The war on God and on truth is raging, and the enemy is working overtime. The next logical step in this progression of darkness is the increase of spiritual warfare and more attacks on believers.
Christian US Navy veteran Michael Cassidy was recently charged with a hate crime for dismantling a statue of Satan at the Iowa Capitol around Christmas time last year. So, dismantling a Satanic display is a hate crime, but vandalizing or toppling statues of America’s Founding Fathers or shooting Christian kids and teachers at a school isn’t a hate crime?
That’s right – in today’s Democrat-run government. Many are outraged at the hypocrisy of an injustice system that punishes someone like Michael Cassidy while allowing radicals and Marxist activists to attack Christians, churches, police, or traditional values every day.
But make no mistake, this is an attack on Jesus and the biblical worldview. What is frustrating to lots of people is the glaring inconsistency in the application of the law. Most likely, if a Christian statue was dismantled, there would be few or no consequences. What we’ve been seeing recently is believers are disproportionately prosecuted and punished for minor offenses like praying outside an abortion business.
The 35-year-old Cassidy responded to his charges in an interview at The Sentinel saying:
“The world may tell Christians to submissively accept the legitimization of Satan, but none of the founders would have considered government sanction of Satanic altars inside Capitol buildings as protected by the First Amendment; …“Anti-Christian values have steadily been mainstreamed more and more in recent decades, and Christians have largely acted like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot of water.”
If you missed the story, the creative and demonic display featured a caped figure that looked like a ram-headed Baphomet, candles, and a list of the “seven fundamental tenets” of the Satanic Temple. Iowa’s Republican Governor, Kim Reynolds defended the Satanic Temple because their display represented “free speech and religious freedom.”
Originally, in December, Cassidy turned himself in and was cited for criminal mischief in the fourth degree and released.
Let’s talk for a minute about the transgender Nashville shooter who specifically targeted Christian children and was not labeled a hate crime. What about the billions of dollars of damage and multiple deaths caused by the anti-Christian, anti-family, Marxist-driven BLM (Black Lives Matter Global Foundation Network) across the U.S. a few years ago?
Also responding to the story, Libs of TikTok noted:
“Violent activists tore down dozens of statues including Columbus, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. None were held accountable or charged with a hate crime. Michael Cassidy knocks over a Satan statue made out of household items and gets charged with a hate crime. Welcome to America’s 2-tier-justice system. The police state made it clear who they worship. Wokeness and Satanism is the new religion.”
A local news outlet reported that the legal claim against Cassidy is now a third-degree criminal mischief charge, a class D felony, and he will be arraigned February 15.
Some conservative news sources pointed out other recent events, including a federal court finding six pro-life activists guilty of peacefully demonstrating inside a late-term abortion clinic. This begs the question, what are the priorities of government officials who seem to be taking sides according to their worldview?
The Satanic Temple of Iowa was thrilled about the victory and, in a statement, said they “carry with us a sense of accomplishment and a renewed commitment to advocating for religious pluralism and freedom of speech.” Cassidy has raised over nearly $120,000 for his defense fund on GiveSendGo.
This story is another reminder that our struggle is not against flesh and blood; it is a spiritual battle, and we should not be silent or sit on the sidelines. The war on God and on truth is raging, and the enemy is openly advancing.
The next logical step in this progression of darkness is the increase of attacks on believers and spiritual warfare. A new report from the Family Research Council’s Center for Religious Liberty documents new incidents of persecution against Christians in the West and states,
“As the mainstream culture moves further and further away from a Christian worldview, Christian beliefs that contradict progressive secular values are increasingly denounced by the culture and wrongly portrayed as being hateful or bigoted.”
The culture war and public square controversies often come down to religious freedom and the censoring of the biblical worldview. It revolves around our ability as Christians in the West to speak openly about controversial or “political” issues, meaning issues of morality. The Bible clearly contradicts pop culture, government, media, the education system, and mainstream secular orthodoxy on many issues of concern.
Though not nearly exhaustive, here is a sampling of incidents from last year in the U.S. alone from the FRC report:
- An Ohio pastor being fined for allowing homeless to sleep in his church;
- A Texas church being charged excessive fees by a county utility company and seeing those fees doubled after the church noted its tax-exempt status;
- The Oklahoma attorney general suing a virtual school board for approving a publicly-funded [religious] charter school;
- An Oregon couple being denied a foster care license due to their biblical views on sex and gender;
- A California library cancelling a Moms for Liberty event when a speaker expressed biblical views on gender and biology;
- A Georgia church being threatened with fines for hosting a car show as a form of community outreach;
- A Christian school in Colorado being denied a religious exemption from a pro-LGBT state discrimination law;
- An Oregon church being threatened with fines for providing free meals to the homeless;
- A school counselor in Indiana being fired for speaking out against her school district’s preferred pronoun policy;
- A Vermont Christian school being barred from a state tuition program for upholding biblical values on sex and gender;
- A Christian high school coach (also in Vermont) being fired for saying that there’s a biological difference between men and women;
- An Arizona elementary school district ending a teaching partnership with Arizona Christian University;
- A California teacher being fired for refusing to comply with a policy hiding students’ gender transitions from parents; and
- A Colorado cake shop owner being sued for refusing to make cakes celebrating gender transitions, Satanism, or marijuana use.
I hope you are not surprised by any of this. We can be disappointed, sure, but these are signs of the times as well as consequences of nations, governments, and individuals turning their back on truth and the only living God.
The good news is Jesus is Lord and truth wins, but believers in churches across the country have to decide how to respond in these last days. The biblical remnant is small but strong, and we need to rally more troops and be true ambassadors of Christ.
