Well, I can't actually speak for how they made their fortunes one way or the other. I don't really know enough about them.
That said...I do take your point. Even the one about religion, which I know some people would think is contentious, but I know there are religious figures who've gotten up to some sketchy things even in my own world. [And Claude had been constantly prying and digging, trying to find out what they'd hidden, what the deal was...he'd never really gotten the chance to crack the mystery wide open before the war broke out, though. And then, well...even if the archbishop hadn't vanished, other things had taken priority.] And some healthy suspicion usually isn't a bad thing.
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Date: 2021-09-21 12:53 pm (UTC)That said...I do take your point. Even the one about religion, which I know some people would think is contentious, but I know there are religious figures who've gotten up to some sketchy things even in my own world. [And Claude had been constantly prying and digging, trying to find out what they'd hidden, what the deal was...he'd never really gotten the chance to crack the mystery wide open before the war broke out, though. And then, well...even if the archbishop hadn't vanished, other things had taken priority.] And some healthy suspicion usually isn't a bad thing.
That said...I do know some genuinely good people who do good for good's own sake. They do exist. So I can't agree with you that there's always some sinister ulterior motive, when that hasn't been my experience. So even for a born skeptic, I think you've got to temper suspicion with reason, or you risk slipping right into paranoia. Suspicion can protect you from being blindsided, but all the false alarms paranoia will give you can actually make it just as hard to see the truth as any amount of naiveté.