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Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a

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moment of truth where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith.

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And today, in this election season, when it's not always easy to tell the righteous from the wicked,

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the good from the bad, we want to focus today a little bit on what does evil government look like

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and how can we spot it? How can we know it when we see it? Now, few people have done a more thorough

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job of portraying the classic struggle between good and evil in our generation, at least in my

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opinion, than George Lucas in Star Wars. Is anything more clearly evil than the Dark Empire

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ruled by Emperor Palpatine, who was a fallen Jedi Knight, Darth Sidious? If all evil governments were

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as transparently wicked as the Empire with dust stars, pale faceless stormtroopers, devilish creature,

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rulers, one who's a half man, half machine in black plastic, whose every breath sounds as if it comes

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through a dysfunctional respirator, that's Darth Vader, and the other a dwarf warlock in a black

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hood, that's Emperor Palpatine. Why, if we could spot evil government like this, it'd be no problem

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to say, that's an evil government. But once we understand that these movies are not only rollicking

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good tales that entertain and spellbind us, but also they are vivid, tangible pictures of intangible

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spiritual realities that are spiritually discerned. Once we recognize this, we're able to look for the

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truths, the principles, the realities, and then apply them to our time. Now, I admire Lucas for his

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commitment to study the ancient myths of history in order to create one that fast-forwards into the

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future of space. Lucas was a close friend of Joseph Campbell. Now, some of you may recognize him as a

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mythologist, the author of books like Masks of God and The Hero with a Thousand Faces, and Campbell

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incorporated these things. Lucas incorporated what he learned from Campbell in our DNA regarding good and

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evil that last week we saw to be natural law. Evil can be crisply biblically defined. Here is my

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short definition of evil, and I've taken this once again, just telescope this from men like Lucas and

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Campbell and other writers that we'll explore here a little bit later today. Evil, the active personal

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state of the soul consciously set against God and his program characterized by narcissism, rebellion,

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and deceit. This is evil, a short definition of evil. The active personal state of the soul

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consciously set against God and his program characterized by narcissism, rebellion, and deceit.

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Yet without the stark contrast of the absolute good personified in the living God of the Bible,

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evil, no satisfactory definition of evil can be obtained or seen. All other definitions descend into

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triviality or relativism, like William James' definition of evil without God. Evil is a disease,

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he said, which became the byword of modern psychiatry. And I submit to you, dear listener,

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behold, the fruit of such treatment in the 20th century, which is perhaps the most evil century in

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history. The only true account of an active personal state of the soul is a personification

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of evil, the supernatural creature, the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil or Satan,

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as Revelation 21 verse 2 says. Just as all good men take as their model of life and behavior the God of

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righteousness who made them, so all evil men, that is those who have given themselves over to serving

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wickedness, take as their model of life and behavior the Lord of evil who has seduced them.

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Good and evil do not contend on a neutral evolutionary stage, but rather within the grand

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pageant of history, a history that the Bible assures us will be found victorious by the eternal God of

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the Bible who will defeat the created being, Satan. The devil who deceived them was thrown into the

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lake of burning sulfur, the Bible says, where the beast and the false prophet have been thrown.

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They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. This is the ultimate end of evil. But until

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then, we human beings contend upon this stage of history, good versus evil, righteousness versus

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wickedness, God versus Lucifer. And before we can properly combat evil without becoming evil ourselves,

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we must have a clear and distinct definition of evil. The active personal state of the soul

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consciously set against God and his program, characterized by narcissism, rebellion, and

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deceit. In this regard, note with me, I speak here of a deep theological evil in which some men

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willingly go to hell, consciously practice evil, exultantly indulge in what they know in their

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super ego to be wickedness, knowing full well they serve a Lord at war with God. I also want to

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emphasize with you that evil is characterized by narcissism. Satan is absorbed in self. His minions are

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likewise absorbed in self. When God created that sweet angel of light, Lucifer, the Bible says, you were

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the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, anointed a guardian cherub, blameless in all

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your ways, the Bible says. And like Lucifer, the narcissist cannot put down the mirror. He cannot put down the

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megaphone speaking of himself, and he cannot tolerate any put down either of what he is and what he does.

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Also, evil is characterized by rebellion. Satan was a rebel against God from the beginning.

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Revelation tells us that there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon,

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and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in

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heaven. The dragon being Satan. The great dragon was hurled down, that ancient serpent called the devil

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or Satan who leads the whole world astray. As Revelation 12 tells us, and ever since, evil men

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are opponents of God and his program. Rebels against righteousness, rebels against the good,

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rebels against the salvation offered to lost mankind. Well, evil is not only rebellion and narcissism,

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but evil is also characterized by lies and deceit. Jesus got it right when he said that the devil is

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a liar and the father of lies. The devil lied to our first parents, Adam and Eve, and the devil persists

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in lying to his subsequent children, you and me. The devil promises life and blessing and truth and

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delivers only death, curse, and lies. He masquerades as an angel of light, as Paul says,

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but brings only spiritual darkness. All Christians owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. M. Scott Peck,

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from whom I have derived part of my definition of evil. M. Scott Peck, who was a psychiatrist who

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wrote what still must be considered the definitive modern perspective on evil, people of the lie,

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the hope for healing human evil, unquote. The title of M. Scott Book's classic book,

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People of the Lie. Dr. Peck is a Christian and professional psychiatrist. He's not afraid to

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look into the human soul and say, there is evil there. Peck has done pioneering work in defining

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for the modern mind the nature not only of evil in the individual soul, but also that of the group,

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which I want to focus on here today. Groups commit evil. How could an entire nation like early 20th

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century Germany visit upon the earth the atrocities of World War II and the Holocaust? How could the

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small ruling circle of the Soviet Union's Politburo under Joseph Stalin perpetuate the evils of famine

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and war and torture, confinement in the gulags, and sheer brutal murder of some 56 million of its own

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citizens? And how could Army C Company of 1st Battalion under Lieutenant William Calley slaughter

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defenseless men, women, and children of the village of Mai Lai in Vietnam in 1968? This latter group

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action was the purview of then Army psychiatrist M. Scott Peck. In his research, Peck analyzed the

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psychology of group dynamics, which we apply to government, group dynamics. And he came to some

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startling and revealing conclusion as to how and why an individual who would shrink from committing

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evil as an individual, nevertheless willingly, enthusiastically commit evil as part of a

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group. This is why governments commit evil. Peck points out, number one, individuals in groups and

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governments experience a fragmentation of conscience, a fragmentation of conscience. Individuals in groups

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and governments experience a fragmentation of their conscience. Each individual within the group

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contributes to the overall purpose of the group with his or her own specialized role. That might be

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confiscation of the public's wealth in the Internal Revenue Service, seizure and control of the public's

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resources in the Environmental Protection Agency, or maybe propagandistic control of the media by the

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Federal Communications Commission. All these kinds of government actions implicit within the very nature of a

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group task is a diffusion of the responsibility amongst all the members of the group, leading to

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what Peck describes as a fragmentation of conscience. Under such circumstances, Peck says it becomes both

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possible and easy for the individual to pass the moral buck to some other part of the group. Peck goes on to

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say, in this way, not only does the individual forsake his conscience, but the conscience of the group as a

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whole can become so fragmented and diluted as to be non-existent. Unquote. A non-existent conscience

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in government. Evil becomes no longer the exception of government, but the rule, the norm, the expected of

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every member of the group. Thus, the Internal Revenue Service can target political enemies for audit and

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status denials without conscience. The ATF, the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Bureau can slaughter

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men, women, and children in a holocaust at Waco without conscience. And your military will be used

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against you, dear listener, as it was in Ferguson, Missouri, the citizen to brutalize and terrorize your

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home, family, and business without conscience. The fragmentation of conscience is a tactic employed by

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government leaders for centuries, and it is happening here, dear listener. Your government and all of its

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bureaus and agencies and SWAT teams and police and tactical units are being groomed to plunder, abuse, and

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tyrannize you with a fragmented conscience. Secondly, Peck also points out that narcissism not only

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characterizes individuals, but government agencies issuing in evil defensive actions. Narcissism plays a role in

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government as well. One of Peck's most concise and effective insights is that of the narcissism of

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the evil personality, whether individual or collective, as in the Soviet Union's Politburo,

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the Jewish Sanhedrin that crucified Jesus, or even President Obama's White House staff,

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the narcissism resident within these groups. Narcissism is love of and desire for the self.

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It is egotism personified, the beautiful youth of Greek mythology, Narcissus, who ignores his equally

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beautiful female consort in order to gaze with love and desire at his own reflection in the surface

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of a pool. Narcissus eventually falls into the pool and drowns, highly emblematic of the emotional and

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spiritual effect of narcissism. The narcissist is unable to see beyond the importance and exaltation

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of anyone or anything than himself. He must have Greek pillars at his nomination. He must have fainting

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women at his speeches. He must have fawning sycophants in the media who get a thrill up their leg.

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All must be sacrificed to the narcissist's needs and desires. The narcissist cannot put down the mirror,

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cannot put down the megaphone speaking of himself, and he cannot tolerate any put down either of what

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he is and what he does. No whiff of criticism or rejection can be tolerated, especially critical

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media, which we must monitor and control. Rage and tears and stammering protest, excuse-making,

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it's George Bush's fault. Blame-setting, it's still George Bush's fault. And brooding fury

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characterized the response of the narcissist to criticism. Perhaps the most fearful aspect of the

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narcissistic personality is an inability for empathy, the impossibility of putting oneself in

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another's place to imagine their human experience, empathy. For example, the five to six million people

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who have lost health insurance because of Obamacare, the narcissist is so self-absorbed that he cannot

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imagine another feeling, another suffering, another in pleasure, pain, happiness, or misery other than

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himself. All that is real is how they experienced these things. Idi Amin and Saddam Hussein were two

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torturers who were said to be incapable of imagining their victims as human beings, feeling pain while if

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experienced in a paper cut or burn from a match themselves would howl in pain and demand immediate

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sympathy and treatment. Such narcissism is labeled malignant narcissism and is characteristic of the

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evil personality. One of Peck's insights is that government agencies and groups also experience this

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phenomenon as well. In fact, he calls it the most powerful group cohesive force. Peck says that as the

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members feel proud of their group, so the group feels proud of itself, unquote. A variety of means are used

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by leaders of groups to foster this pride, lavish internal revenue service retreats. We've seen film

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of this where ridiculous childish skits portray the agency as heroic in American society or perhaps the

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sure thing rage staged by the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Bureau upon innocent families in a religious

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compound in Waco, Texas that would burnish the agency's image ostensibly. One of the most significant

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elements of the malignant narcissism found within government agencies is that which Peck calls

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enemy creation, quote-unquote, or hatred of the out-group, quote-unquote. The potential for evil is

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very great here. Enemy creation. Peck says the best way to cement group cohesiveness is to ferment the

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group's hatred of an external enemy. Deficiencies within the group can be easily and painlessly

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overlooked by focusing attention on the deficiencies or sins of the out-group, like the American public.

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Almost any malevolent act can be committed here. Once the enemy has been created, the out-group

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identified, and so the gas chambers in the ovens were justified by the Nazis for the Jews, the lynch

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mob was justified by the Ku Klux Klan for the Negro, and the SWAT team is justified by homeland security

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for the Tea Party. Enemy creation, out-group identification, fosters pride in the government

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agency. It bolsters the narcissism of the federal group. Behold your future, America. We already

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observe a growing, metastasizing cancer of a federal leviathan, convinced it is God's gift to the

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American people. Narcissism at its overweening height. Your parasitic federal government, sleeping

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American public, is increasingly self-absorbed, self-justified, and self-sustained from the host

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of the body politic of the American people. Well, number three, not only is it narcissistic evil,

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not only is it rebellious evil, evil is characterized by the soul of rebellion against God and his

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program. Evil is characterized by the soul of rebellion against God and his program. Wired into the

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very soul of the first president of man after his creator was the character of the rebel. There was

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war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought

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back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. Ever since the so-called

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light-bearer, Lucifer, has led the followers in rebellion all against for which God stands. And this

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includes individuals, but also it includes governments. It's not the history of human

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government, the history of rebellion against God. Ever since the construction of the Tower of Babel,

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which was, in fact, the first government works project, ever since the Tower of Babel, the general

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run of human government is opposed to God and his kingdom. Michael Bakunin, the Russian Marxist

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anarchist who worked for a short time on behalf of the Russian Revolution, he declared brazenly,

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the evil one is the satanic revolt against divine authority. Satan, the eternal rebel, the first

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freethinker, the emancipator of worlds. How Bakunin captures incisively the spirit of the progressive.

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It is precisely as Bakunin characterizes it, the spirit of the progressive, the satanic revolt

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against divine authority. That which God asserts, the progressive denies. That which God declares

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righteous, the progressive declares wicked. That which God declares just, the progressive declares

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unjust. God declares, you shall have no other gods before me, while the progressive declares any god,

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but the god of the Bible will do. God says, you shall not murder, while the progressive says,

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you shall abort your child. God says, you shall not commit adultery, while the progressive says,

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you shall do it with anyone, anywhere, anytime, and with any species, gender, or number of creatures

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imaginable. God says, you shall not steal, while the progressive says, the government may inflate your

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currency, tax to the max your earnings, and borrow against your, your children's, and your children's

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children's future. God says, you shall not lie to your neighbor, while the progressive says,

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if you like your health plan, you can keep it, period. If you like your doctor, you can keep

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him, period. God says, you shall not covet your neighbor's stuff. While the progressive says,

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your neighbor has more than you, it's not fair. Let me help you get it through government

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redistribution. So, whatever God says, evil government will say the opposite in rebellion to

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God's plan. One blatant exponent of progressive tactics is a man named Saul Alinsky, who wrote

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Rules for Radicals. In this book, Alinsky outlines perhaps the most successful path to power ever

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designed by the evil human mind. In fact, not coincidentally, Rules for Radicals is dedicated

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to Lucifer, the first rebel. Alinsky and his lackeys are true to the form of their rebellious father.

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In order to bring about the Marxist paradise envisioned by the progressive, he must first,

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as Alinsky says, stir up dissatisfaction and discontent with the things, with the way things

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are, no matter how good the people may have it. They must be persuaded of their misery, the people,

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real or imagined. And the community organizer, recognize that term, the community organizer must

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agitate to the point of conflict with the powers that be. The community organizer, as Barack Obama learned

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in Chicago, must dramatize injustices. He must make trouble by stirring up angers, frustration,

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and resentments, Alinsky says, quote unquote. Here is the work of Satan and the rebel. Although

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America was the land of opportunity for all men, the progressive nevertheless practices evil by

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deliberately fostering covetousness in the hearts of the people, such that they are prepared to rebel

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against godly government. Behold the disciples of such a man, both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton,

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who wrote her master's thesis on Saul Alinsky. Well, number four, when government becomes evil,

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it is characterized by lies. Number four, when government becomes evil, it is also characterized by

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lies, not only narcissism and rebellion, but lies. Jesus was spot on when he unmasked the true father of

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corrupt government. There is no truth in him, Jesus said. When he lies, he speaks his native language,

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for he is a liar and the father of lies, unquote. And Dr. Peck also discovered this about the nature of

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evil. He said, and I quote, lying is simultaneously one of the symptoms and one of the causes of evil,

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one of the blossoms and one of the roots, unquote. Very perceptive. One of the greatest antidotes to evil

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is the truth. If Satan is unmasked as mankind's enemy rather than his friend, the game is over.

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But as it stands, his lies to mankind have been quite successful, especially to those who seek

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power. What an irresistible bauble for so many men, power. Do you remember one of the three temptations

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of Christ? Satan said to Christ, I will give you authority over all the kingdoms of the world

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and their splendor for has been given to me and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship

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me, it will all be yours. Oh, such is the blandishment by which Satan has dazzled the souls of so many

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pharaohs and his priests of Egypt, kings and popes of Europe, presidents and illumined ones of our own

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day. Satan is the father of lies and the apples do not rot far from the tree, listener, for his disciples

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also lie. It is their native language. Ed Klein, in his book, The Amateur, about Obama, recounts the

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interview he conducted with Reverend Wright. Obama to Wright. You know what your problem is. You have

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to tell the truth. Because Wright's a preacher, of course. Obama was saying this to him. The faith

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leader maintained that this isn't a bad problem to have and that Obama, being a politician, is

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transformed into an individual who's not necessarily rooted in truth. Politicians don't have to tell the

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truth, Obama responded. Truth is what we say it is. Well, I somehow can't live with that, right, told

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Klein. That's why I could never be a politician. I think that the transformed Barack has become a

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politician, unquote, says the Reverend Wright. Therefore, we have the indignity of the litany of

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lies visited upon us by our evil president, insulting our intelligence that we should believe those lies.

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If you like your health plan, you can keep it, period. If you like your doctor, you can keep him,

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period. As now vindicated Congressman Joe Wilson exclaimed at Obama's first State of the Union speech,

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liar. My White House has no knowledge that the Internal Revenue Service was targeting conservatives

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before the 2012 elections. We certainly were not coordinating with them. In the words of Congressman

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Wilson, liar. The Benghazi attack upon our consulate, resulting in the death of four Americans, was the

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result of an anti-Muslim video and not a terror attack. In the word of Congressman Wilson, liar.

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America has always had Israel's back and we will do all that is necessary to prevent Iran from

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developing nuclear weapons. Ha! In the word of Congressman Wilson, liar. Time prevents us from

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cataloging all of these lies. That would take at least another full message. Suffice it to say that when

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government becomes evil, it is characterized by lies and deceit. Secrecy is the oxygen of evil. Lies are

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the currency of evil, that in which evildoers buy and sell amongst the deceived. And then deceit is

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the disguise in which evil seems to be other than it is. All of this we see before us today in the

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federal dragon, the Leviathan, the beast in Washington, D.C. before us. Well, what are we to do,

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dear believer? How do we combat such evil? Or can we? Well, know this. Our battle is first and

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foremost a spiritual battle. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,

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authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the

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heavenly realms, Paul says. Or in modern parlance of the secret societies is against the dragons,

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wizards, and warlocks. Therefore, use the spiritual weapons that are provided you, listener,

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the Bible, a life of righteousness and goodness, and be prepared with the gospel of peace on your

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tongue. In this way, you will be, as that spiritual warrior Paul put it, strong in the Lord and in his

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mighty power. These weapons have been provided you courtesy of Christ's labors on the cross, so use

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them. A favorite saying of the evil practitioners of Marxism is the maxim of Chairman Mao. Political power

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comes out of the barrel of a gun. But know this, O Christian, spiritual power comes out of the blood

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of the cross. It is the only weapon that will defeat evil. And unless evil is destroyed in the

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heavenly realms in spiritual government, it will continue to thrive on the physical plane in human

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government. And conversely, unless evil is destroyed in human government on the physical plane, you will

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preach only a partially applied gospel. So preach Christ applied. Victory is certain, listener,

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though difficult, but know whose you are. The reason, John says, the apostle, the reason the Son of God

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appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. So be about using these spiritual weapons to destroy

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the evil around us and its spiritual power first, and then and only then will you begin to see change

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in the physical realm, the places of political, social, and cultural power. This has been Pastor David

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Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. We meet for holy worship at 10 a.m. on Sunday at 101

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4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. Come and see us. Come and visit us. Come out of the

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shadows. You know you need to be with us. We meet for holy worship 10 a.m. on Sunday, 101 4th Street

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on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. Call us at 523-0196 for more information and feedback, 523-0196.