There has long been an unspoken rule observed by many to “never discuss politics or religion in polite company”. That means refraining from discussing these two topics in the presence of family and friends. This line of thinking serves one purpose and one purpose only: to avoid conflict. But as human beings, how are we expected to learn if not from each other. Yes, it may be uncomfortable at times to discuss religion and politics, but that does not mean they should not be discussed at all. We should be willing to listen to each other and engage in an open dialogue over these matters.

It is only natural that each individual will have their own worldview. Their political views may be shaped by their own personal experiences, by reading, watching various political commentators, or even by what they see and hear in the news. They may also be influenced by what they are told throughout their time in the education system. Ideally, each person will think for themselves and form their own political views. When it comes to religion, some may find their way to a religion on their own, while others may be brought up in one. Either way, it ultimately becomes our own choice to be religious and to follow God.

When it comes to discussing these topics with others, there is always going to be a difference of thought and opinion between us. That is to be expected, considering we are all individuals. Some will be religious, others will not. Some will be Conservative, others Left Wing. This means that there will be various sides to each point discussed. It goes without saying that discourse will undoubtedly arise. It is how we go about having such discourse that matters.

First, it is important to keep the discussion civil. This means no yelling matches. If people are just shouting at each other, no one is going to get their point across. In order to be able to have a civil debate and learn from each other, we must present our point in a clear and collected manner. In the same vein, we must listen to arguments opposing our own so that we may understand the other person’s point of view and formulate a response.

When it comes to making a claim, it is crucial that we are able to back it up. In this way, we can show others that what we say is not just some contrived falsehood but holds its place in reality. We cannot spout conjecture in the hope it changes someone’s mind. (Also, just a note on fact-checking here. Fact-checking websites each have their own biases, some Left, some Right. Thus, it is difficult to determine the accuracy of fact-checks. I say this because family and friends, or anyone for that matter, who are having a political discussion may decide to fact-check a claim.)

There are also several debating flaws that should be steered clear of when having discussions surrounding religion and politics. As mentioned before, it is not beneficial to anyone for those discussing a topic to yell at each other. In addition to this, never resort to insults and personal attacks. These are not arguments. Rather, they are the hallmarks of failing ones. If you find that the only thing you can use to retort someone’s argument is to call them a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, a transphobe, a bigot or whatever else (there are far too many to list), that says more about the strength of their argument than the substance of yours. In that same vein, never call your opponent a Nazi. In fact, never insinuate that your opponent’s views are aligned with Nazism (generally this happens more so to Conservatives). As a general rule when it comes to political debates, the first person to invoke the Nazis has lost.

For far too long, politics and religion have been shunned from discussion amongst family and friends at gatherings. It should not have to be this way. Yes, these subjects encompass a wide range of issues, and can be polarizing, but that should not prevent us from discussing them in kind with each other. Isabel Brown of Turning Point USA put it best when she said “Politics and religion are subjects that belong around the dinner table. It’s time to learn how to articulate what we believe and why we believe it.” She is spot on.

We must be able to have these discussions, just as we must be able to have any other discussion with others. We should be able to clearly articulate our views on different issues and explain why we hold them. And most importantly, we must do this in such a manner that is civil and prevents a breakdown of family ties. We should never shun our own family simply because they hold opposing views to our own. That is unnecessary and over-the-top. Religion and politics should not tear families apart, but families should be able to get past political and religious differences and be willing to hold civil discussions with each other on such matters.

When it comes to friendships, it is interesting how friendships that have lasted for years can collapse all because of political differences. Generally, when such a thing occurs, it is a person with Left Wing views that attacks and/or shuns their friend who has made it known they are Conservative. Conservatives are generally more willing to listen to opposing viewpoints and debate them. And while there are some on the Left who are willing to take this approach, there are many who would rather lash out at their friend and have nothing more to do with them. Politics sometimes really shows you who your true friends are (and yes, believe it or not, it is possible for those with opposing views to be friends).

Religion and politics should not be taboo subjects amongst friends and family. They should be discussed openly and honestly so that we can understand each other’s worldviews. Civil discussion and debate are good things. It is healthy to engage in them. After all, these exchanges can be valuable, and give us insight into the lives and thoughts of others. We should bring religion and politics back to the table and allow the discussion to flow.

Division is a weapon of mass destruction. People use it to tear others apart so that they can take advantage and further their own agenda. Politicians are major perpetrators of this tactic. They create a divide between the public by means of identity politics, that is, grouping people by their race, gender, age, sexuality, ethnicity, or whatever other characteristics they can come up with. They then stoke the flames of division by turning these groups on each other. Why? Because while the people are fighting each other, politicians can bring about radical changes under the cover of darkness to create their own political “utopia”, which typically centres around money and power.

Identity politics is a product of the Left. It is one of the most destructive forces on the planet. It tears people apart. It comes between families, friendships, and relationships. It can ruin lives. When people are grouped by their identity, they are viewed in a certain way. In fact, those who inflict identity politics on a society typically have a set of ways that individuals in each group should think. If someone were to break the mold, they would be cast out by their group, viewed as a traitor. For example, in the United States in particular, those on the Left believe black people should vote Democrat. If one were to vote Republican, they are labelled as a “race-traitor” or an “Uncle Tom”. Even Joe Biden said, “If you have a problem figuring out if you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black”. These are disgusting slurs used to divide and stoke hatred, even amongst those in the same identity group. The same occurs in groups like the LGBTQ community. There is again an expectation that this group will vote Democrat, or any Left-Wing Party in a country for that matter. Yet when people in this group vote for Republicans, or any Conservative Party or politician, they are again cast out, accused of hating their own people.

This is exactly what the Left want. They want division, even amongst the groups they construct. They want the people fighting against each other, so that they do not turn on them. If there is one thing politicians and governments fear more than anything, it is unity. When people stand united against them, it scares the living daylights out of them. It is very easy to defend against one person, or a smaller group. But when citizens amass and join together in solidarity to rail against those in power, it puts them at risk of losing it.

There’s a quote that goes like this: “A single bee is ignored. But when millions come together, even the bravest run in fear. The one thing the government fears is the day we stand together.” This analogy sums up the balance of power in this world so very well. One person purporting a cause can have an impact in a smaller setting. But when it comes to governments, to those who have far too much power over the people, only a united front of hundreds of thousands, even millions of people, will work. This is why governments do all they can to stop revolutions. A revolution can remove power from politicians, and liberate the public, bringing the scales of power back into balance.

Politicians, however, are power hungry. Even in democracies, where we the people give them the privilege of certain power, they are not satisfied with what they are gifted. Power is like a drug. It is addictive. Those who come into power are never placated by the reasonable amount they are given by those who put them there, so they look for ways of obtaining more, even if it is at the detriment of those who elected them. Because, like a drug, power corrupts. It changes people, even those who seem pure. For those who are not so pure, it is far worse. This is where tyranny can occur.

All you need do is look at the current state of the world under COVID19. This virus has given politicians the perfect opportunity to seize more power than should be permitted to them. They achieved this via the creation of fear and division in society. They instill fear in people to make them think that the only way to beat this virus is to listen to and obey them. People become divided over the response, and fight against each other, rather than fighting back against the governments who are giving themselves more unwarranted powers at the expense of the freedoms of the public. This is how tyranny replaces democracy. The ultimate goal of these governments is ultimate power with complete subservience from the people. They want you to act like sheep. See, “The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant” (Maximilien Robespierre). They want full control over your lives. It is unacceptable. Yet people would rather sit by and watch others attempt to fight for them, rather than step up and fight themselves. Some would rather just pretend nothing is happening. This is how they get their way.

Some people can already see what people in power are attempting to do. They are awake to reality. It is not very hard to see, considering the people who perpetrate these agendas are no longer being subtle about it, rather blatantly putting it on full display. They overhyped COVID19, made it out to be something far worse than it is. They enforced lockdowns, imprisoning people in their own homes, reducing our contact with other human beings, resulting in more people incurring mental health conditions, increases in calls to suicide hotlines, increases in children presenting to emergency departments with injuries pertaining to self-harm, and overall reducing our natural immunity to disease, thus making us more susceptible to diseases that we would have usually been able to fight off fairly easily. The lockdowns also destroyed businesses, in particular private/small business, the engine of the economy, thus causing economic instability. They enforced masks upon us, which can cause a range of health problems, from rashes to mouth ulcers, fungal infections to staph infections. They even implemented a permit system in Victoria, and they will be doing the same in NSW for New Year’s Eve in Sydney city (The permit system is straight out of the Communist playbook). They are attempting to create an unhealthy and government reliant population. Why? Because this gives them exactly what they want.

Governments around the world want to be hailed as heroes when they inevitably bring in a vaccine. Many leaders have said that this would only end once there is a vaccine. But you have to understand, there is more to this vaccine than meets the eye. When it comes to the vaccine, and practically all that is occurring surrounding COVID19, I suggest you read the Book of Revelation. Yes, it is concerning, but it is likely to occur if our democracies, our rights and freedoms, and our way of life are all destroyed and rebuilt into something they never should be. There’s a reason they’re using the slogan Build Back Better.

If we don’t want to see the rise of depopulation, complete subservience to government, great restrictions on our lives and so forth, we cannot allow ourselves to become divided by those in power. Over 100 years, Communism killed over 100 million people, be it directly or through the famine it resulted in. They are already talking about food shortages hitting as early as next year. That should concern everyone. I think most sane people can agree that Communism is a bad thing. Just look at the living hell the Soviet Union was for those who lived through it. If you need any reminder, or some good insight, read The Gulag Archipelago. If we don’t stand up together to protect our democracies and all they entail, we are going to end up headed down a road that only globalist elites wish to take, a one way highway to Global Communism, where there are two classes: the technocrats, and everyone else.

Identity politics and COVID19 are only tools for something far worse. Now more than ever we cannot afford to be divided. Division only results in weakness. Right now, our hopes of ensuring we do not end up on the road to hell lie in the hands of President Donald Trump and his legal team. Thankfully, he has a team of stellar lawyers, some of the best in the world. They are fighting hard, and we should all be grateful that they are. They are fighting to prevent tyranny. As Lord John Dalberg-Acton once said, “The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of the party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections.” This is reflective of what the Democrats and their allies are attempting to do right now. This is what the President and his lawyers are fighting against. But this is not merely a fight between Trump and the Democrats. It is much more than that.

This is a fight between Western Civilization and a new power. The outcome will determine the fate of the world. If this new power wins, the world will become a living hell. If, however, Trump wins, he will take down all those who conspired against him, who attempted to undermine and subvert American democracy, and Western Civilization will rise again.

As I spoke to in a piece I published last week, this is the ultimate battle between Good and Evil. For Christians, it is more than an Earthly battle. It is a battle between God and the devil. There is a story from Isaiah in the Old Testament of Cyrus the Great. Cyrus was the first ruler of the Persian Empire, a pagan who God chose to bring down Babylon and issue a decree that would allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem. Even though Cyrus was a pagan, he was still used by God to fulfill His will and bring the Jews back to their home country, which is now modern Israel.

Now compare this to the old story of Biblical times to the modern world. When President Trump came into power, there was great conflict in the Middle East, particularly between Israel and Palestine. Trump has worked hard and used his position to do a lot of good for Israel, beginning with moving the embassy to Jerusalem to officially recognize it as the capital, and over the last few months negotiating peace deals between Middle Eastern countries. Most of these have included Israel. The Abraham Accords, the name given to these peace deals, include deals between Israel and Bahrain, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Israel and Saudi Arabia. Others have already made it known they wish to join these countries in the Accords. Trump is building up Israel, while Democrats seek to oppose this. See the parallels?

Trump may not be the greatest Christian, but he has shown he is in favour of religious freedom. He also holds many of the same values that Christians hold, including being pro-life and against war. Remember, Cyrus was a pagan himself. Yet God still chose to work through him. I would argue that President Trump is the modern-day Cyrus. God chooses to work through all manners of different people. Right now, Donald Trump is that person. And we must hope and pray that he is triumphant. Because if he is not, it will not just impact the United States of America, but the entire world.

And while Trump and his team fight for the fate of the world, we must stand up and make our own voices heard. We must rally behind them, united as one against politicians and governments who seek to usher in a new normal. Because there will be nothing normal about it. If you want to keep your lives and freedom as they are, if you want to ensure there will be generations to come, if you want to prevent the world becoming a living hell, then you need to stand up and fight. We can no longer remain silent as many of us choose to do. As Irish statesman and philosopher Edmund Burks said, “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.” We have been quiet for far too long. Now is the time to make our voices heard. We cannot allow them to divide us. We must stand united as one. We must protect this world from those who seek to destroy it.

United we stand. Divided we fall.

For millennia, the battle between Good and Evil has raged on, a never-ending war with new fighters brought in for both sides every generation. This battle has become an archetype that features heavily in the fictional realm. Yet it also finds itself in the real world, the world in which we live. We may not realise it, but all that occurs in this world is influenced by this ongoing battle. Therefore, this fight becomes so much more important.

Obviously, two sides take part in this eternal battle. The side of Good is one of light, one of hope, one of love, one of peace. It is the side of righteousness, the side of goodwill, the side of purity. It is the side of respect, including for human life. We take the side of Good when we do what is right, when we show love and compassion to others. We do not let ourselves become corrupted by Evil, even when it tempts us. We maintain order, we spread our goodness to others. For those of us who are religious, we pray, and put our faith in God. In Biblical terms Good is represented by God.

On the other hand, the side of Evil is one of darkness, one of hate, one of war and terror. It is the side of contempt for human life. It is the side of corruption, of temptation. We take the side of Evil when we expend others for our own personal gain. Typically, this comes in the form of wealth and power. We give in to temptation, allowing it to take a hold of us and corrupt us. Evil is a destructive force. It shows no mercy, tearing down all in its path. It is pure chaos. In the religious sense, Evil is represented by the devil.

The battle between these two forces is found at the heart of most fictional narratives in one sense or another, be they a novel, a film, or a television series. Most texts have a hero and a villain. There may be more than one, but this is what is at the core of the story. Take the Harry Potter series. Although the assortment of heroes and villains change in each novel, the overarching battle is the one between Harry Potter and Voldemort, where Harry leads the side of Good, and Voldemort leads the side of Evil. This battle culminates in an all-out battle taking place on the grounds of Hogwarts, what is essentially a battle whose outcome will determine the fate of the wizarding world. Ultimately, Harry must make a sacrifice in order to defeat Voldemort, but this is essential in defeating Evil. For without sacrifice, there can be no victory for Good in this world.

I have discussed sacrifice in a previous article, but it ties in again here. Good and Evil ultimately derives back to the Bible. In this case, the battle is between God and the devil. In order to defeat the devil by defeating sin, God sends his only Son, Jesus Christ, down to Earth. Jesus is the very epitome of Good. He is pure, without sin. Thereby, He is, in every sense of the word, perfect. In order to defeat Evil, Jesus sacrifices Himself, dying on the cross to save us from sin. When Jesus died, it probably appeared to some as if Evil had won. But three days later, Jesus rose from the dead, conquering sin and death. Sometimes, this is the way that events must occur in order for us to realise that Good does eventually triumph. Even the devil thought he had won until three days later.

This applies to the world in which we live now in many ways. We have witnessed the battle between Good and Evil play out historically, in wars, in rebellions, in politics. Take, for example, the Soviet Union. It was a living hell for those who lived through it. Millions didn’t make it out alive. Those who did had witnessed firsthand the death and destruction, the terror caused by a totalitarian regime completely corrupted by power. Eventually, after the publication and widespread reading of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago, and a failed coup attempt on Gorbachev, the Soviet Union collapsed, bringing an end to a decades-long nightmare, and a terrible Evil. But this Evil returns again and again. Communist regimes tend to bring out the worst evils. They result in millions upon millions of deaths. In fact, over 100 years, Communism has killed over 100 million people. Yet people still think it is a good idea.

See, the thing about human beings is that we are inherently susceptible to corruption. That is why we can never do Socialism, Communism, nor Marxism properly. Only someone who was completely pure could do such a thing, and no such individual exists in the modern world. The only completely pure individual who has ever walked this Earth is Jesus (and Mary his Mother). Throughout our lives, we are subject to temptation, but it is the will to resist this that can prove to be the key to defeating the Evil that attempts to seep its way into us and turn us against good nature.

In current times, we are seeing the ultimate battle between Good and Evil play out before our very eyes. The battle between US President Donald Trump (and his team) and his opponents, which span not just America but worldwide, is one that will determine the fate of Western Civilization, and thereby the world. If Trump loses, Western Civilization will likely collapse, to be replaced by a precursor to global Communism. Essentially, if he loses, the entire world loses, except for globalist elites who will no doubt profit in terms of both wealth and power. If, however, Trump prevails, he will likely bring down the cabal of Evil that is attempting to enact such a regime, leaving the Left in collapse while Western Civilization rises. In such a circumstance, Good would triumph over Evil, and order would likely be restored not only to America, but to the entire world.

We are in one of the most crucial times in our lives. What happens from here on out will have some of the most extraordinary repercussions the world has ever seen. It will shift the balance in the battle between Good and Evil, bringing significant change to the social and political landscapes of this world. Even so, it will not signify the end of the battle between these forces. This is, after all, an eternal battle that will continue until the world’s end. It will be fought by countless generations in a wide range of ways.

At times it may seem frustrating and disheartening knowing that Evil is out there waging a war on the Good in the world. See, the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he doesn’t exist. But where there is hope, there is a cause for Good. There is a verse in the Bible, Ephesians 6:12, which says:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Essentially, the battle between Good and Evil is not necessarily a physical battle, but a spiritual one. Although at times it may involve some physical elements, the spiritual aspect is greater in that this is what drives us, what drives the two forces in this fight. It is thereby important that we maintain our spiritual and mental health, so that when we face the darkness, we are capable of fighting back against it and advancing the forces of Good. Ephesians 6:11 puts it well:

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

While at times we may feel like giving up, we cannot allow ourselves to do so. Evil wants us to stop fighting, to just lay down and subject ourselves to its will. This is not something anyone in their right mind would want. We must continue to push on, to use our minds, our voices, and our hearts for Good. If you have a platform, use it. If you have an opportunity to spread Light, take it. Whatever you can do to advance the force of Good in this world is worth doing.

We are in the midst of one of the most critical moments in this battle that traverses time and history. We cannot just sit back and watch it play out. We must stand up and fight like our lives depend on it.

As Edmund Burke once said, “Evil succeeds when good men do nothing.”