From the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians, 6:10-20

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 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. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Important words in the present world--both within the Church, as we must recognize the Situation for what it truly is, and in the wider world, where Evil stands naked before us, eager to tear us down. We can only really lose, however, if we choose to fight Evil solely on the ground it has chosen. If we fight in a material way--with policies and committees, with soldiers and rifles--we can hope at best for a draw. But if we fight not only materially, but spiritualy, if we gird our loins with the Word of God, as the King James version puts it, we cannot lose--literally, we are not able to lose if we follow the Law.

I'm as hawkish on Osama and Iraq as the next guy, moreso than many, in fact. But the World is only one front in the war, and we should never forget who it is we are really fighting. The strange thing about the present war is how plain the Darkness is about its nature. It makes not even a pretence of being good, as Communism did. It does not even offer its supporters Lebensraum. It stands in front of us, in all its Hideous Glory, promising only winter, fire and steel. It is so blatantly Terrible, it promises death not only to its enemies but to its advocates, and they rejoice in the offer.

This can only be, because collectively we have stopped believing in evil at all. The greatest trick the Devil has ever played on mankind was not offering us the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but in convincing us to deny it. We in the West no longer know our own story, and so we no longer tell it, and cannot use it to evaluate our adversary. Evil can rise up as plain as day and we see it as a "simplistic" trick of the light. President Bush seemed so masterful in October and January, precisely because for a short time we recognized the Enemy. But as normality and security have returned, he has seemd to stumble, because we no longer see what he sees. We stand today as Peter on the night of Jesus' arrest, having known the Good, and known it for what it was, but denying It in the hope of material safety.

We must confront the evil that would use Christ's Body to harm children, and Christ's children as weapons against others. We must do so not only in Dallas and Bagdhad, Boston and Tora Bora, but in our hearts. "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."