Finished - Stranger in a Strange Land

Just finished Stranger in a Strange Land, what a great book.

In the end, Mike's religion is persecuted and Mike is personally labeled as the antichrist. A mob gathers at his refuge, where Mike greets them and is killed while trying to teach them his ideas of love and "Thou art God" mentality. A very powerful scene.

The character development of Mike and Jubal is astounding. Mike goes from a naive child to a messiah and Jubal moves from a sarcastic miser to a grieving father.

I still don't understand why the members of the church were unmoved by Mike's martyrdom. Were they still hopeful that they could change the world? I doubt they can. While dying, Mike said, "Thou art God, I am God...by killing me you are killing God." Heinlein's decision to intercut Mike's televised murder with sappy commercials also leaves little faith in humanity.

In the end, I finally understood the use of "grok" in the book. Early on, it is established that grok means something similar to "understanding". However, the book's emphasis on language leads me to believe that humans really have no concept of true and utter understanding the way Martians do. "Understanding" cannot begin to describe what is really required for a society to be founded on love. Grokking in fullness is truly necessary (Wikipedia).

Thou art God