Carthago Delenda Est

          It may be noted as not irrelevant here that certain anti-human antagonisms seem to recur in this tradition of black magic. There may be suspected as running through it everywhere, for instance, a mystical hatred of childhood. People would understand better the popular fury against the witches, if the remembered that the malice most commonly attributed to them was preventing the birth of children. The Hebrew prophets were perpetually protesting against the Hebrew race relapsing into an idolatry that involved such a war on children; and it is probable enough that this abominable apostasy from the God of Israel has occasionally appeared in Israel since, in the form of what is called ritual murder; not of course by any representative of the religion of Judaism, but by individual and irresponsible diabolists who did happen to be Jews. This sense that the forces of evil especially threaten childhood is found again in the enormous popularity of the Child Martyr of the Middle Ages. Chaucer did but give another version of a very national English legend, when he conceived the wickedest of all possible witches as the dark alien woman watching behind her high lattice and hearing, like the babble of a brook down the stony street, the singing of little St. Hugh.  G. K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man
          So I have been slowly re-reading The Everlasting Man by G. K. Chesterton, and this quote really stuck out to me as one that is so pertinent to our current state of affairs.  While most of us readily assent to God being one of the living and not the dead, I'm fairly willing to assert that most of us do not continue the thought far enough to come to the conclusion that the Devil must be one for death rather than life.  I suppose this is because the idea of the demonic scares the snot out of most of us - I know it scares the snot out of me.  If God is of the living, then His opposite must be of the dead.  
          The Devil's work is quite obvious in this world, if viewed in such a way.  Many speak about a "war on women"; "war on the family"; "war against tradition"; but I believe these are all branches and covers for the real war, the war against children.  The Lord is the God of life, so what better way to smite Him than to wage war against the very thing which symbolizes life and brings hope to the world?  And to bring this war about under the banner of a distorted notion of "the Good"?  The most abhorrent societies in history are those which sacrificed their children to the "gods"; the sign of a declining society was one which held children in disdain; and our society must surely be counted among them.  Our ritual murder is named abortion, and at this altar we sacrifice our children to the "gods" of 'Selfishness', 'False Compassion', 'Misplaced Pity'.  There are those who preach the Culture of Death while clinging to the vestiture of Christianity, in defiance of the One who died so that all may live.  Though the Devil knows he can never ultimately win the war, it must bring him much delight to steal the souls who subscribe to his war cry of "Death!" under the guise of "Life", that which men greatly desire, and only God can give.
          But when Jesus saw it he was indignant, and said to them, "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such as these belongs the kingdom of God.  Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."  Mark 10:14-15  RSV