There is no Devil; this is on us.

I’ve been struggling with what to write about “Insurrection Day” or at least that’s what I’m calling it. What else should we call the day a violent, seditious, coercively gullible mob attacked the U.S. Capitol building? White Supremacy Wednesday?

I spent Jan. 6 feeling the suffering of a country whose heart was ripping in two, in real-time on live TV. My heart dropped back into all that my generation has endured on live TV – the AIDS crisis, the Challenger explosion, Waco, Oklahoma City, Columbine, and 9/11. I felt the same sickness, the bile, the disbelief, the familiar taste of crushing defeat now transforming into cynically validating dissociative doomscrolling.

January 6, 2021 – A Day of Epiphany for the United States

It wasn’t until today that I recognized the timing of this event. Not just in relation to the certification of electors, but with a Christianity that I thought I left behind. But in it, I found the message I most needed to share.

See, January 6th is the day Christians celebrate the epiphany, the twelfth day of Christmas (depending on specific traditions). It celebrates the day the Magi came to visit the newly born Christ child, bestowing gifts upon him as a king, a celebration and recognition of his divinity. It is celebrated as a manifestation of the divine’s presence here on earth, a recognized symbol of a higher purpose and connection. It is a day of holy veneration for the holiness of Christ.

The overlap between those who call themselves Christian and those who scaled walls, attacked guards, and stole furniture is, I imagine, very nearly a full circle. All of the conspiracy videos presume their audience has some affinity to Christianity – even the mystic woo-woo generated videos. They rely on creating an “Army of Light” for Christ, for Christ Consciousness, for battling Lucifer in some epic stand-off between good & evil. They presume to think the audience agrees, by default, that not only is there a Devil, but that you must weaponize against anyone who believes differently than them because any opponent is per se under Lucifer’s control.

Image: Backdrop of American flag against wooden planks. Center white square contains quote: “Accountability feels like an attack when you’re not ready to acknowledge how your behavior harms others.” (Unknown)

Their choice of January 6 forever turned the Epiphany into a day now remembered for its bloodshed, selfishness, and moral bankruptcy. Instead of celebrating the holy presence of their own god figure, they chose to play god. It wasn’t just the election that motivated their actions, it was a deep desire to reassert their superiority over everyone else. If they can disrupt our government, no one will dare stand in their way. They wanted to prove their own invincibility to the rest of us.

All because they believed in a self-fulfilling prophesy that was intricately designed to perpetuate its own paranoia and anxiety. Using manipulation and authoritarian beliefs, they thought they could justify sabotage, sedition, and homicide.

This wasn’t just an attack on democracy, this meant as a violent warning to all of us. This was boundary pushing in the extreme, because our reaction to this will determine how likely they are to organize any future fatally sadistic tantrums.

They did this expecting their whiteness to serve as a shield. They expected their positions of power to be waiting for them when they got back, whether it be a boardroom, a classroom, a pulpit, or an elected office. They expected their presence to generate a “benefit of the doubt” force field to keep them safe from criticism. They expected their version of “free speech” to protect them from their lack of impulse control. They decided that their cause was just and right because fighting the “Devil” in form of Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence was their God-given duty.

The insurrectionists were so devoid, so out of touch with their own divinity that they think they have to use force, coercion, and bullying to feel their power. They create imaginary villains to slay so they feel bigger and badder. But eventually, the only monster left will be the one in the mirror, the one they refuse to face.

The Devil is our favorite scapegoat

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but, There Is No Devil. Crazy, right?

Civilizations throughout the world have described battles of good vs. evil, of light vs. dark, and of day vs. night. Humanity loves its dramatic dualistic battles for justice. The bad guys are always bad, and the good guys are always good. There has to be a winner and a loser. Those are the rules. Amen.

But the reality of humanity is that we’re waging a war closer to that of Dr. Jekyll &. Mr. Hyde. Our own darkness became too much for us to admit, so we externalized it, molded it into avatars of our own shadow selves, and projected images of fear for us to blame.

Photo of 3 depictions of the Devil card from Tarot. Words in white print on black background: The Devil is our Scapegoat

Those who are familiar with tarot are familiar with the representation of the Devil card – Baphomet – the horned creature that is half man and half goat. The depiction quite literally is symbolic of creating a scapegoat. Someone to blame when we give into our temptations or allow our shadow selves to take the driver’s seat. Scapegoating is possible when we externalize and project our own thoughts, words, and actions onto another being, we absolve ourselves from bearing the responsibility for those things. The classic “The Devil Made Me Do It” line.

What if all this time the battle hasn’t been against a separate entity, but a battle against our own worst natures? That there is no Devil figure spreading evil across the earth. There is no cosmic villain to blame for what is happening in our country right now. There is no single mastermind out to destroy God. The King of Hell doesn’t give a shit about bargaining for our souls. He or she isn’t waiting around for us to innocently pass by or hunting us like some sinister collector of holy relics.

No, I believe the evil in the world can be traced directly back to us. To our fear. To our hatred. To our ignorance. To our pride. To our jealousy. To our entitlement.

There is no devil; there is only us.

Pathetic, lonely, cringing, victimized. Us.

Enraged, bullying, threatening, controlling. Us.

The evil in this world – for example, a seditious and treasonous coup, is our doing. No one was forced to walk up the steps of that building. No one forced the same people who screamed “Blue Lives Matter” at all of us all summer to use their crutches and American flags to beat an unconscious Capitol Police officer. No one was forced into any of this. No, they just needed an excuse, something to blame.

From “An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments” by  Ali Almossawi and illustrator Alejandro Giraldo .

But they won’t blame the person actually responsible, who pledged his support as he whipped them into a fury, deftly playing their tune, knowing just how to twist, lie and manipulate them into doing his dirty work for him. A mass indoctrination of rabid minions, snarling and ready for the faux righteousness of drawing first blood for an orange man in an ill-fitting suit.

In positioning the President as a “savior”, as some sort of divine messenger, they can create a self-sustaining loop of obedience and excuses. It isn’t Trump who’s to blame, it’s the mainstream media for not giving him enough attention. Any form of censorship of their batshit posturing is viewed as evidence incarnate of their suffering and the sinister plot against their FFFFRRRRREEEEEEEEDOOOOMMMM!

It is a self-perpetuating loop of dubious groupthink that represents one the most reprehensible applications of manipulation we’ve ever seen. They are treated as expendable, a heartsick masculinity willing to die for Trump, impervious to introspection.

By convincing themselves they are fighting some Devil, they convince themselves that their cause is righteous and just. That they’re preventing great evil from taking over the earth. And yet, it is truly their own failure and denial of their shadow that is the true boss battle. Their divinity hides behind layers of false victimization and the violent rage it inspires.

The Epiphany that is most needed is to face the Devil within. Unity will emerge once the shadow has been exposed and balance is restored. The most compassionate, loving response we can have right now is to hold them accountable – to shine a light on the failed commitment to something larger than ourselves. To shine a light on actions that break faith with our values. To take responsibility for remedying and realigning with the common good.

But for that to happen, we have to let go of the Devils we blame for the worst of ourselves. Accountability is the only thing that will come close to giving us the national healing we need and to face the darkness we’ve accumulated. For in facing the Devil within, we find a way to recover our own light and divinity.