Quite naturally as soon as I learned of Pope Benedict’s decision concerning “exorcism squads” the first thought that occurred to me was he should begin by exorcising the pervert priests preying on children within the ranks of the Roman Church. But, I don’t really expect that to happen. A “tradition” of centuries is difficult to circumvent, and I would expect women to be ordained to the priesthood before the child molesters be exorcised by whatever means.

But in regard to evil far from being lollipops and rainbows life is ghastly and utterly without significance for billions of people, a literal purgatory or even a living hell on earth in many parts of the world, even here in America, and the need of a world dictator to end the suffering and bring healing and order out of the chaos is making itself urgently known. And whether from heaven or hell, many are saying “Let him come forth!”

Christian fundamentalists have it such a leader will appear in the “End Times,” the “Man of Sin” chosen of Satan who will come forth promising peace and safety to the nations of the world only to turn out to be the very personification of evil incarnate, and once given power his reign will be given over to unparalleled death and destruction worldwide. But the harbingers of this Man of Sin, this world ruler, are already being seen throughout the world, and even in the cities throughout America.

Here in America it takes a little getting used to, the idea that once gangs take over neighborhoods they offer law, order, and protection to the residents. Most of the major cities of America, even including cities like Bakersfield here locally, have such “protected” neighborhoods where the gangs rule and the police are the common enemy. You see, organized crime in America has never gone away; but with drugs taking the place of alcohol during prohibition the Al Capone’s continue to do business as usual. And neighborhoods where the various gangs are in control come under the protection of these gangs. It’s all about “business,” and the honest citizens know the police are unable to protect them wherever the gangs do business; so even the honest and law-abiding citizens as portrayed in “The Godfather” must look to gangs and their leaders for protection and justice.

The Godfather’s problems would have been minimized had there been a TV in every living room when he started out. But by the time his son Michael Corleone took over following WWII there was enough known about the corruption in our government for him to be able to tell Kay she was naïve to think the Mafia operated any differently. And now with TV being the medium portraying how evil and corrupt our own government is, the point is made indelibly clear that honesty and attempts to be law-abiding really is for chumps and losers, that if people really want protection and justice, to live peaceably with one another they had best look to The Godfather and his representatives and enforcers, not politicians and their lackeys. And so it is going throughout the major cities of America as various gangs fill the vacuum created by a corrupt government at all levels, while TV beamed into every living room in America declares the truth of this.

It’s an interesting conundrum TV presents to all of us as we view the human misery of the homeless and mentally ill dumped into the streets of America, the mounting problems of crime and poverty while at the same time wealthy politicians that have never known want, have never known the misery of poverty or their children raped or murdered parade across the screen uttering inanities totally irrelevant to the mounting crises here in our nation. And no one in the entire world can miss the “let them eat cake” mentality of these politicians since we all know none of them intend to do the things necessary to put the needs and interests of We the People ahead of their own personal interests born of their lust for power, their greed and corruption. Nothing will be done to secure our borders and expel illegal aliens, nothing will be done to stop the theft of ID’s and Social Security numbers of legitimate American citizens. The only thing we can anticipate is politicians will feather their own nests heedless of what happens to the Great Unwashed of America while further enslaving us by laws politicians and their corporate bosses will continue to flaunt and ignore with impunity.

There might come a time as the Bible records that Satan may become desperate knowing his time is short. Revelation 12:12: Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. But in the book of Job, Satan says he only walks up and down in the earth, and in I Peter he is described as a roaring lion, but only walking about seeking whom he may devour, which would explain the remark in Job “Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward,” and it would appear Satan is used to a leisurely stroll going about doing his evil work rather than running around in a furious and desperate hurry throughout the earth.

It makes sense when you think about it. As the best of good works require time and planning for success, just so with evil. And it seems the Devil is a good planner, taking his time and choosing his servants carefully. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Evil One originated the phrase “Haste makes waste.”

December 7, 1941 galvanized America and we came together as one people to meet the Axis foes. 9/11 did not do this because America had already become a divided nation too fragmented to come together, a nation fragmented by entitlements of all descriptions demanding unearned bread of our Federal Caesar, and we did not have leaders that were even willing to name our Muslim enemies. It seems to me this is going to be America’s undoing; we fit too well the description of Babylon in Revelation and our real enemies are those that have the rule over us, politicians and their corporate bosses none of whom are interested in America’s future, only their own.

Well, that future politicians and their corporate bosses envision is globalization, a global empire if you will, which means there is no intention whatsoever on the part of politicians to secure the borders of America, but quite the contrary. It is here where, in my opinion, the Devil proves his patience and careful planning. But if not the work of the Devil, certainly the work of those wealthy and powerful who believe they should be ruling an empire, not just America: “Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven” very well describes demonic thinking demons or no; but “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”

As a friend and I were recently discussing this scenario, we both understood every Caesar, every tyrant and despot must have their “Praetorian Guard,” those they can trust to secure their lives. This is the weakness of all tyrants and despots, that they must eventually trust someone with their lives; and it is this weakness the book of Revelation says will lead to Satan’s downfall. But in the meantime it explains why so many live that really need killing, those like Stalin, Hitler et al. that cause so much suffering of humanity without any remorse for their actions. The servants of Satan enjoy his protection, he takes care of his own; but even his own turn on each other when the threat is great enough. And when Satan himself is threatened and realizes his time is short, well, you can read all about it in the last book of the Bible.

Thankfully it all turns out well in the end, but it’s going to be a literal hell on earth in the meantime whether of Satan or men. And it does seem a world dictator is on the horizon whether the Biblical Man of Sin or enthroned by force of worsening world circumstances demanding such a man to take control, and the UN may presage such a man coming to power.

In the end, personally for all of us it is a matter of beliefs. I continue to have my own personal beliefs included in which is reliance on the Bible as a source for many things when it comes to matters of beliefs, some of which are unorthodox in the extreme. However, whatever system of belief you rely on and find comfort in there is still evil to confront, and whenever in our power to do so to overcome. But the fact that gangs throughout America and elsewhere in the world seem to have become a necessary evil should be a sign to prepare for worse yet to come, especially when I consider the “candidates” presently running for the Oval Office making it easy for me to believe the winner will be Satan’s choice.