There is something fundamentally wrong in this country. In a nation with such abundance and blessings, the incidence of senseless gun violence against innocent people, including our children, is rising rapidly. For 2021, the FBI identified 61 such incidents of mass shootings, which is an increase of 52.5% from the year before and more than one per week. 2022 is shaping up to be even worse. Last weekend alone there were 13 mass shootings in the U.S. recorded from Friday evening through Sunday. In 2020, guns surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death for children 19 years old or under.
It seems that the United States is "cursed" and it is getting worse. Stepping back, one can see an obsession with gun violence in our nation. Hollywood's products are replete with such violence. Video games are full of guns and shootings. Our culture is bathed in violent images. Last weekend, a 12-year-old boy robbed a gas station at gunpoint. Where did he learn such behavior? Some question why our nation needs 393,000,000 civilian held weapons which is more than one per person and far and away the highest per capita anywhere in the world. U.S. citizens own 46% of the world's civilian held guns. We are a nation obsessed.
It is not my place to weigh in on the political or social roots of the mounting human tragedy related to gun violence. That is something for secular experts. But I add something on its possible spiritual roots. I said that we are "cursed" with gun violence, using the word in a colloquial sense. But does it apply in a more literal sense, i.e., are there evil spirits at work in our nation related to gun violence?
In a recent scholarly book on diabolic influence, an experienced exorcist speculated that there could be "national generational spirits" that negatively affect a country. These evil spirits might be the result of the sins of the founding ancestors of a nation or subsequent national sins. Particular kinds of demons, based upon the sins committed, can thus influence and infect the consciousness of a nation. Are we afflicted by evil spirits of gun violence and death?
If so, perhaps it is because we are a nation founded on a violent revolution. Or perhaps it is because of our bloody civil war, which accounts for more U.S. deaths than all our other wars combined until Vietnam. Or perhaps it has something to do with the extensive involvement of our leaders with freemasonry (see Diary #191) and related generational spirits of death. Or maybe it is a combination of all these things and more. As to why it is surfacing in modern times, perhaps the declining practice of the Faith and the rise of the occult has dropped our spiritual defenses and made us more vulnerable to demonic influence.
If we are afflicted by generational spirits, it would help to account for our national blindness to the extent of the problem and our vulnerability to such evil acts. The hidden presence of demons can blind human awareness. However, this does not excuse us from taking responsibility for the problem and fixing it.
I leave the important and concrete necessary changes to the secular experts and our leaders. May the Holy Spirit guide them! But I offer the beginnings of a spiritual solution as well. As an exorcist, I will begin to pray regularly to lift any generational spirits of death, murder, and gun violence, and I encourage other priests to do the same. Also, I composed the following prayer which I hope that many of the laity would feel able and willing to pray:
A Prayer to Cast Out Generational Spirits of Gun Violence Heavenly Father, we need your help. Our nation is wracked with gun violence, homicide and death. Innocent people are dying. Our children, whom You and we love so dearly, are at risk and many have tragically died. We pray that You would lift any curses and cast out any generational spirits of death, murder and gun violence, and any related evil spirits. We forgive all our ancestors for the effects of their sins on us and our children. We confess and renounce our own sins. Forgive especially the sins of hatred, violence and murder. We renounce Satan and every evil power affecting this nation and our loved ones. We pray that You would restore the peace and tranquility of this land so that we might be one nation under God, united in love. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.