‹ Back

Isaiah 34:13 "Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches." This is specifically addressed to Edom, but Isaiah begins this prophesy by saying "the Lord is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their hosts" (Isaiah 34:2), so the destruction and desolation will not be limited to Edom.

 

I have been getting Isaiah a lot lately, a sign God is trying to tell me something. I think Isaiah's prophecies are very applicable to our times. They range from destruction to promise. They never leave us without hope, but neither do they sugarcoat the suffering we will go through, suffering we have brought on ourselves, nor do they tolerate wickedness.

 

I was reading an article this morning that takes the position that the assassination of Charlie Kirk is a sign that liberalism in America is dead. "He believed that by reasoning together Americans could reach truth and consensus. But his death reveals something undeniable: the liberal order of neutrality and tolerance is dead." Liberalism Died with Carlie Kirk*.  When I read these words they rang true to me because I have experienced the shocking close-minded, tyrannical cruelty dressed up in virtue of people who consider themselves the liberal, tolerant ones. Seeing it in action was life-changing for me! I saw that something I valued highly, liberal, tolerant discourse, was in fact filled with cruelty and hatred. It was a stronghold filled with thorns. I knew those thorns had been growing the the strongholds of education, the media, politics, and even somewhat in the Church, but I did not realize until I experienced it from those I love that many of the strongholds were overridden and had fallen (the Church will never fall, though it will go through its Passion).

 

When the scales finally fell from my eyes, I began thinking about what happened. I realized that liberalism and tolerance had enabled tremendous evil to grow, evil with which God is enraged and furious. When I first took my Bible journal online, it was because I was getting messages like this, messages that God would not go on tolerating our bad behavior, and something was about to happen. He was getting ready to step in and make things right. That message abounds in my early Evangelicia posts, including my very first post It Would Be Wise to Heed Him. 

 

Tolerance of and compromise with evil is not a good thing, even if saying so hurts others' feelings. Society cannot continue when things that are objectively bad for humanity, like abortion, transgenderism, and gay marriage cannot be discussed as such, but must be accepted in the name of liberalism. (That is not to say that those who suffer due to any of those things should be vilified, they are victims of the evil as well, and must be loved and aided in every way possible.) The article continues, "tolerance of destructive ideologies has come at a cost. Lies that confuse children, encourage self-destruction, and teach Americans to hate their own country have been allowed to flourish - tearing apart the very fabric of our society." This is true, I have seen it, I think if we are honest we all have.

 

From a purely secular or political view, our situation might seem hopeless, but nothing is ever hopeless - we have been saved! Isaiah's messages contained both promises of severe punishment along with assurances of coming salvation. We are lucky enough to know of this salvation, and to be able to throw ourselves into God's ocean of mercy, as Jesus tasked St. Faustina with reminding us! The hope that Isaiah prophesied has been fulfilled, not through liberalism, which is a tool not an end, but through the life and death of Jesus Christ!

 

Liberalism based on Christian values was a tremendous source for good in the world, but now that it is divorced from those values (and even worse, wedded to a twisted, demonic interpretation of them), it has become a source of the same kind of evil Isaiah warned about. God does not "listen to both sides" and come to a compromise with humanity. He is the Creator, He is in sole possession of the Truth. He has revealed Himself and that Truth to us. If we turn from it, using even otherwise good methods of governance and debate to turn our nation and people away from God, He will not tolerate that. He will allow us to suffer the consequences so that we and future generations come back to Him and gain the salvation His Son has won for all of us.

 

------------------------------------------------------

"Liberalism Died with Carlie Kirk", Crisis Magazine, September 15, 2025, online at https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/liberalism-died-with-charlie-kirk