Holy War

• Writer - Chuck Austen
• Penciler - Ron Garney
• Inker - Mark Morales
• Inker - Nelson Yomtov
• Inker - Dan Green
• Colorist - J.D. Smith
• Lettering - Chris Eliopoulos
• Cover Art - Philip Tan
• Ass't Editor - Mike Raicht
• Editor - Mike Marts
• Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada

Summary

  "More people have died in the name of religion than have ever died of cancer. And we try to cure cancer." (Note: likewise liberty, nationalism, capitalism, the minimum wage, civil rights, environmentalism, etc.) The Crucifixion, the Crusades, Christian missions, Nazi concentration camps, and Yugoslavian mass graves are depicted as equivalent. "What makes us take up arms against those who pray to the same God with different words?" (Note: suggests all believers kill; assumes all gods are equal; and implies the abolition of religion would bring peace on earth.)

  Six mutants are crucified on school grounds, Bedlam hung with the sign, "Evolution is NOT the will of God."

  "Do not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who are all around you, because the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a jealous God. The anger of the Lord your God would be kindled against you and he would destroy you from the face of the earth. - Deuteronomy 7:14" (note: actually Deut. 6:14-15).

  The X-Men are shocked at the discovery; Jean says they're all dead, and Logan and Scott insist they take them down, though Kurt and Bobby want to let the police investigate; Logan says for mutants, they are the police. Scott orders Jean to call Annie; Annie is frightened by telepathy. Jubilee is among the victims; Logan, frantic, calls for a healer, Xorn or Warren. Paige finds her former teammate Skin on another cross.

  Kurt prays, quoting Habakkuk, and they all rush to the infirmary. Annie is shocked and asks who would do this; Bobby pointedly answers, people who don't like mutants (cf. iss. 417).

  Annie transfuses Warren's blood to all the patients in an effort to revive them. Jean tries to contact Xorn or Xavier telepathically. Scott takes Kurt aside, telling him to assemble his team; Kurt demurs, saying he leaves most of it to Warren, but Scott angrily reminds him he asked for more responsibility, and being a leader is not about being liked, but about making the right decisions no matter how hard.

  Annie has taken a pint of Warren's blood; he wants her to continue, trusting his healing factor to save him. Paige is concerned, but Warren sends her off with Kurt and Jono, hurting her feelings. Annie tells him that wasn't nice; Warren says Paige really loves Jono; Annie insists you need a mouth to kiss; Jono overhears.

  Scott instructs Kurt's team to find out who's responsible. Alex, back and in a new costume, suggests the Church of Humanity, and Kurt explains they're "clowns who think mutantkind is against God." Scott asks why he hadn't been briefed on them; Kurt lamely says he assumed Warren did, and that they were defeated in Montana (iss. 400). Scott berates him openly, again asking if he wanted to lead a team; Kurt coldly replies, yes; Alex tries to calm Scott down, saying he's siphoning off his anger through authority.

  Warren's light-headed, and it isn't working, so Annie stops before she kills him, too. A weak voice asks who died, and all are happy to see Jubilee has revived. Logan bends over her, saying she scared him; she thinks that's cool but suggests mouthwash.

  Scott points out the COH at first preserved Kurt (iss. 400) but then shot at him (iss. 422). He asks what changed; Kurt says he renounced his priesthood; Alex is surprised he could be a priest, looking as he does; Bobby asks why nobody was invited to the ceremony; Kurt says they were there, but then realizes from their expressions they weren't.

  Annie nurses Magma, who also survived, and Paige embraces Jubilee. Skin's dead.

  The X-Men go to St. Michael's, Brooklyn, which has been abandoned for a while; Alex wonders what the COH can gain by making Kurt think he's a priest. Kurt can't explain; he remembers serving with Fr. Whitney (since Nightcrawler 2002 LS); Jean senses tampering in his mind. Kurt is almost glad; he had begun to question Whitney's motives. "Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are smooth lips with an evil heart. -- Proverbs 26:24"

  Kurt had used an image inducer, which he now realizes was wrong; Alex wonders what would happen if it failed during Mass and people saw his true form. "And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." Alex was raised Catholic by his adoptive parents (but refers to Rev. 20:10 not as the Apocalypse but as "Revelations"); he says it was like science fiction to him. Jean sees blood on the floor and, surprisingly, can tell it's mutant. It trails off; Jean uses TK to bust the floor open and reveal mutants being experimented on in the basement. One mutant looks at them angrily.

  Note: Some men, running away from superstition, fall into the hard and repellent pit of atheism, jumping over religion which lies between the two. - Plutarch