The Sin Is Mightier than the Sword So We Need Lots of Figurative Swords in Our Time to Defeat the Monstrous Evil Overtaking Us.
Sin is mightier than too few figurative swords.
An enormous amount of creative energy is being expended daily, hourly, in writing and public speaking by the ethically-guided and intellectually-gifted sector among US citizens. Rosie O’Donnell, Adam Schiff, AOC, Bernie Sanders, Jasmine Crockett, Jamie Raskin, Elizabeth Warren, William Barber II, Melanie Stansbury, James Talarico. Thank you, amazing citizens. Maybe it’s because the mainstream media doesn’t give them voices any longer, but I am distressed that more Democrats are not more vocal the way these are.
Physical energy too is being invested at massive protests and small town meetings where lots of voters have gathered to confront their lawmakers, home for recess—as if recess isn’t the norm for most of them. I have so much admiration and appreciation for these people who unfortunately are setting themselves up as targets for ICE by expressing themselves so publicly. It’s scary; not a little scary—sometimes terrifying.
The courageous gifted writers and independent journalists publishing in my corner of Substack are nothing short of amazing. (They are so gifted and creative that they’d never have written a tired old phrase like “nothing short of,” but I’m tired.) There’s not any way to read even a little bit of what is offered there, or hear it, and feel uninformed. I am a bit intrigued noticing those among them who are discouraged getting a bit impatient with those who appear only to see good evolving in current events; and the opposite: those who want to keep it positive growing weary of what might be taken as doomsdayish.
Only three of the nine Supreme Court justices reliably rule in favor of those following the dictates of the Constitution of the United States. The other six under the weak weak leadership of Justice-Is-a-Joke John Roberts appear to have been bribed the way too many senators and members of Congress have been by Putin and others. They, the six, more than any others are responsible for Trump’s unbridled, successful grabs for dictatorial power.
We, all of us together, can’t keep up with Trump’s evil brushfires, and not for lack of trying. Small battles are won, but then offset by a new ploy, and the political leadership, the political power people, Republican and Democrat can’t or won’t—some of both—require anyone with a title or a following to honor the Constitution and obey laws.
The accessed Epstein files might weed out some of the demonic at work in this country, but certainly not all of it. And I’m not suggesting all the evil that has been cultivated for a very long time could go away in one fell swoop. We know it’s going to be a step at a time, but we need more steps; lots more. Perhaps there are steps that will have to be taken that no one has yet considered or at least spoken.
The book Christian Doctrine was written by Presbyterian scholar, Dr. Shirley Guthrie, who wrote more eloquently than I will here something to the effect that good will ultimately triumph in this world, but there will be many battles to fight before the big win. That insight has gotten me though some tough times, but I’m no longer convinced that his foundational premise here is correct—namely that good will ultimately win over evil.
Sensing that evil is winning over good much more often than good over evil is one of the very reasons doctrines of the afterlife developed among the ancient Hebrews and later by Christians once Christians were on the scene. Symbols of a full blown afterlife are central in Christian apoctalypticism such as the book of Revelation. In context, lots of people had given up on the idea that evil would ever lose out to good in this world. The afterlife would be the necessary time/place to get it all sorted out with everyone—good and evil— finally getting her or his just desserts.
As to specifics, for example, vile Roman Emperor Domitian in 15 of the last twenty years of the first century was the key evil force, beyond bloodthirsty; and the examples of goodness were of all people the very ones he had martyred whose singular “crime” had been their refusal to worship publicly statues of the Emperor. Hmmm. In the book of Revelation, among the countless symbols, the number 6 indicates imperfection. If you put three 6’s side by side, imperfection becomes evil. What if we put six 6’s side by side? 666666; a symbol for the evil justices on the modern Supreme Court!!!!!! (Six exclamation points here for effect)
While the book of Revelation was always and only about giving Christians hope as Domitian appeared to be wiping out them and their faith movement, the fact that in what felt like the worst of times at several points in human history many readers of Revelation saw parallels between their losses to evil and Revelation, some deciding that it was actually written originally to predict what they were experiencing, doesn’t make that the case. It was not written for any time but its own, though contemporary scripture readers should absolutely use it as a jumping off point for pondering parallels. It is interesting to note, yes?, that tyrants in almost any context and point in time have eerie traits in common. For now, I’ll say it this way: the sin is mightier than the sword; thus, we’re going to need lots more figurative swords to win over evil in this generation.