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It is part of the ritual of the clique or the cult. We are the clique's chosen hate group. They have to try to assure themselves of their superiority by jeering at dissenters. They have to make a show of threatening us. Even their view of the case is the official, inflexible, defining view of the cult, like the old Communist "party line." All of this behavior is typical of teenage street gangs. It is also common to children and various anthropoid apes.

Sounds like you've given a great description of why Michael keeps talking, too. He just can't help himself. He's talking so much, he's starting to sound like Scott Peterson.

>> Sounds like you've given a great description of why Michael keeps talking, too.

Have you ever read C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity? (If not, go do it! :-) It's classic.) It starts with this odd thing of people trying to justify their misdeeds, trying to fit them to a moral code, claiming they didn't do anything wrong. Lewis argues from this literally un-natural behavior to the existence of a moral law that all humans are somehow aware of -- are haunted by -- but never quite live up to. Nobody looking at us from the outside would ever guess this law because we don't obey it very well. We just know that we're supposed to obey. When we don't, we try to twist things a little to say that we really had been good.

Moral law cannot be explained by naturalist philosophies. Lewis takes this as his starting point for the arguments that lead one to the existence and nature of God. He warns at this point that we still have miles to go before we get to the Christian conception of God, but we are on our way.

Michael is saying what God's fallen children must say -- "I didn't do anything wrong. I did good."