Dark clouds are hanging over Louisiana and the rest of the States.  LRN had this disturbing report:

A new report by the C-D-C reveals the suicide rate in the U-S last year reached a record high. More than 49 thousand people took their own life. . . . The federal data shows the rate of suicide by any method has increased by one-third in the past two decades . . . .

KNOE unfortunately had an even more grisly story:

NEW IBERIA, La. (KPLC) – The Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office has announced the arrest of an 11-year-old girl on suspicion of murder. The girl, whos identity was not disclosed, is suspected of fatally shooting 36-year-old Kameran Bedsole on Nov. 14 in the 4700 block of Jasper Road in New Iberia. Deputies found Bedsole suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene. . . .

We are certainly looking forward in Louisiana to the new Landry administration, the new State Legislature, BESE board, etc., with their plans for tax reform, their tougher stance on crime, and all the rest of it.  But there is still an elephant in the middle of the room that no one wants to mention, which is the source of that river of woeful stories like the ones above:  the spiritual desolation of the souls of Louisianans and the peoples of our sister States.

That desolation is happening because we are not Christian societies but Antichristian societies.  That is not meant to be attention-getting over-exaggeration.  It is simply what we find in the Holy Scriptures.  The Holy Apostle John the Theologian declares,

Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also.  . . .  By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already (I John 2:22-23, 4:2-3).

Where do we find in the States any major culture-shaping institution declaring openly and often that Jesus Christ is God in the Flesh and that we ought to obey His commandments if we really love Him (I John 5:3) – whether it is healthcare/drug companies, governments, schools, Hollywood, car makers, energy companies, the military, etc.?  Simply put, almost all of them say no such thing.  Instead, there is rejection, either through silence or by open opposition.  Furthermore, a majority of people in the States believe that Jesus Christ is not God and that He committed sins while on earth (may He forgive us for heeding such evil lies).  All of that, unfortunately, places us squarely within St. John’s definition of Antichristian.

Though the Lord Jesus Himself warned us very clearly about the consequences of turning away from Him – ‘He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters’ (St. Matthew’s Gospel 12:30) –  still, more and more people reject God and do not want to keep His commandments.  Many want to satisfy their own desires instead, to the point that fat people will complain about ‘weight discrimination’ instead of making some changes to slim down; to the point that federal judges will strike down State laws banning adult drag shows performed in the presence of children in order to protect the ‘free-speech rights’ of the LGBT crowd.  Others are seeking the old pagan concept of ‘kleos’ (eternal glory) through their social media exploits.  And when things like these fail to satisfy, then these poor people despair, and many turn to murder, whether themselves or someone else – so drained of hope and love that even the children are now rising up to slay adults.  To say it once again, we have created and are living in Antichristian societies.

A Christian society has a completely different feel and focus to it.  Rev. Alban Butler described it pretty well at the end of the life of the virgin-martyr St. Bibiana (+4^th century):

The only affair which a Christian has in this world, and in which consists all his happiness and joy, is to seek God, to attain to the perfect possession of his grace and love, and in all things most perfectly to do his will. By this disposition of heart he is raised above all created things, and united to the eternal and unchangeable object of his felicity. He receives the good things of this world with gratitude to the Giver, but always with indifference; leaves them with joy, if God requires that sacrifice at his hands; and, in his abundance, fears not so much the flight of what he possesses as the infection of his own heart, or lest his affections be entangled by them. Such attachments are secretly and imperceptibly contracted, yet are ties by which the soul is held captive, and enslaved to the world. Only assiduous prayer and meditation on heavenly things, habitual self-denial, humble distrust and watchfulness, and abundant almsdeeds proportioned to a person’s circumstances, can preserve a soul from this dangerous snare amidst worldly affluence. To these means is that powerful grace annexed. This disengagement of the heart, how sincere soever, usually acquires a great increase and perfection by the actual sacrifice of earthly goods, made with heroic sentiments of faith and divine love, when God calls for it. Such an offering is richly compensated by the most abundant spiritual graces and comforts at present, and an immense weight of eternal glory in the next life.

Folks in the States want the benefits of a Christian society – respect for the law, prudence with money, good work-ethic, kindness, generosity, and the like – but they are no longer willing to put on the yoke of Christ, to deny themselves, to carry a cross, so that all these things can manifest and grow.  Thus, unless we change, we will end up with either lawless chaos or a harsh totalitarianism to keep order.  That is something the government officers succeeding the Edwards administration in Louisiana must remember if they wish for their achievements to last.

To put it in fewer words, soulcraft is part of statecraft (if we may borrow the phrase).  The leaders of our institutions, in government or outside of it, must encourage people to re-embrace Christianity, for there is only one foundation upon which we may build a bright and happy future:

And he [Christ—W.G.] came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 2:17-22, bolding added).