For every false god, there is a false devil.
As May 29 is the birth anniversary of early 20th-century British writer, thinker, and genius G.K. Chesterton, I was reading through selections of his writings, which is rather like digging through a chest of treasure — one never reads Chesterton without finding a gem. And the newest gem I found is from a piece he wrote in the Illustrated London News for Sept. 11, 1909: "Idolatry is committed, not merely by setting up false gods, but also by setting up false devils; by making men afraid of war or alcohol, or economic law, when they should be afraid of spiritual corruption and cowardice.”
One of Chesterton's brilliancies was that he was always able to take a subject that other thinkers and writers rehashed for millennia and suddenly strike out something original and profound. Here he has taken the subject of idolatry, which concerns false gods, and flipped it on its head to talk about false demons. And how true it is that every false religion, every cult — whether political, religious, philosophical, academic, or cultural — must invent false devils or bogeymen to counterbalance its false deities and ruling ideas.
Since Chesterton's article came out on Sept. 11, which in our day naturally suggests to the American mind the horrors of the 2001 al-Qaeda terror attacks, I will begin with the false devil of "Islamophobia." This is one of the most dangerous fake demons of our times, for it affects practically every aspect of our society. Whether we look at religious practice in America (and, more extensively, the West), or international affairs, or educational corruption, or the cultural rise in antisemitism, or bribery of politicians, we always end up smacking up against this problem of Islam's influence and the left's assurance that any critique of Islam is condemnable.
Of course, not every Muslim is violent, and at least one Muslim nation — the Republic of Somaliland — is very friendly to the USA (and Israel), but Islam itself explicitly endorses jihad, honor killings, pedophilia, sex slavery, domestic abuse, rape, and other evils. Islam is the number one global driver of terrorism. And yet the false devil of "Islamophobia" is so powerful in America now that most of our educational institutions whitewash Islam, we have allowed mass migration from Muslim countries, and both the left and the right politically are increasingly critical of our best ally, Israel, while all but ignoring or even praising the murderous dictatorships of the Islamic world, from Qatar to Gaza to Iran to Syria. The idols of "tolerance" and "hatred of Judeo-Christianity" gave rise to the false devil of Islamophobia, and it is likely to destroy the West.
Related: Patrick Henry's Last Will and Warning for America
The false idols that have their corresponding false devils are too many to enumerate. The idol of "Science" serves as a shield for many damaging elitist projects, such as the COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccines, climate alarmist regulations, baby killing, child mutilation, under-tested vaccines and medications, and much more. Most Americans are much less afraid of the false devil of being labeled "anti-Science" than they used to be, but unfortunately, most of our academic, scientific, and medical communities are still willing to compromise on truth and human life to avoid the money-restricting label of "anti-Science."
The idol of false love has its false devil of affirming sexual sin/perversion. This demon terrorizes America less than formerly in one way — Pride Month is far less popular, most Americans don't support child grooming, and there is a growing realization of the dangers from fractured families. Still, the majority of Americans are willing to compromise on such Biblically-condemned evils as fornication, homosexuality, and sexually explicit entertainment.
But while Chesterton often talked about corruptions of societies and institutions, he was even more interested in the spiritual salvation of each man. I think that is obvious from his quote about false devils, where he mentions spiritual corruption and cowardice. It is all too easy to diagnose the societal evils plaguing America and the West, but as Americans, we must also think in terms of individuals, and every man has his own temptations to particular idols such as money, power, sex, popularity, political fanaticism, etc. The reform of the USA begins with the personal moral and mental reform of each patriot. First and foremost, each of us must assess whether we have set up in our minds and hearts any false gods — and false devils.
