“. . . leftists are morally disordered people . . . . perhaps the best way to prepare yourself for contending with them is to pretend you’re dealing with Satan.”
— Selwyn Duke
“Pretend”?
Satan may not be much more to you than a medieval caricature, looming large only in the minds of 17th century Puritans. The European Enlightenment, after all, disinfected such bogeymen with the light of Reason.
But one is tempted to ask, to what end? As Goethe wryly observed in Faust, thanks to The Enlightenment “The Evil One is gone, the evil ones remain.”
Who is this dude Satan? Jesus spoke of him a lot. As told by Matthew, he’s the subject of Christ’s first two parables. The second is particularly chilling, reading like the original screenplay for The Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
One day a farmer is beset by workers dismayed at weeds resembling wheat that have come up. When questioned about the weeds, the farmer replies, “An enemy has done this.”
And there you have it. The imposters, who rob the productive, life-giving wheat of water and nutrients, have infiltrated the field, looking too much like wheat to weed them out. Only after the harvest, says the farmer, can the weeds be sorted, bundled, and thrown into “the fires of Gehenna.” (Yes, Jesus also spoke a great deal about hell.)
An Enemy has done this — slowly overrun our universities with Marxist ideologues, slowly filled our tolerant-to-a-fault cities with chaff, and steadily squeezed the life out of the middle class. Satan is an insidious thief — who has stolen your neighbor, perhaps your child, and maybe your belief in hard, honest labor. (In Connecticut the unemployed are now holding out for a $1,000 bonus from the state before even thinking about going back to work.)
Among the newest species of weeds to be discovered in the American wheat field are the Woke-topians, hitherto found principally in untended academia, but which are now popping up in the more highly cultivated areas around Langley, VA, and the Pentagon.
The military once had a single mission: Keeping America safe from foreign powers, But that mission is now secondary to the new mission of political correctness and social “equity.” If the experience of Space Force Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier is indicative, weed control will not be easy. Following his criticism of policies ”rooted in critical race theory” and Marxism, Lohmeier was promptly relieved of his command.
On the bright side, his book Irresistible Revolution: Marxism’s Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military immediately shot to the top of Amazon’s bestseller list.
To understand this unmaking of the Military, look no further than the Catholic Church — a kindred institution with men and women in uniform functioning under the same kind of top-down organizational structure, with the same austere ethos involving service to something larger than oneself, and equipped with elite “Special Forces” such as the Jesuit Order and its proud tradition of esprit de corps centered on courage and sacrifice.
Now, under a pope who cares more about saving his legacy among so-called historians than what’s supposed to his single mission – saving souls – it’s all going to hell.
Satan is feeling his oats these days. And why shouldn’t he? After all, “our Ancient Foe, who seeks to work us woe,” as Luther had described him, has come a long way, baby, since days of yore. He is now more than just a sower of weeds and snatcher of beauty, truth, and goodness devoted to destroying what he cannot be or possess.
Somewhere along the road to the 21st century he acquired a bit of glam. A touch of charisma. A veneer of the heroic. He’s even sexy.
Shakespeare captured the type pretty well. But the finishing work fell to other giants such as John Milton who portrayed his subject as twisted, deformed and grotesque, but still wound up giving us the oxymoronic “Satanic hero” — mesmerizingly intelligent, charming (in a malignant kind of way), “complex,” and always interesting to the point of being “riveting.”
In Paradise Lost, Satan foments and wages a cosmic civil war, breaks out of a cosmic super-max detention facility, navigates by dead reckoning to The Creator’s best-kept secret on a sphere called Earth, penetrates its Iron Dome defenses, enters into the body of a serpent, and seduces and debases a being called Eve, after being momentarily stupefied by her beauty until he remembers that it’s a beauty not meant for him.
No wonder Saul Alinsky dedicated Rules for Radicals to this guy. For Alinsky, what’s not to admire?
What Version 2.0 of Satan has most is a sense of drama in a securely boring world that craves it now that God, redemption and service are out of fashion. If a George Floyd is killed, then we simply have to burn down a whole city block in another city, or turn it into a CHOP zone while taking selfies. If I have gender dysphoria, then the opposite sex had better allow me to enter their restrooms and to compete against them in their sports, or I’ll have a hissy fit.
“Pretend”? No, I don’t have to “pretend” that we are being governed by “children of darkness” sired by The Father of Lies and Prince of Darkness, who govern with the reckless abandon of malignant teenagers with their parents’ credit card, who like The Joker in The Dark Knight, or the anarchists in Portland, just like to see things burn.
Dracula’s ghost ship has washed ashore, and like the weeds in the parable, the Undead are popping up all around us. Their name is Legion.
By Chad (“Bitter”) Klinger and Glenn (“theAspenbeat”) Beaton
the Aspen beat 
Great essay and sadly too accurate
Well done, Chad and Glenn! I’ve felt for quite some time that we are living in a world where good is bad and bad is good, but it seems as though we’ve really reached a tipping point in the past year
So well said. Thank you both. We have quite the battle ahead of us.
This!!! This is so well written and I couldn’t agree more. We’re seeing proof of this every day. I have seen ads for for new TV series entitled “Devil May Care” and if you haven’t seen the ad, let me tell you! It’s terrible! Other proof is Lil’ Nas’ Satan Shoes that are said to contain a drop of blood from a child in the soles and Hollywood’s blatant and open Satanic worship, sex-trafficking, pedophilia, and child sacrifice. I’ll never look at Hollywood or it’s celebrities the same ever again!
Thank you so much for posting! This so needed to be put out there
Glenn, Discussion of Satan sounds dramatic…..even amusing but it is life and death. The prophet Jeremiah asks the disobedient Jewish people “what will you do at the end of it”. That is the question, Satan plays for keeps…..eternity in hell is not an amusing play. How tragic to make light of his domain and then after your last heartbeat find yourself hopelessly lost! There was no comfort for those lost at sea with the Titanic that hundreds were in the same boat. The apostle Paul said, “Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is The Day OF Salvation.
Your best.
Ever.
Compliments to the Klinger.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve been using the devil-like emojis when writing something about Obama for 16 years. And Soros also gets an emoji.
This should be shared as much as possible.
Thank you for this article! I’ve been using devil emojis when I write about Obama for 16 years. Everyone could see what he was yet he managed to work his way into their hearts.
Soros also gets a devil emoji.
You guys are bitter and really pathetic grumpy old men. Maybe you should go smoke some weed and then go pull some. As far as the ” Devil ” is concerned, that BS is to set 7 year olds straight. C’MON MAN !!!!
Satan is very dangerous to those who deny his existence.
Glenn, I’m enjoying your notes about Croatia. We visited there two summers ago. Beautiful, beautiful country. My Croatian-American husband’s skin tone is, indeed, different from my British-ancestry skin. When we were there everyone looked like his cousins. We went down as far as Montenegro. I found, the farther we went down the Adriatic coast, the taller the population became. In Montenegro (same ethnic stock), as I walked around in my European Dansko sandals, which make me 6′ tall, everyone was my height or more. I suspect my ancestry must include some of those Vikings who came to England and stayed.
I don’t know Chad but once, I considered Glenn a conservative intellectual worth reading. WHat happened? People are agreeing with this essay? What’s to agree with? There isn’t a single substantive sentence to agree OR disagree with. Chad has different values than say, Elizabeth Warren. That’s what the USA is about. This makes Warren Satanic? Glenn, since when did you equate name calling with rational argument? You used to be so good at rational argument. I’ll stay subscribed a while longer in hopes the old Glenn will find his way back. If he doesn’t, I guess I can just say Satan got you and walk away feeling self-righteous. Won’t make anything better but hey, self righteousness feels great to those who can manage it.
Mr rkd1fc: I have told you this before, your frustration with these kinds of factual analyses and discussions on Beaton’s publication are really entirely too much for your intellect, so just go back to the Aspen Times and then go over in the corner and have sex with yourself, it is easier to do than analyzing Beaton’s excellent pieces, and your will feel much better.
Glad you asked, just delighted. Anytime, really. We are happy to help you in your dizziness.
Thank-you Mr. Klinger and Mr. Beaton, respectively, for a most timely and truthful piece.
As I’ve taught for years: The United States of America was founded upon Judeo-Christian precepts and principles, by mostly Christian men. Be sure, 95% of this nations Founding Fathers were practicing Christians and/or clergymen. The First Continental Congress opened with lengthy prayer.
Before I continue further, please be advised: I am not a Republican, nor a Democrat. Neither a “Conservative” nor “Liberal”. If you must label me? A Christian and an American – only in that precise order. I’ve long implored the only real differences between Democrats and Republicans are the deceptions that they perpetuate, and the benefactors whom they truly serve.
Nonetheless, the mantra and weapon -for decades- of every Atheist and Radical alike is
“The Separation of Church and State”. Although, the tired and well-worn phrase in not in ANY official U.S. document, past nor present. Rather, it was lifted from The Jefferson Letters, the collection of private correspondence by Thomas Jefferson.
Of course, in 1963 self-avowed Atheist/Militant-Feminist/Sexual-Adventuress Madalyn Murray O’Hair was an integral part of the lawsuit in which the U.S. “Supreme Court” that removed prayer and Holy Bible reading in public schools. In 1995, O’Hair and two family-members were kidnapped and later killed by fellow American Atheist-member David Roland Waters and two accomplices. Plainly, not unlike the tragic, innocent victims from Columbine High School to Sandy Hook Elementary to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and beyond: Madalyn Murray O’ Hair and her family-members didn’t have a prayer. Ultimately, one and all, victims
of The Father of Deception.
Meanwhile, The Spirit of The Adversary terminally afflicts a Divinely-inspired and once-Godly blessed nation: The Coup of 1963. Roe V. Wade. The Reagan/Bush/CIA Contra-Cocaine Operation. The Waco Massacre. The Elian Gonzalez Siege. The Execution of Terri Schiavo.
Same-Sex “Marriage”. The U.S. “Government” persecution of the Divinely-anointed House of David.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Ephesians 6:12
“Fight a dirty war, pay the dirty cost. Feds, Corporate America Frauds, Fakers, Pharaohs
and all allies, Final Notice has been served. No excuses. No exceptions. No warnings.
No defenses – confirmed”
HRH Prince Michael of The House of David (2008)
The Book of Daniel 12:1 is here.
Justice, true Justice, shall be surprising and severe.
Mr Prince, you say, “I am not a Republican, nor a Democrat. Neither a ‘Conservative’ nor ‘Liberal[.’]. If you must label me? A Christian and an American – only in that precise order. I’ve long implored the only real differences between Democrats and Republicans are the deceptions that they perpetuate, and the benefactors whom they truly serve.”
So we ask, at what point of these ongoing attempts to corrupt morality, life, common sense, reality, natural law, which surely must produce some discomfort in your life, are you either going to give up and go kill yourself, or move to the Himalayas, or take regularly scheduled injections of LSD or heroin or…OR WHAT WOULD BE BETTER IS TO REBEL AND TO DEFEAT THIS SICKNESS THAT YOU ACKNOWLEDGE? Or are you just going to continue criticizing and hiding behind your “I am not a Republican, nor a Democrat. Neither a “Conservative” nor “Liberal”. If you must label me? A Christian and an American” nonsense?
“. . . leftists are morally disordered people . . . . perhaps the best way to prepare yourself for contending with them is to pretend you’re dealing with Satan.” Spot on!
To borrow a quote from John Zmerick, “Pope Francis is George Soros in a white dress.”
Regarding Satan and his authority over planet earth……It cost Jesus Christ his life to disarm and defeat the evil one!
Enjoy the time away!
P
Now I’m really confused. If Jesus defeated and disarmed Satan, why should we worry about him? Just feels soooo . . . good to believe your right, doesn’t it? Glenn, do your really want to be pandering to reactionaries who have such difficulty distinguishing emotions from reason? Are you planning on running for public office?
RKD — Your confusion concerning one of the central paradoxes of Christianity is certainly understandable. It’s a miracle that anyone understands Christianity, that so many millions of people HAVE understood it, to the point of being willing to die for it. Anyway, I appreciate your willingness to engage with other voices here.
A great question. If I might offer some clarification: It was St. Michael the Archangel who defeated – and cast into Hell- the angel L_ _ _ _er, after The Father of Deception tried to lead an angelic takeover of Heaven.
It was the Most Holy and Eternal Son of Almighty YHWH, Christ King Yeshua who defeated eternal Death, hence, The Savior of The World. He was the ultimate, highest “Lamb of God”, sacrificed on behalf of Mankind. Be clear, in the Old Testament, lambs were sacrificed as sin offerings upon the altar.
The Holy Bible teaches us that Man, is the greatest of all of Almighty YHWH’s creations. “….Slightly lower than Angels”, yet, with dominion over all other creatures. Arguably, the biggest difference between Man and other creatures -and one of Man’s greatest blessing- is Free Will. Yet, with great blessings comes great responsibility, and great temptations: Do I Love, or Hate? Do I harm, or do I heal? Do I make Peace, or War? Ultimately, Do I serve My Most Holy and Loving Heavenly Father, or do I surrender to the often alluring and powerful
deceptions of The D _ _ _ l?
“O’ Death, where is thy sting? O’ grave where is the victory?
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to GOD, which giveth us the victory through Our Lord Christ Yeshua” 1 Corinthians 15:55-57
“Now it may be The D_ _ _l, or it may be The Lord, but you gotta serve somebody” Bob Dylan
I have a question for the theologians.
It’s often said that Christ paid for our sins. Ok, so to whom was the payment made?
I have my own theory but I’d like to hear yours.
@Glenn: “I have a question for the theologians. It’s often said that Christ paid for our sins. Ok, so to whom was the payment made?I have my own theory but I’d like to hear yours.”
To Himself. Keep in mind that Christian teaching is that Jesus is God Incarnate. God emptied himself into his own creation in the person of Jesus. God is Love, and God is Just. He endured what we endure, and took the whole burden of our willful disobedience and human failings onto his own self. No mere human could have done so.
Cosmic love, and cosmic justice. You can’t earn it; all you have to do is repent, and accept that forgiveness is there for you.
Well, however you look at it, Satan IS outmaneuvered or outwitted. So what’s the implication for the current struggle between traditional America and the forces of godless Marxism and Masonic globalism? It takes a great deal of faith to hope that “the wrong shall fail, the right prevail.” If this IS the eventual outcome, how will it come about? Can it come about without concrete actions by “men of good will”?
Glenn, Katherine has answered your question beautifully. I’ll just add a few things.
First, we (and God) are dealing with the mind of ancient man, which generally attempted to propitiate the Divine through animal sacrifice and the ritual consumption of animal flesh. Christ’s crucifixion follows that pattern: He is an atonement offering, made by God to God, since no other offering by sinful man could be “perfect” enough to “re-pay” God. Jesus is the apotheosis of the “unblemished” lamb offered up during the Passover, whose blood caused the Angel of Death to pass over those so “marked” right before their deliverance in Egypt.
Second, Catholics hold that, for God, the Crucifixion is the central moment in history, and that it is an eternally present, always “now” moment that is constantly being re-enacted in the Catholic Mass, when we quite literally consume the Body and Blood of The Lamb of God. We don’t simply commemorate The Last Supper; we’re partaking in it.
This is why closing churches and withholding Communion because of Covid fears is so deeply hurtful. A lot of of us are pretty angry at our bishops for “caving” to civil authority in this matter.
Thanks, Chad. I have a tendency to put things into the framework of western jurisprudence, which is often a mistake in looking at ancient things.
Putting the thing into the framework of ancient sacrifice traditions makes some sense to me. I think you’re probably right. Christ was not so much a payment as a sacrifice in a sense. Sacrifice is a concept foreign to western jurisprudence.
Here’s another theory I’ve been playing with, which is probably wrong. Maybe the payment was to Satan since it was Satan who really wanted Christ dead. The nice thing about this is that Satan got his payment in the form of Jesus’ life — God didn’t welsh on the deal — but then Jesus rose three days later.
The deal was that Jesus would die, and he did, but the deal didn’t say anything about him rising. In the end — in fact in just three days — Satan got screwed. AND he got doubly screwed because Christ set an example for the rest of humanity forever. Can you imagine his rage?
Too cute? It’s the lawyer in me.
Chad is on the right track, of course, with the sacrifice story; after all, it’s the one in scripture. But the theory about payment to Satan would imply that Satan and God are somehow equally powerful. This Manichean heresy is an old, old one.
Thank you both. You’ve given me a different way of looking at it. Maybe “paid for” our sins is not the right way to express the sacrifice. Indeed, I don’t recall that phrase in Scripture. If it’s there I’d want to look hard at the translation. G
Katherine and Glenn, my latest reply wound up in the wrong place, up above. Not sure where this one will appear. 🤪
The way that I have had it explained to me is that Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection were like “D-Day” in the war against Satan. It marked not the “end”, but the beginning of the end. There remains plenty of demonic activity in our world that still needs to be overcome, but it is up to us to do so until Christ returns.
They call it The Great Awokening. This is ironic. Americans hosted two, arguably three, Great Awakenings, and they were religious, Christian to specific.
This reminds me of the difference between truth and falsehood as expressed at The Council of Nicaea as the difference between two words spelt exactly alike except for one vowel: homousia vice homoiusia. The Council accepted the former and rejected the latter, which was the right choice.
In English: Jesus’ nature is of the same substance as the Father (homousia) vice of like substance with the Father (homoiusia). History turning on one vowel, one vowel only, Wassily. It is awesome, literally.
Not a Christian here, but totally agree on foolishness of “woke” values. They do not allow for honest disagreement, chastise those who disagree to the point of banishment, and and discourage free speech. Kind of like Chad’s column; condemning disagreement and those who voide it. American democracy is under attack from many sides. Like I said, I’m not a Christian, but if those who wrote about Jesus are portraying him accurately, his basic message was one of love. Did you sense much love in Chad’s column? Maybe I missed it.
Another great question: Although it was an epic production, with a truly powerful message, “Jesus Christ Superstar” embedded an image of The Son of Almighty YHWH that was not entirely accurate. Hence, an entire generation (or two) maintain an image of Our Lord that lends more to a hippie “Peace and Love” total pacifist.
Be sure, The Most Holy Savior of The World, Christ King Yeshua, boldly confronted Religious leaders and their incorrect teachings. He overturned
the tables of merchants in the temple – with a whip made of cords!
Of course, he also taught we must love God with all our heart, soul and mind – and to love our neighbors as ourselves. These are the two greatest commandments, upon which the Ten Commandments hang.
Still, like any truly loving and long-suffering Father, he also taught “Tough Love” – on a as needed basis.
RKD, you’ve asked some valid questions. I pray, you may always seek The Light, and may you be blessed!
Thanks for this excellent essay. It used to be a fad for Christians to wear “WWJD” bracelets, standing for “What Would Jesus Do?” as a consideration in making ethical decisions. It strikes me that the left might as well be wearing “WWSD” bracelets – What Would Satan Do? An important part of that parable about the weeds and the wheat – “an enemy” did this deed “while men slept,” i.e. the “good guys” were not vigilant, too busy doing the things of everyday life to take notice of what was going on until it was too late.
GREAT point!
This column brings to mind “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis … a great tome playing Devil’s advocate illustrating to the reader just how the Satan plots and strategizes to debase humanity.
This also reminds me very much of The Rolling Stones’ 50+ year-old classic “Sympathy For The Devil” … a song that seems to condense and put to music “The Screwtape Letters” entire storyline into a six-minute samba infused ode.
Go back and listen to or even just read the lyrics to “Sympathy” and marvel at how spot on and even prescient the song is.
Here is one particular verse from the song that seems to especially capture the zeitgeist right now …
Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails
Just call me Lucifer
‘Cause I’m in need of some restraint
Great reference. In the song Satan “can’t get no satisfaction” (to borrow from another Stones song) because he can’t get sufficient recognition and acknowledgement of “his game” — of his mastery of events or, rather, his attempt to turn everything inside-out.. “Tell me, baby, what’s my name?” he asks continually, pleadingly. Hence his need for “sympathy.” He’s a loser.
Do we see this frustration among today’s leftists? Unable to get Trump and Trumpism canceled — by one-sided media bias, by legal prosecution (Mueller, etc.) by two attempts at impeachment, by social-media censorship, by a cooked-up narrative about “insurrection,” by reversing immigration policy and every other policy associated with Trump, by attempting to replace local police forces with a “national” force — they still can’t quite get it done, any more than Satan could completely cancel the light of truth.
Glenn,
Excellent…don’t know if you caught up on these two recruiting videos…one for the Russian Army and one for the USA Army…pathetic.
BLIND – Bill Whittle
Regards,
Don Runkle
An interesting juxtaposition, to be sure: in one corner, toxic masculinity; in the other, a woman with two mothers.
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As Ronald Reagan once said, To Thine Own Self Be True. That means being honest. That means being the same person you once were as a child, before the world entered. Prayers.
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou O Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, by the power of God, cast into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.