Manson

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

Charles Manson died the other day.

If we are honest with ourselves, about ourselves, we know we've done wrong with the life God gives us.  We know we've hurt others, even (especially) those who love us: and we fearfully know we've offended the One who gives, and most wishes, all blessing to us.  C.S. Lewis wrote that " [God] is our only possible ally, and we have made ourselves His enemies."

God alone is so intimately knowledgeable of each of us His enemies that He alone knows with certainty when we truly repent our evil...if we truly do  Only God's judgement of any man's life is just.

But even with our moral-squint that sees only "in a glass darkly," we can see what a man is.  We can see what a man does, and know on God's authority that it shows what is in a man's heart (Proverbs 23:7).  And even we can see if his life subsequently shows fruits of repentance (Matthew 3:8).

So it has to look to most of us like Charles Manson was a very evil man.  And without question, we all know there are very evil human beings.

But that's not my question.

The facts are that Charles Manson murdered no one.  That was not the evil he was convicted of by our human legal system, or sentenced to death for.  His guilt was that he inspired others to murder, and sent them to murder.

So what do we say of his followers, who did the evil he devised ?  We can say they were deceived by an evil man, because they were foolish enough to believe him.  We can say that they themselves chose evil, by choosing to do the will of an evil man.  We can say they joined in his evil, and satan's evil, by their willingness to believe that doing evil is a right and good thing.

What then do we say of those who follow and do the will of the deceiver now our president ? Are they guiltless who believe, against God's word, that unrighteousness and the spirit of violence and lies is good, and will "make America great again" ?