In speaking about the build up to World War II, General and eventual President Dwight D. Eisenhower said “Rarely have the forces of good and evil been so amassed against one another.” That quote was displayed on the wall in one of the museums. Eisenhower’s clarity caused me think of George Bush. In the aftermath of 911 he spoke clearly about “good and evil” and was castigated for it. It had become politically incorrect to call someone evil. We might hurt their feelings, or incite them to an angry outburst. Seems to me the outburst had already happened and the using the word “evil” was just speaking the truth. Eisenhower said it. He was right. Bush said it. He was right, too.

Evil was behind the Holocaust. Evil was behind 911. Evil caused my fellow classmate Fred Winters to be shot down in the pulpit of his church a few months ago. Evil caused the psychiatrist at Fort Hood to open fire killing 13 people while wounding three dozen this week; and the guy in Florida who opened fire in the office complex this week; and the sexual predator in Ohio in whose home they found 11 dead women; and back home in mid-Missouri where the teenager bludgeoned the nine year old girl to death last week. Evil. It’s the work of Satan. It’s not lack of education, or intellect, or empathy. No, it’s evil. The Bible teaches that Satan is our enemy and that he searches to and fro looking for those whom he may devour. Some get devoured mentally and emotionally; some physically in violence. But its all rooted in Evil.

Ike wasn’t trying to make a statement. He was just calling it like it was. Likewise, regardless of his faults, God Bless George Bush for recognizing Evil and calling it what it was. You and I would do well to examine and know the times, to recognize what’s behind them, and to not hesitate or faint to call Evil by name when we see it.