Riots. Arson. Vandalism. Cancel culture. Anarchy. Threats of revolution. With civil disorder cascading across the landscape, Americans ask, “What on Earth is going on?”

Perhaps a more appropriate question would be, “What the Hell is going on?” Because Hell, most assuredly, is going on.

The “progressive” Left and its minions in academia, business, entertainment, the media and the Democratic Party embody values and behavior that only can be described as satanic. You can see this in four ways that are different, yet interrelated and mutually reinforcing.

The Left’s Four Horsemen: Death, Injustice, Persecution, Deception

First comes the blatant disregard for human life from the womb to the tomb. Discussing whether abortion should be allowed if a woman becomes pregnant through rape or incest, or if her pregnancy threatens her life, is one thing. Demanding abortion at any stage of pregnancy, even right before birth, is quite another.

Allowing babies who survive an abortion to be killed belongs in its own perverted category. Yet Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam appears open to that possibility.

On the other side of the age spectrum, mostly Democratic governors ordered nursing homes to accept elderly COVID-19 victims to reduce the anticipated strain on hospitals. As a result, 42 percent of those who died from the disease across the country either resided or worked in nursing homes.

In New York, out of 6,962 cases in nursing homes, 6,497 people died. New York had 21 nursing homes among the 38 nationwide that recorded at least 50 deaths from COVID-19. Meanwhile, a hospital ship in New York Harbor and a field hospital with 2,500 beds in Manhattan’s Javits Center treated very few patients.

Yet nursing homes accounted for only 20 percent of New York’s deaths from COVID-19. In Minnesota, however, 76 percent of deaths came from nursing homes. In Pennsylvania, 47 percent. Seven of the top 10 states in total nursing-home deaths are governed by Democrats.

A God who hates the shedding of innocent blood is not amused.

Not the Only Thing God Hates

Related to the disregard for human life is the inherent injustice of inverted justice. Democrats use COVID-19 as an excuse to release criminals from jail while intimidating law-abiding citizens with unenforceable mandates on wearing masks and self-quarantining. Democrats use “social justice” as an excuse to allow mayhem to careen out of control while threatening police departments with dramatically reduced funding or extinction.

Yet when federal forces try to restore order, Democrats basically call them Nazis.

St. Louis District Attorney Kim Gardner provides one of the most absurd examples. Gardner arbitrarily released looters arrested while rioting in June after George Floyd’s death. Yet she charged Mark and Patricia McCloskey with a felony July 20 for brandishing weapons while guarding their own property.

A group of protesters had demolished a locked gate that protected the couple’s exclusive neighborhood. With St. Louis plagued by riots and arson, the McCloskeys feared the worst as the mob passed their house.

On July 30, Missouri’s attorney general, Eric Schmitt, dismissed charges against the McCloskeys.

Christians and Jews are Our Misfortune

Accompanying inverted justice is increasing persecution of Christians and Jews. As The Stream has documented, Democrats use COVID-19 as an excuse to impede worship and to ignore vandalism of church property.

Meanwhile, Twitter called the Star of David “hateful imagery” and allowed #JewishPrivilege to trend. The Philadelphia Eagles’ DeSean Jackson tweeted an anti-Semitic quote ostensibly attributed to Adolf Hitler. Entertainer Nick Cannon made anti-Semitic remarks on his podcast. Only a barrage of pressure forced all three to retreat.

Yet “progressives” support Islam to such a degree, they refuse to demand accountability for its anti-Semitism, terrorism or violence against women and homosexuals. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democrats’ Presidential nominee, even suggested that public schools teach Islam.

Of course, the Left supports all religions not called “Judaism” or “Christianity” as part of its commitment to “tolerance.” But that commitment is merely a weapon against the civilization both biblical faiths fostered, as well as against those faiths themselves.

The Underlying Root

Undergirding all that behavior is a pervasive culture of intimidation, expressed through accusation, slander and bullying. Cancel culture offers the ultimate proof. Accompanying the culture of intimidation is a spirit of deception. Social media censors ideas that challenge conventional wisdom. Schools become indoctrination centers. Respected newspapers, magazines and television networks deteriorate into nothing but sources of propaganda.

Providing the energy is the ultimate lie, one that dates back to the Garden of Eden: Humanity doesn’t need God. It’s a lie that not only fuels “progressives.” It will ignite the massive rejection of God described in 2 Thessalonians 2: 3-12.

God’s response is both fascinating and frightening.

Give Them What They Want

Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false, so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Are we seeing a prelude to the ultimate manifestation of that strong delusion? Perhaps, especially when you consider how popular Satanism and witchcraft are becoming, with the entertainment industry’s help. Both promote themselves by emphasizing individualism, nonconformity — and political activism.

Not for nothing did Saul Alinsky, in his activist manual, Rules For Radicals, reserve an acknowledgement for Lucifer.

Joseph D’Hippolito has written commentaries for such outlets as the Jerusalem Post, the American Thinker and Front Page Magazine. He works as a free-lance writer.