It begrudges life. And, to extrapolate to a theological level, I add an observation once shared with me by the Rev. Paul Scalia. He pointed out that angels (including fallen angels) cannot procreate. There are no “baby angels.” The angelic choirs are what and as many as God created them. And it is perhaps not accidental that Satan’s first target for sin was the woman, not because she is supposedly weak or gullible, but because she could give more life, something the Evil One hates. Is it not telling that, when Christ defines him, he speaks of the devil as “a murderer from the beginning” (Jn 8:44)?
Religious believers may or may not agree with Trump about immigration or trade. And they may have diverse views about how to respond to our society’s confusions about what it means to be a man or a woman. But they should welcome the general erosion of the open society consensus and its ready accusations of fascism and authoritarianism. In that regard, whatever one thinks of the man or his platform, Trump’s electoral success is good news for those of us who think that the highest, noblest, and most liberating act is to surrender ourselves, heart, mind, and soul, to God.
For all the indifference that we think we face, and which we use for our excuse, the heroic prospect of evangelism remains. For as the Saints have already attested, the road goes ever on into peril and hazard.