Is it just me, or is there an unprecedented level of immorality, wrath, and agony wherever you look? And the decisions made by our leaders are so inept and make things so much worse that they appear intentionally destructive. It’s become easiest to explain humanity’s current moral decrepitude through the paradigm of good vs. evil. Maybe it’s time to consider the possibility that some of our fellow humans are struggling with more than mental illness, addiction, or Marxism. Perhaps they’ve fallen prey to the influence of demons — whatever you understand those to be — and worse, some are so demoralized that they deliberately choose that path.
First, a disclaimer: I am not by any means a theologian. I didn’t have the best religious formation when I was young. I am a garden-variety imperfect Christian who came back to church when I realized what Jesus meant when he said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” And I am hard-pressed to explain the escalation of evil any other way anymore; is it possible an unprecedented number of people are succumbing to demonic influences?
Demons — if that’s what’s going on here — are evil spirits whose mission is to torment people, hopefully with the end goal of leading them to eternal agony. The more pain, strife, destruction, and misery they cause, the more jubilant they become.
What might it look like when a man lives his life according to demonic urgings (adultering, lying, creating discord, destroying once-noble institutions, etc.), gets called on it, and is gleefully proud of what he’s done?
One theme that’s hard to explain otherwise is the destruction of our culture. The Enlightenment gifts of truth and beauty, which were inspired by the Truth of Christianity and informed Western creativity for centuries, have been deconstructed and replaced with hopelessness, violence, ugliness, and depravity. It’s positively soul-destroying. But why on earth would anyone deliberately choose such repellent aesthetics? I’ve explored explanations ranging from Marxism to plain old bad taste, all of which still leave one question unanswered: Why?
Why destroy a great culture? Why tear down beauty, genius, and innocence? Why promote ugliness, promiscuity, deviancy, rage, and other life-destroying passions? Why appeal to the worst in humanity?
Ultimately, only one answer makes sense: the people doing it are motivated by evil. And only one kind of person is motivated by evil: someone who is controlled by evil spirits — demons.
A Hollywood insider who has worked alongside A-list actors and directors tells me she sees people possessed by demons all the time. Once, as she sat at a conference table, a woman across from her was unable to suppress the jubilance of her controlling demon, sometimes sticking her tongue out during the meeting.
This Hollywood resident frequently sees possessed people out on the streets. One time, as she braked at a stop sign, a man took a superhuman leap from the sidewalk and landed on the hood of her car. He glared at her through the windshield, growling and hissing. The insider assumed he was “very high on very bad drugs,” which she describes as a wide-open door through which demons can enter and gain control of a person. This actually makes perfect sense. (Also, drugs could never explain the man’s vault to the hood of her car.)
The internet is rife with videos of people manifestly not in control of themselves. Is it the bath salts? Schizophrenia? Or a demon who gained full control of a person left vulnerable by one of the first two options?
And what else but evil could explain the insanity known as “transgender” children? What other than demonic influence could lead a parent or other adult to warp, groom, corrupt, exploit, or otherwise harm a precious, trusting, innocent child?
"family-friendly" #grooming #GroomerAwarenessMonth https://t.co/fLGWdwBE2Z
— Athena Thorne (@Athena_Thorne) June 6, 2022
Language warning: Watch this demoniac gleefully threaten a woman with eternity in hell then spit at her. (She’s a journalist who was videoing people outside a wildly inappropriate drag show to which adults brought young children.)
My girlfriend was just spat on for recording—
“You’re going to hell too little girl, burn in hell you fucking cunt”. pic.twitter.com/CwA19C6PZu
— Tayler Hansen 🇺🇸 (@TaylerUSA) June 4, 2022
Related: Yes, Real Men Still Exist: Watch Them Stand Up for Children Being Dragged Into Dallas Grooming Event
How else to explain parents who are so far off-base that they’ve convinced themselves this is good parenting?
Exorcists have been in the news fairly frequently over the past decade. In 2014, the issue had gained such prominence that the Vatican officially backed the International Association of Exorcists, a professional organization founded by former chief Vatican exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth. The move made exorcism a recognized practice under canon law.
In 2018, the Vatican “set up a new exorcism training course amid soaring demand for priests trained to rid people of demonic possession,” reported Newsweek. At that time, requests for exorcisms in Italy alone were at half a million per year.
At a recent annual training event, surveyed exorcists reported feeling overwhelmed, with some seeing as many as 30-50 cases a day. The exorcists said they’d like more support from bishops as well as psychologists, to help them discern whether patients suffered from a psychological or demonic problem. (In case you were wondering, tell-tale signs of demonic possession include superhuman strength, vomiting, and a sudden ability to speak Latin, Hebrew, Aramaic, or other ancient tongues.)
We are daily confounded by behaviors that are near impossible to attribute to any rational motive or defensible personal desire, such as:
- Fanatical abortion laws that provide for killing fully developed babies and which blacken women’s souls and mental health;
- Officials who set thugs and maniacs free in the name of “criminal justice reform,” not caring that they go on to destroy more innocent lives;
- The pure evil of mass shootings, especially those committed against children (even though guns have always been a fixture of American life, rampant gun violence is a recent development);
- The governmental and cultural push for increased drug use; and
- Entrenched encampments of addiction, violence, sexual assault, and destruction in the hearts of major cities.
As the lovers of wrath and hate whipped up the George Floyd riots, people were killed or injured while entire neighborhoods were demolished. In a despicable turn of events, rioters burned down a nearly completed mixed-use apartment building, which would have provided 38 affordable housing units.
Why would anyone do that? What good does it do?
“Remember that old saying — never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence?” the entertainment industry insider told me. “Well, when I look around Hollywood, the things I see can’t be explained by incompetence. They can only be explained by evil.”
The rise in senseless acts of pure evil is terrifying. But is it being caused by actual, biblical demons infesting souls and corrupting spirits? Or is it simply a logical manifestation of a society that is a victim of its own success, which has grown soft and spoiled and no longer feels the need to thank God for its great blessings or follow a righteous path but instead chases its own pleasure? It’s almost impossible for a lay person to be sure.
But just in case there really is an overwhelming number of demons currently degenerating humanity, it certainly doesn’t hurt to take a few basic precautions. Saint Porphyrios gave some pointers in his book Wounded by Love. First, he advises, protect yourself by making the sign of the cross, of which the devil is terrified. Then turn your face towards Jesus:
Communication with Christ, when it takes place simply and naturally and without force, makes the devil flee. Satan does not go away with force and coercion. He is sent away with meekness and prayer. He retreats when he sees the soul showing contempt for him and turning in love towards Christ. Contempt is something he is unable to bear because he is arrogant. But when you apply force to yourself, the evil spirit becomes aware of the fact and starts to fight you. Do not concern yourself with the devil, nor pray for him to leave. The more you pray for him to leave, the more tightly he embraces you. … Don’t look at evil. Turn your eyes to God’s embrace and fall into His arms and continue on your way. Abandon yourself to Him; love Christ; live in vigilance. Vigilance is essential for the person who loves God.
No one ever became holy by fighting evil. We only become holy by falling in love with Christ.
Not gonna lie: I’m pretty disturbed by people’s behavior these days. So if you’re looking for me, I’ll be over here, crossing myself and praising the Lord.
