Satan and Politics? By Chris Knight

     I am just a man of simple Christian faith, no theologian, so this is all straight from the heart. I began thinking about the issue of Satan in politics when reading the claim made by Italy’s largest Catholic magazine, that Interior Minister Matteo Salvini is literally satanic for wanting immigration restriction:  
  https://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/07/27/italys-largest-catholic-magazine-compares-salvini-to-satan-for-immigration-policy/

“Famiglia Cristiana, Italy’s top selling Catholic publication, has splashed a photo of Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on its cover this week, with the provocative caption “Get behind me, Salvini” — in Latin. Assailing Mr. Salvini for his efforts to curb illegal immigration in the country, the cover caption of Thursday’s issue makes reference to the words of Jesus, “Get behind me, Satan!”, reported in Saint Matthew’s gospel account. The publication accuses Salvini, the 45-year-old leader of the League party and a Catholic, of having abandoned the biblical injunction to “welcome the stranger” and of using “aggressive tones” in describing Italy’s migrant crisis. Famiglia Cristiana notes the growing chorus of Catholic voices — from the Italian bishops’ conference, to individual bishops, to religious priests and sisters — that has spoken out in opposition to Salvini’s immigration policies.”

     This is just gutter level propaganda for a Catholic audience. As has been argued many times at this site, the parable of the good Samaritan, as told in Luke 10:30-35, does not support open borders immigration, for how could it, such an idea would be regarded as a military invasion by wiser people in the ancient world:

“In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.”

     As I read these plain words, the good Samaritan helped the man who was half dead and in genuine need, who was not migrating illegally to improve his life at the expense of the host region. The good Samaritan took the man to an inn  and paid for him to be cared for. No doubt, everyone would expect the man, once better, to be a man and go on his way, not want continuous welfare support. As I read the parable, this is a very anti-immigration story. Help others where they are, without necessarily taking them into your home. In fact, we do not even know where the home of the good Samaritan was and where  exactly he came from.

     Hence, saying that immigration restrictionists are “satanic’ is contrary to the Bible, and itself is a sinful act and evil. Yes, evil just like the sexual abuse of children: the Catholic Church is not in any high moral position any more, and I do not buy the idea that this is all a conspiracy to discredit them; there is just too much abuse and suffering for this to be staged. What then about Satan in politics? There was an insightful article published a few days ago dealing with this:
  http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/demonology-expert-satan-could-be-behind-the-current-political-division_09102018 
  https://www.wnd.com/2018/09/spiritual-warfare-expert-demonic-component-to-divided-u-s/

“Is there a spiritual component to the sharp division America is experiencing? Karl Payne, an expert on demonology and the author of the highly acclaimed book “Spiritual Warfare: Christians, Demonization, and Deliverance,” cites Jesus acknowledging that, for a time, Satan has been given limited authority on Earth. “If someone asks if [Satan] would influence the political system, I say, ‘Of course he would. Why wouldn’t he?'”

image: https://www.wnd.com/files/2015/07/kpayne300_15-150x140.jpg

Payne, a pastor at Antioch Bible Church near Seattle and a former chaplain for the Seattle Seahawks, said it’s in the nature of Satan to divide. Proverbs 6, he noted, says there are seven things that God hates, and number seven is people who “purposefully sow discord.” “Chaos is the name of the game, I believe, for Satan and for his minions,” he said. “If Jesus speaks truth, they want to undermine that truth any way that can.”One way of undermining truth is to flip values on their heads. “Through the television, through the movies, we’re just inundated with ‘up is down, down is up, black is white, white is black, good is evil, evil is good,’ you can’t get away from it,” he said. As an example, Payne said he couldn’t imagine 20 or 30 years ago seeing the emergence of a bill such as California’s AB 2943 that would punish the sale or promotion of the idea that God can heal unwanted sexual-attractions. “I thought to myself, do you really think that there would come a time in this country when people who love Jesus — who live by a credo of love your enemies and pray for those who spitefully use you, who treat others as you want to be treated — would be labeled as xenophobic, homophobic bigots, I would have said, no, I don’t think in my lifetime that could happen,” he said. “I not only think it’s here, I think we’re going to see more of it.”

     I am naturally cautious in positing a demonic influence behind various political actors whom we all know are up to evil, since as a Christian I see man as having free will and the capacity to choose to do evil, which most of the elite do. Further, evil has been institutionalised, so that the once traditional Christian system has now been replaced by a secular globalist neo-Marxism, which is arguably evil, and as we argue almost every day, hurtling towards destruction, much like the demonically-filled Gerasene swine, exorcized by Jesus: Mark 5:1-20; Matthew 8: 28-34; Luke 8: 26-39. I have to admit that I have not worked out exactly the role of Satan in this, but he is in this,  but no doubt there are better informed people than me that could write further on this topic. I sincerely hope that someone deals with this issue to enlighten me.