The Return of Paganism and the Desecration of Self-Government

“Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never!—All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.

At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”—Abraham Lincoln, 1838

We all saw the images and the footage. Yesterday, on January 6, a mob of rioters, incited by the president, infiltrated the House and Senate chambers, destroyed federal property, vandalized the Capitol building, and desecrated the legislative heart of American self-government.