by Dennis Gladden, By Green Pastures, ©2026
(Sep. 23, 2026) — The mid-term elections loom, candidates are already jockeying for 2028, and the campaigns have me praying, “Father, deliver us from evil.”
Kudos to the North Carolina House Democratic Caucus and the Guilford County Democratic Party, who withdrew their support days ago for Shelly Headen, the Democratic candidate for the state’s House 62 District.
Headen had posted a vacation picture of herself at the crematorium in the Dachau concentration camp in Germany and captioned it, “This is where Trump supporters belong.”
She had also remarked in separate posts on Facebook that “I think America is beyond peaceful protest!” and “I think our only hope is an attack on US soil… preferably Alabama, Louisiana… where the stupid people are.”1
Let’s call her actions for what they are: evil.
This is a strong word. I use it in the biblical sense, which depicts not only her behavior but also the evil America faces in forthcoming elections from the left and right.
First, let’s understand the nature and imminence of evil.
Evil spoils.
The first time God calls human behavior evil (apart from the fall of Adam and Eve) is in Noah’s generation.
The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). (The words “wickedness” and “evil” are the same word in Hebrew.)
The Hebrew word for “evil” derives from a verb, to break to pieces and describes the consequence. Smash a glass, and you have rendered it spoiled or good for nothing. Ruined.
The action and the result—tearing apart something whole and functional, making the useful useless and the valuable worthless—are evil.
Jesus said the behavior in Noah’s time—evil, violent, and corrupt (Genesis 6:5, 11–13)—would repeat itself toward the end. Certainly, corruption, violence, and evil describe the news streaming across our screens 24×7.
Evil spreads.
Like misery, evil loves company.
- The world witnessed it on Kristallnacht, November 9–10, 1938, when Nazis rampaged against Jewish establishments throughout Germany.
- To this day, President Donald Trump’s words are blamed for instigating the violence of the “Save America” rally on January 6, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
- The violence that candidate Headen sanctioned will incite others.
If there is a lesson from history, it is this: when ideology becomes law, it empowers violence. National Socialism envisioned an ethnically cleansed German society, and Hitler enacted the legislation to make the dehumanizing pogroms legal.
We know Germany’s history. What of us if we inaugurate lawmakers like Headen and grant them authority to legalize attacks upon “the stupid people”?
Evil is party neutral.
Groups on both the right and left present a kindred evil.
On the left, Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have declared their intention to “draft a new constitution and create a democratic socialist republic.”2
Their reform includes abolishing the Senate, the presidency, the Supreme Court, and the Electoral College. They would expand Congress, which would appoint the executive and judicial officers.
In short, the DSA intends to break apart our government, which has functioned for 250 years. Doing so will spoil the environment of freedom and prosperity that has beckoned and sheltered generations since our founding.
This is the very definition of evil. Break up the whole and render the useful useless.
Evil is also festering among conservatives.
Social commentator Erick Erickson recently published extensive research on developments that are influencing the political right, including Vice President JD Vance.
Here is an excerpt:
Conservatives spent sixty years arguing that the family and the local community, not the state, should decide what the good life looks like. The socialist left rejected that because it loves the collective. The post-liberal right now rejects it because it is certain it knows better than your household does. … These men and their groups’ ambitions require a state with unlimited means that can seize a man’s property for thinking the wrong thoughts about his own country.
This is ultimately a spiritual problem rather than a political one. Inside the church, Satan spreads Kinisim, racism, and ethno-nationalism, and he does it by telling frightened men that their blood is their birthright….
Scripture says that on the last day God will separate the sheep from the goats. In the here and now, some of the goats have empowered themselves to separate neighbor from neighbor, Christian from Christian, and people from their own families, all to advance a perverted utopia where they can rule in their own image…3
An Inauguration Day dilemma
Come the next Inauguration Day, an unnecessary dilemma will play out for the Democratic Socialists who win this fall. DSA candidates will either lie or abdicate the offices they were elected to.
- Lie, because they have no intention to uphold their oath to the U.S. Constitution, which they plan to trash for one of their own making;
- Abdicate their office if they have the integrity not to lie under oath.
For certain, they will not abdicate, which makes it a travesty that Americans will have knowingly advanced candidates who are dedicated to breaking down our duly constituted government.
Steps to take beyond prayer
We must pray for deliverance, as Jesus taught us, but the Lord may say to us as He did to Joshua upon Israel’s first defeat in Canaan, “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? Israel has sinned…” (Joshua 7:10–11).
Here is what to do while we wait upon God to deliver:
- Vote. Defeat the candidates who want office so they can dismantle our government. Support those who intend to work within the framework of our Constitution. Hold incumbents accountable. As much as you are able, sift the newcomers for truth.
- Set aside party affiliation. Strip away the labels, left and right. Evil is in both camps. Identify the individuals who will build upon the foundation our founding fathers laid.
- Our country is fractured; healing is in the hands of God’s people. Respond as the Israelites did to Joshua (Joshua 7) and as God outlined to Solomon (2 Chronicles 7:14):
- Humble ourselves;
- Pray and seek God;
- Turn from our own wicked ways.
- In all humility and honesty, ask, “Am I contributing to the breakdown in the country? In my own sphere of influence? Do the social media memes I post or share edify others? Am I divisive?”
1 Anderson, Bryan. “Democrats Drop Support for Candidate Who Called for Violence against Republicans.” The Assembly NC, September 10, 2026. https://www.theassemblync.com/news/politics/democrats-drop-support-headen-violence-against-republicans/.
2 “DSA Program — Workers Deserve More.” DSA Program. Accessed September 18, 2026. https://program.dsausa.org/.
3 Erickson, Erick-Woods. “The Midwestern Führerbunker Driving the Right Off the Cliff.” Erick Erickson’s Show Notes, September 16, 2026. https://ewerickson.substack.com/p/the-midwestern-fuhrerbunker-driving.
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