The Powers Of Hell

By DEACON MIKE MANNO, JD

During the past month I, like most of you, have been horrified by the new societal goings on. The murder of a black man in Minnesota has been used as justification for riots, lootings, and now an attempt to erase the cultural heritage of America.
I don’t want to say “I told you so,” but back in March of 2018 I did sound a warning, (“It’s the culture, Stupid!” The Wanderer, March 1, 2018).
Okay, I did want to say “I told you so,” probably because I’ve been wrong about so many things that when I make a really good point I feel like the blind squirrel who found the acorn. Anyway, I digress.
I wrote then: “By 1992 our conception of common history and values had begun to wilt. The turmoil of the 60s began to take its toll: The Vietnam War, assassinations, Watergate, the sexual revolution, the emerging gay empowerment, as well as Roe v. Wade had planted a ticking time bomb that was to explode into the complete polarization of the body politic.
“It wasn’t any more about the economy alone, it was about our culture; who embraced it, who didn’t, and what — if any — deference do we give to the values that made our nation.”
Déjà vu all over again! Only this time it is with violence and direct physical attacks on those symbols of our common heritage, all generously funded by a shadow cast of atheists and Marxists who want to change America into the oxymoronic utopian socialist paradise.
“We believed in a God from whom we received a privileged status on Earth, the freedom to worship that God as we saw fit, free speech, an appeal to reason, belief in moral autonomy and self-reliance, belief in the basic goodness of our fellowman, and faith in our institutions. In short, we were a Christian nation, formed by those beliefs that were shared by both Christian and Jew,” I wrote then in a column focused on the immigration debate.
But the substance has moved beyond immigration and there are now those, apparently supported by one of our great political parties, who are challenging everything this nation and its people stood for, overcame, and built.
No longer is the United States considered the shining city, tall, proud, and built on rocks, as Ronald Reagan described it, it has now become a place of deplorables, destined to be brought down from within and whose history should be consigned to the dust heap of history.
I wrote in that March 2018 column, “But this cultural war is not limited to the immigration debate, we can just see it easier there; it transcends almost everything we do. On one side are the very bright, the wise ones, our natural leaders — the illuminati of our day — and on the other side are deplorables who stand for everything the illuminati want to eliminate. And eliminate they will do, through elections, through the bureaucracy, and through the courts.”
And, I should have added, through intimidation, shake-downs, and violence directed at moneyed interests who have a greater loyalty to their 30 pieces of silver than to Truth. “It is about fundamental, core Christian values held by millions of Americans who are at last fighting to maintain the concept of the ‘shining city’ for generations to come against those they see as trying to tarnish or even erase that for which that city stands,” I said.
Eerie. There seems to be a line that points directly from where we were a few years ago to what is happening now; microscopic germs only visible under a microscope that have now morphed into a political and sociological pandemic for which we have few natural antibodies. And even fewer stalwart physicians willing to do battle.
It is a time that tries men’s souls:
“The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”
Thomas Paine (1737-1809) must have had a crystal ball that opened into 2020 when he penned those words.
Ever notice how our social justice warriors are loath to condemn the “peaceful” protests that spawn riotous behavior, or excuse the “defund the police” movement by trying to redefine the word “defund” to linguistic pabulum, tasteless and inoffensive?
We need to understand that this is not a war against other men or illogical political positions held by an internal, domestic enemy. It is far greater than that. It is, as St. Paul wrote, “not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God….Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:12-17).
Truly, the forces of Hell are banging at our gates. They bring with them their Marxist allies they used to call useful idiots, who neither know nor appreciate the history they are intent upon destroying. They dangle in front of us the illusion of possessing every material good that mankind could desire, the fruit of the tree of Good and Evil. And it can all be ours if we only do the right thing in November.
Don’t take the bait; don’t take a bite.
Pray. Seek the intervention of the Glorious and Immaculate Theotokos, our Mother, the Mother of us all, the Mother of God. Here is an Election Prayer to Mary found on EWTN.com:
“O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, at this most critical time, we entrust the United States of America to your loving care.
“Most Holy Mother, we beg you to reclaim this land for the glory of your Son. Overwhelmed with the burden of the sins of our nation, we cry to you from the depths of our hearts and seek refuge in your motherly protection.
“Look down with mercy upon us and touch the hearts of our people. Open our minds to the great worth of human life and to the responsibilities that accompany human freedom.
“Free us from the falsehoods that lead to the evil of abortion and threaten the sanctity of family life. Grant our country the wisdom to proclaim that God’s law is the foundation on which this nation was founded, and that He alone is the True Source of our cherished rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
“O Merciful Mother, give us the courage to reject the culture of death and the strength to build a new Culture of Life.”
Our Church and our nation are at a tipping point. We must march, and the place to start is on our knees.

• + + (You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him Thursday mornings on Faith On Trial on IowaCatholicRadio.com.)