Christ In The Crosshairs

Sunday, September 28, 2025

Hamlet – Act 1, Scene 5 – “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”  I am a Presbyterian, one of the so-called “frozen chosen.”  I am not prone to the more spectacular displays of Christian faith like “slaying in the spirit” or “speaking in tongues,”  But this morning’s blatant and deadly attack on a Mormon church in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan is enough to make me say, right out loud, that the spiritual warfare that constantly surrounds us has decidedly turned very visible and very hot.

Without research, just pulling from recent memory – someone shoots up a Presbyterian school near Nashville, TN – someone shoots up a Catholic school in Minnesota – Charlie Kirk is assassinated – A baseball coach is shot while praying with his team (linked because this case has not brought that much media attention) – and now this – a direct assault on a  church service. I am sure if I worked at it, I could come up with more.  The point is those that call upon the name of Jesus are under attack.

Now, before I go any farther, I know there are a bunch of yahoos out there that want to tell me Mormons aren’t really Christians.  Spare me!  Unless you are neck deep in theology you can’t tell the difference and I can assure you those doing the killing don’t really care about theological differences.

The host has been trying very hard to make the case that our political violence problem is rooted in left-thinking and the permissions structures it creates.  Which is fair enough as far as it goes.  But those on the left are working very hard to point out that these actors lack affiliation with left-wing groups and organizations – as if that some how exonerates them for the bile they have spilt on the internet that has infected the minds of these people.

But there is a pattern emerging, removing the sense of randomness from these attacks.  The pattern is in the victims, not the manner or the motive of the attacker.  And patterns indicate organization of some sort.

I wrote a post about ten days ago that seems to have touched a lot of people.  In it I said, “I have said before and will say it again here. C.S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters” is an invaluable regular read.  Lewis’ insight into how ugliness and evil creeps into our lives, even if you don’t buy into the whole devil/demon thing, is extraordinary.”  After this, even if you cannot bring yourself to buy into the red, horned, pointy-tailed satan with a pitchfork – you have got to admit that there is something very dark and very real, hiding in the shadows, and aiming itself at Christ and His followers.

I encountered this clip not long after the Kirk assassination.  I thought it kind of cute.  Not so much anymore – it is frightening.