Part One
We all remember studying the long conflict between Rome and Carthage over control of Sicily, the Mare Nostrum (Mediterranean), and ultimately North Africa (364 BC – 146 BC). Who can forget the image of Hannibal crossing the Alps on his elephant cavalry (218 BC), and the prolonged and final siege of Carthage (146 BC). Both empires were ancient powerhouses and the clashes between them shaped the world even until today.
When Scipio Africanus began his final campaign against Carthage, his goal was to end this persistent menace to Rome once and for all and return home a hero with as many captives/slaves as possible. As the final siege of Carthage dragged on, the residents of Carthage decided to make sacrifices to their god, Moloch. This demon had a particular taste for children, babies, even the unborn, corrupting them, sexual rituals with them, and even killing them as sacrifices. As the siege continued, the Carthaginians rounded up all their children, living and as-yet-to-be born, and sacrificed them. The Carthaginians also killed the few Roman soldiers that they had captured during the long campaign. The bodies of those sacrificed were then thrown over the walls for the Roman soldiers to see. Hundreds of thousands of them. A short time later, the Romans breached the walls of the city, and enraged at seeing the slain innocents, systematically went through Carthage killing every man and woman they came across. There were no children. Scipio’s dreams of wealth from the sale of vast numbers of slaves were dashed in the rage of his uncontrollable troops. In the end, the entire city was killed, some 700,000 individuals, save around 50,000 survivors who were carried back to Rome as slaves.
The opposite of what happened back at Carthage in 146 BC is now happening here in the United States. Now it is opposition to killing of unborn children that enrages some people. A few years ago, the topic of my Daily Reflection was the ongoing battle to save the unborn from abortion. A friend, a “practicing Catholic”, sought me out after Mass that Sunday and told me that as far as he was concerned, I could go to hell! I received an email with a similar message after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision on June 24, 2022 that effectively overturned the legally flawed Roe v. Wade decision from a half-century ago (January 22, 1973). This individual told me that I would “suffer” for my stance against abortion. A few days later, St. Colman Catholic Church, an historic church located in Dillon, West Virginia, was burned to the ground by abortion supporters. At least 436 churches have been fire-bombed since the Dobbs decision.
How did our society get to this point? It has been a prolonged campaign waged by Moloch (and Baal, and a host of other demons) against God and against us. It is a relentless war to corrupt us by subtly attacking the innocence of our children. It is all about corrupting our children so that when they grow up, they are numbed and weakened to the attacks of the devil. We have stopped teaching our children about morality and sin, we even teach them about tolerance of sin in their midst, and we have failed to protect our children from sexual exploitation.
I grew up in the midst of the sexual revolution. I remember when I was a teenager attending a youth group meeting at our church. Our pastor was giving a talk on sex and morality to a mixed group of boys and girls. At the end of the talk, a girl raised her hand. She asked, “I don’t understand why it is a sin for me to sleep with my boyfriend if I really love him.” She was fourteen. Monsignor replied, to open laughter from his students, “Of course there is no sin for you to sleep with your boyfriend if you both love each other. The problem is that your boyfriend won’t want to sleep!” It was a joke, but not really. It told the state of our society back then that teenagers having sex was expected and tolerated.
I remember when my niece was a young girl that she received a video tape (remember video tape?) of a movie that was popular at the time. The cover of the video tape featured a beautiful fairy tale castle that featured prominently in the movie. It was sometime later that one of her friends, a boy, pointed out that the turrets of the castle were actually four erect penises! All the kids knew it, but we adults were clueless. Sure enough, on closer examination of the cartoon drawing, that is exactly what they were! Clever joke.
In another feature length animated movie, there was a scene where the short, squat king was meeting the young female heroine for the first time. In slow motion, you can see a swelling in the crotch area of the king’s body. Those clever animators, working with the approval of Moloch and his buddies, made an innocent movie for children into a sexual joke.
A few years ago, we were treated to the story out of Sparks, Nevada (not far, by Nevada standards, from where I used to live in Fernley) about a group of Proud Boys breaking up a drag queen story hour for children at the Washoe County Public Library. What a fun way to introduce young children to the drag queen lifestyle and all that that entails. What were the parents thinking? What were the parents expecting? Little Johnny now wants to dress up in suggestive clothing and wear makeup. What a surprise—but I guess our tolerant society expects me to say that this behavior is OK. But I do wonder. Will Washoe County make that same library available for a Sunday prayer meeting?
To be continued.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!