Christians, our true battle is spiritual, not political

This week I published my book, The Unholy Trinity. The first few lines of the book — particularly the first sentence — have already sparked a fair amount of reaction:

The first liberal was named Lucifer. He was an angel. He lived in Heaven millennia ago, before modern times, before ancient times, before time itself. He could still be there today if that’s what he’d chosen, but in his absurd and insatiable pride he would not bend his knee to the supreme will of God.

Non serviam. “I will not serve,” he said, wanting to love only himself.

Just like that, he and those who followed him were cast out of Paradise, down into the hideous depths of Hell, where he could reign over his pitiful kingdom of darkness. It was there, in the fires of damnation, that the philosophy of liberalism was born, although it wouldn’t be known by that name for many years. I’m telling a somewhat abbreviated version of the story, I realize.

It was this philosophy that led to the Fall of Man, when Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptations of the serpent and attempted to make themselves equal to God.

It was the philosophy behind every act of human evil throughout history, at the bottom of every atrocity. It’s the philosophy you would have found incubating in Sodom and Gomorrah amid the orgy of heathens, or in the Temple of Baal, where the pagans made human sacrifices as part of their barbaric fertility rituals and to ensure for themselves wealth and prosperity.

This philosophy has propelled all the great villains throughout history. It is the philosophy of Judas, of Nero, of Genghis Khan, of Adolf Hitler, of Hillary Clinton. The specifics of what these people all believed, and how they framed it around the political circumstances of the day, isn’t terribly relevant, for they desired the same thing and worshiped the same god: the self.

What we call “liberalism” in public discourse today is really just the worship of self. It is the categorical belief in the supremacy of the individual...Of course, we all lapse into selfishness at times — I often provide proof of that — but those who affirm the ultimate primacy of the self all share the same ideology. Their worship might manifest itself in different ways, but they’re all cut from the same cloth woven by the Devil himself eons ago.

I'm not just trying to be provocative here. This is a crucial point. Christians must understand that it is the Devil himself we are battling, not just Democrats. What makes this thing we call "modern liberalism" so dangerous is that it is not modern at all. It is nothing but the contemporary manifestation of an ancient evil. It is the current label we've given to the religion of self-worship, but this religion has existed on Earth ever since the fall of Man, and it originates with the very first being in the universe who decided to place himself above God. That's why I use the term "secular satanism" to describe liberalism in the book. After all, satanism is the worship of self, not the worship of Satan. The only thing that distinguishes the theological satanist from the secular satanist is that the latter follows Satan's lead without acknowledging that he exists, which is, as far as Satan is concerned, the ideal situation.

The only real difference between the self-worshipers of today and those of the past is that our satanists are so vast in number, so organized, so embedded in our institutions, and, due to these facts, they've been able to take the principle of self-worship to incredible and insane lengths. This is what lies at the foundation of the war on life, marriage, and gender. Those who believe in the supremacy of the self refuse to be subject to any moral or scientific law. Everything must be relative to their emotions and whims. The goal of the self-worshiper is to live in a world where "because I want to" is an argument that overrides everything, including reality itself.

Even those who've not been fully baptized into the religion of self-worship still have adopted many of its tenets. This is especially evident in the church, where many Christians have spent decades methodically combing through Scripture and disqualifying every teaching or edict or commandment that infringes too severely on their lifestyle. Some churches have made it so far into this process that now they've fallen entirely into the hands of Satan. Take, for instance, the churches that send pastors out to bless abortion clinics, and those that now ordain "transgender" pastors. Make no mistake: these are not Christian churches. They do not worship Christ at all. These are Satanic shrines; temples to the Self. If Christ were on Earth in physical form, he would walk into these churches with a whip and rip them apart.

And with the Religion of Self infecting even the church in America, it should be no surprise that "conservatism" — whatever it is, exactly — has fared no better. There are many who claim to be on our side, who are even paid to speak for our side, but who believe, ultimately, that all of our rights and liberties originate from within ourselves. They may agree with us about gun rights or taxes or whatever, but only out of self-interest, not out of any recognition of an inherent human dignity bestowed upon us by the Creator. They start from the same premise as the liberal, but they reach slightly different conclusions. And we assume that because some of their conclusions are the same as ours, somehow we must be on the same side. We aren't. Whatever common ground we share is purely incidental.

There are really only two sides to the culture war: those who deny God and put the Self in His place, and those who submit to the authority of He who created all things, and subjugate themselves to that authority. What we call "liberalism" is the organized and intentional effort to move the culture into the former camp. The leader of this movement is not any politician or MSNBC host, but the Devil of Hell. He is the one we fight and struggle against, and it is his agenda our opponents advance. We should never lose sight of that.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

You can buy my new book here.

To see more from Matt Walsh, visit his channel on TheBlaze.