey the order; or

(3) is derelict in the performance of his duties; shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

Failure to obey the lawful order of God? What is lawful for a God? Now that’s a good couple of questions. But any way you want to cut it, in the historical text, Noah doesn’t even try. Maybe that’s why he got so drunk later on the in his hang-over, he cursed one of his own sons to live in slavery to the other two for the rest of mortal time. What a winner all around Noah was. All to human.

“Wolves Eat Dogs,” by Martin Cruz Smith