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Three
Secret Strategies of Satan to destroy our Children, our Families,
our Culture, and our Church by John-Paul Ignatius, Legion of St. Michael
Edited
by the Rev. Msgr. Keith P. Steinhurst, P.A.
Nota
bene: this essay is similar to a longer treatise in a dogmatic
theology text written by a member of the Society of Jesus entitled -
Handbook for the Christian Religion. To this I would add two relevant
comments by His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now His Holiness
Benedict XVI, sic: "Truth is not determined by majority
vote" and "Unlimited trust should only be placed in the
real Word of the Revelation that we encounter in the faith
transmitted by the Church.")
Satan
has a secret. It is the secret about his three primary strategies to
destroy us. If Satan can convince our culture to adopt the philosophy
precipitated by these secret strategies he can brainwash our
children, disrupt our families, manipulate our culture, and bring
apostasy within the Church.
All
the problems that we see today in society and in our church can be
traced to these three fundamental strategies. It is the basis of the
politically correct movement and of the heresy of individualism.
These strategies are the fuel that powers feminism, the engine that
drives liberalism, and the vehicle of the post-modern worldview that
predominates our world today and that contaminates the Church.
These
three secret strategies are:
1.
All opinions are equal;
2.
Never judge anyone; and
3.
Never step on toes.
No
one escapes the sinister tentacles of these devilish doctrines; we
are all contaminated by these strategies-every one of us. The
question is not whether we are immune from these strategies, for we
are not; it is not whether we are indeed contaminated by them,
because we are; the only question is what are we going to do about
it? How are we to exorcize the contamination of this pervasive
worldview from our minds?
This
essay will present the first step, which is to recognize the
strategies for what they are.
1.
All Opinions are Equal:
The
modus operandi of today's mores is to believe that all opinions are
equal. Each person's opinion has the same dignity, deserves the same
respect, and is equally as valid as any other opinion.
This
is a demonic lie.
It
is a demonic lie because genuine opinion is necessarily related to
the virtue of Truth. Objective and fundamental truths are either true
or they are not; they cannot be both true and untrue at the same
time. Since those issues of faith and morals relate to objective
Truth, varying opinions about such issues cannot be equal. In fact,
some opinions are silly, some are better than others, and some are
just plain wrong.
Honest
opinion seeks to know the truth and to express it. To know the truth
we must know the One who is the Truth: "I am the way, and the
truth, and the life," declares Jesus, and through this Truth we
shall find freedom-freedom from sin and freedom from the slavery of
our limited understandings.
As
the Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 13:12: "For now we see in a
mirror dimly, but then [in heaven] face to face. Now I know in part;
then I shall understand fully."
Thus
we must rely not upon our own understanding, but upon God who
understands all:
"Trust
in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight
[understanding]. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make
straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eye." Proverbs
3:5-7 To rely upon God for understanding is to submit our will and
our opinions to the wisdom and understanding of God. Our opinion can
never be equal with God and thus our notion of truth cannot be
discerned except through God. To fool ourselves into thinking
otherwise, into thinking we can assert an opinion contrary to God's
"opinion" is utter arrogance and foolishness. The Bible
informs us:
Therefore
men fear him [God]; he does not regard any who are wise in their own
conceit. Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: "Who
is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your
loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if
you have understanding. Who determined its measurements - surely you
know! Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen
the gates of deep darkness? Have you comprehended the expanse of the
earth? Declare, if you know all this. Do you know the ordinances of
the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth? . Is it by
your wisdom that the hawk soars, and spreads his wings toward the
south? Job 37:24; 38:1-5a, 17-18; 38:33; 39:26
Where
is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this
age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For the
foolishness of God is wiser than men. 1 Corinthians 1:20, 25
O
Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the godless
chatter and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, for
by professing it some have missed the mark as regards the faith. 1
Timothy 6:20-21
God
is the only true reality and the only genuine Truth. Because of this
we learn:
1.
Our opinion has dignity only to the measure it conforms to the
"opinion" of God.
2.
Opinion has value only as it is consistent with Truth. Since God is
Truth that means we must submit to and obey God's Truth, God's
opinion, and not our own understanding.
3.
Opinion has value only as it serves to reveal Truth.
Therefore,
if two opinions are in competition, the opinion more closely aligned
with Truth is the better opinion, and the opinion that conforms to
God's opinion is the only right opinion.
How
do we know God's opinion? Christ made Peter his vicar with the
authority to infallibly declare upon issues of faith and morals. Thus
the Holy Spirit protects us, through the Magisterium of His Church
and the successor of Peter, from the capriciousness and enslavement
of personal opinion asserted independently and without obedience to
God and His Church.
Why
submit our opinion to the Church when God is Truth? Can we not
discern for ourselves what God's opinion might be? We must submit our
opinion to the Church because Christ gave the Church the authority to
guard His Truth. The Church by this appointment is the "pillar
and bulwark [foundation] of truth" as St. Paul tells us in 1
Timothy 3:15. Thus if opinion is to submit to truth, that is, if it
is to submit to God, then opinion must submit to the guardian and
pillar of that truth-the Church and God's Vicar, the Pope. We can now
see what is really one of the greatest spiritual wars we wage. It is
the war with us, with individual self-determined opinion. This is why
St. Paul declares:
For
though we live in the world we are not carrying on a worldly war,
for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power
to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle
to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey
Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience
is complete. . But we will not boast beyond limit, but will keep to
the limits God has apportioned us." 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, 13
Notice
what Paul identifies as this non-worldly weapon with divine power to
destroy strongholds -OBEDIENCE (taking every thought and opinion
captive under obedience to Christ). Need we say more? Let us put it
this way. You are in a taxi and the taxi crashes breaking your leg. A
bone is protruding from your leg. On the scene is the taxi driver who
barely knows first aid and a passer-by who happens to be an
orthopedic surgeon. Whose "opinion" has precedence over how
your leg will be treated? Does the taxi driver have an equal opinion
to the orthopedic surgeon? Does the taxi driver even have a right to
an opinion?
The
taxi driver trying to assert a contrary opinion against the
orthopedic surgeon's professional expertise is utter arrogant
foolishness; and to accept the taxi driver's opinion over the
surgeon's risks losing your leg or even your life.
Yet
even in obvious situations like the case of the taxi driver, or when
discussing the equally obvious objective Truth taught by the Church,
some in the midst of the argument will innocently say (usually to
politely dismiss a heretic who will not listen), "Well, let us
agree to disagree." This writer never does that when the issue
is an issue of fundamental truth. If we are talking about PC's versus
MACs we can agree to disagree, or preferences of apples over oranges
we can agree to disagree, though I think the opinion in favor of MACs
is misguided and I personally prefer apples. But if we are talking
about dogma, about the definitive teaching of the Church, about
objective truth, there can be no "agree to disagree."
To
"agree to disagree" with error is to grant to that error a
false recognition that it is somehow on the same level of dignity as
the Truth. Error is never on the same level of dignity with Truth.
Error has no dignity except as a possible motivator to lead us to the
Truth that we missed. But if we are not confronted in our error, how
can we be motivated to move toward Truth?
St.
Paul teaches us:
For
there are many insubordinate men, empty talker and deceivers. They
must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching
for base gain what they have no right to teach... therefore rebuke
them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, instead of giving
heed to Jewish myths or to commands of men who reject the truth.
Titus 1:13
I
charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to
judge the living and the dead, preach the word, be urgent in season
and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in
patience and in teaching. For a time is coming when people will not
endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate
for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away
from listening to the truth and wander into myths. 2 Timothy 4:2-4
Not
all opinion is equal.
In
these passages we have the clue as to why Satan wants us to believe
that all opinion is equal. If we believe in this doctrine of demons
we will then:
1.
Presume our opinions in arrogance above God (Job 37; 1 Corinthians 1);
2.
Miss the mark of our faith (1 Timothy 6);
3.
Fail to find obedience & thus allow Satan's strongholds in our
lives (2 Corinthians 10);
4.
Be a participant and accomplice to falsehood (Titus 1); and
5.
Deceive ourselves by listening only to those who tell us what we
want to hear (2 Timothy 4).
"Those
who tell the Truth love you. Those who tell you what you want to
hear love themselves." Mother Angelica
(continue
to page two of the article)
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