Bewildered by Evil

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

American leadership appears incapable of properly and effectively confronting evil. Our president seems bewildered, which is defined as “confused, disoriented, and taken aback.”  Like cancer and other deadly diseases, evil looks for a place of vulnerability, attacking areas of weakness, destroying that which is precious, and all expressions of meaningful life. Evil is the enemy of faith, freedom and peace. People of faith should pray for the courage and wisdom to face evil and thank God when lawbreakers, terrorists, and murderers are stopped.

Permit me to address other legitimate concerns which I believe also fall under the category of evil. Let me first emphasize that the only way these issues can be properly dealt with is through the same dedication, determination and unity that exposed terror’s former figurehead, Osama bin Laden, and eliminated him. The hate-filled ideas he encouraged must be continually recognized and resisted by higher ideals; transforming faith, truth and freedom.

In Romans chapter one, God said that He reveals Himself in what He created. In our own bodies we can study how white blood cells resist evil bacteria and battle for our health by identifying, isolating and eliminating the enemy. Whenever a germ or infection enters the body, white blood cells snap to attention and race toward the scene of the crime. These cells continually look for any sign of disease. When a germ appears, the white blood cells can attack in a variety of ways. Some will produce protective antibodies that will overpower the germ. Others will surround and devour the bacteria. In the same way, we must together deal forcefully with evil. When the necessary response of healthy cells is adversely affected by a virus like HIV and do not respond appropriately, overall health is threatened. Some of our leaders suffer from a form of “spiritual HIV” and seem unable to recognize evil and how to destroy it, not merely manage it.

Many concerned Americans and Christians agree that there is an obvious, damaging, viral worldview not only accepting bad moral, economic, and social practices, but also encouraging them. The long-term cost and damage inflicted through these beliefs and actions prove they have an evil root. Teaching people to place their hope and trust in something other than God is, in fact, the very essence of evil because it encourages idolatry, leading to misplaced trust, which ultimately damages everyone.

True believers fully understand that faith cannot be imposed, but neither should no faith in a supreme being be imposed by forcing people to violate their conscience and convictions. The practice of forsaking sound economic principles by political leaders, the federal government and their manipulation of people by routinely taking their money, mismanaging it, wasting it, and driving our nation into unsustainable debt must be stopped or the general population will be led into subservient bondage to the powers that be. Unprincipled, misguided practices and abuses led to revolution, the founding of our great nation, and the establishment of the Constitution to protect us from such outrages. Today’s unhealthy sense of entitlement and expectation along with the demand to be cared for by the government at all costs to the people while continually building hate for the job and wealth creators is, in fact, also evil. If continued, it will create an animosity greater than racism. This form of class warfare will cripple all potential productivity and destroy any meaningful way to assist the poor, suffering, elderly and helpless.

Offering false hope and solutions proven to be ineffective is in itself evil. It is a waste of time to just vent anger and frustration. Now is the time to pray without ceasing for God to bring His people together in heart-harmony and for our leaders to come and reason together with the same dedication, determination, and unity of purpose that exposed and eliminated bin Laden. The evil controlling him killed innocent people of all races and faiths. The practices supported by a present-day, damaging, collectivist, statist worldview promoted and supported by misguided thinkers and leaders in our own nation kills futures, the economy, individual lives, and freedom itself.

My Christian friend, we are partly, if not largely, responsible for the present course of our nation because we continue allowing it. We have tolerated the violation of sound principles on the part of national leaders for many years. People claiming to have faith in God have been “at ease in Zion” – complacent, indifferent, uninspired, uninformed, and uninvolved. It is time now for us to get on our knees together and then stand up like a mighty army and help deliver the church and nation from evil. Pastors must join together, sounding a clear alarm on the trumpet of truth so the people will prepare for the right battle in the right way and win by choosing righteousness. America’s founders purchased and established our freedom with words, weapons and their very lives. They died for it – surely we can live for it!

George Washington Carver, a great African-American scientist, educator and inventor, encouraged a friend by writing, “Keep your hand in that of the Master, walk daily by His side, so that you may lead others into the realms of true happiness, where a religion of hate (which poisons both body and soul) will be unknown, having in its place the ‘Golden Rule’ way, which is the ‘Jesus Way’ of life, will reign supreme.”

If we will hold to the Master’s hand and take wise action, we can protect and preserve freedom and defeat evil. Human beings created in the image of God can effectively deal with any problem. We still have the privilege and responsibility of choosing those who lead and the policies we support or oppose. We do have time if we recognize NOW IS THE TIME and return to God, restore freedom’s foundation and rebuild the walls of sound principles.