Light and Darkness

Don Spitz was there, too, in a -- shall we say -- pre-regenerate condition.
As the progressive fornicators aged and rose to positions of power, proceeding from one form of immorality to another, they reconstructed the cities, accordingly. The sacrifice of children in fulfillment of the unrestrained joy of free sex followed necessarily and hard on the trail. Belatedly, children of the light resisted. Many went to jail, and some have remained there for years -- lights in the darkness.
And as Brown continued in darkness ascending to the throne of the city (even as another hippie -- yea, even another Willie -- acceded to the throne in D.C.), Mr. Spitz walked in the light joining the counter-counterculture. He has stood against the various forms of fornication as well as the seguing slaughter of innocents. Mr. Spitz will be joining other non-conformists who stand against the pagan establishment with its attendant innocent blood shedding. He will gather to honor prisoners in January at the annual White Rose Banquet in D.C. Among those honored will be Curt Beseda who was to have been released, again, on October 23.
Absent will be Mr. Beseda. He had been turned over to a U.S. Probation officer on 3 October after being locked up for 12 years on a 20-year sentence (See October 1996 issue of Life Advocate). He was reinterned on March 24 for refusing to take psychiatric drugs. Curt has been judged by at least one shrink to be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. In conversation, he will sometimes be unresponsive, abiding in what is called a "catatonic" condition. He knows he is suffering from something, but he chooses to continue in earnest prayers which, he believes, such drug treatment as the recommended powerful tranquilizer, Stelazine, would inhibit. It is a tough choice. But Curt's commitment to persevering in particularly rigorous prayer is higher than his own freedom -- and health.
There are children of darkness and there are children of light. The Apostle John is brutally clear about this: "By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother" (1Jn. 3:10). Bigot-like, he speaks judgmentally of evil spirits and false prophets, warning: "Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of antichrist." And most narrow-minded, undemocratic, anti-multicultural and paranoid-sounding is this claim: "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one" (5:19).
And the children of light do battle with evil powers. Yes, since the days of the garden, a personal evil power known as Satan has connived against mankind. The Evil One and his assistants were active throughout the recorded life of Christ and the acts of the Apostles. Down through the ages, the records of the history of Christian churches indicate the ongoing conflict. An ancient sentence pronounced upon a cursed excommunicant says -- a gnathemizatum et damnatum cum diabolo et angelis ejus et omnibus reprobis in eternum ignem -- "cursed and damned with the devil and his angels and all the reprobate to eternal fire." Similarly, throughout the world in all expressions of Christianity exorcisms and confrontation with demons are recognized as an authentic experiences.
But when a Christian prisoner in a modern secularist society (in which the demonic slaughter of innocents is tolerated, protected, even promoted) is bound for 12 ½ years in the company of every kind of criminal and foul spirit and speaks of suffering from spiritual "interference" and interprets it as demonic oppression, he is judged strange and in need of medication. "Ah, but he often lies unresponsive and hears voices," say his evaluators.
It is not necessarily a bad thing. Mary and Joseph each heard voices and saw visions. And St. Joan of Arc heard voices which, unfortunately, when she would not renounce them, were used as evidence to prosecute her for sorcery. But if folks hear bad voices, such as the ones Jesus heard when he was tempted by the Devil, this is not fun, though the fact does not impugn the character of the hearer. But in our modern times, when such phenomena are explained only in terms of mental problems, hearing voices is never a good thing. The matter can serve no end but to impugn the character of the hearer (unless he confines his testimony to Pentecostal and certain other churches where such phenomena are enthusiastically embraced -- as long as such ecstatic activity doesn't somehow bring FACE suits and the FBI against the church).
Curt's overseers fear that he will embarrass them by reverting to his old ways. He might be emboldened by associating with outlaw anti-abortionists and get himself into trouble. I shall, therefore purge myself in hopes of paving the way for more tolerance. Accordingly, I concede, now, before this august readership together with the degenerate Planned Barrenhood plaintiffs who are looking under every rock to find a way to win that $ 1.4 billion, that I have verily engaged in a conspiracy with Mr. Beseda. (There are other conspirators who are unknown to me; I am aware of their existence, however.) Long ago, when news of the Whitewater scandal came forth (to our boundless alacrity), we agreed to engage in prayer for good fruit to be born from this marvelous revelation. We were never specific in what we agreed to pray about. But our minds are similar and I can imagine that we hoped for the same kinds of results as we prayed a simple five-point prayer. (I shall not reveal the five points. This withholding of information will give the Planned Barrenhood attorneys and myself something to talk about at the next boring deposition.) The substance of the prayers was "Whitewater investigation."
Curt has been much more devoted in prayer and fasting than I. He has been faithful and persistent in reminding me not to let a day go by without our "Whitewater prayers." Curt has engaged in arduous and regular fasting for several years, while I would fast much less frequently and never as long as he. And, my oh my, how much more of a strain the prayer time began as more scandals came forth! When we amended our prayer format to "Whitewater and related investigations" is was as if the heavens opened! Prayer time was expanded with Travelgate, Filegate, the Waco assault, jailings of Hubbell and Rostenkowski, the contempt jailing of McDougal, the death of Vince Foster, impreachment process initiated by Henry Hyde for treason with China, Paula Jones, and more. It has become quite a burden.
My favorite prayer topic is the Paula Jones case. I have to admit, it does appeal to my baser instincts. The front page bi-line of the Washington Times (15 Oct.)is all about the President of the United States' membrum virile and a certain "distinguishing characteristic." It says, "PAULA JONES' AFFIDAVIT DESCRIBES CURVATURE OF THE ORGAN, WHICH MAY BE CAUSED BY CHRONIC 'PEYRONIE'S DISEASE.'"
But sometimes I just don't know how to pray a righteous prayer. I'm sure that by the time you read this you will have already heard thousands of jokes about such a prurient topic. In the interest of time, I have decided to simply pray that the President remains bent out of shape so that he will either leave office or be forced by the judge to get another examination by the plaintiffs. (I must admit that I am suspicious about that "knee" injury, but I try to restrain my imagination concerning conspiracies as a good example for Janet Waco Reno and Planned Barrenhood to follow.)
Curt has surely strained under the success of our prayers. Good results, it seems, have inspired yet more fasting and prayer. And Curt has devoted himself in a way that seems good to a devout man who, confined and unable to engage in baby saving action, has chosen to devote himself in this service. While on parole, he wrote to another pastor on January 2, 1997, "Fasting and praying will continue to be part of my response to the institutionalized slaughter of unborn children. This even includes Whitewater and related investigations."
Consider a man who is confined for 12 years under a 20-year sentence by a government which protects child slaughterers and imprisons the defenders of innocent children. What does he do? Let us assume that he has opted to refrain from using force to stop the slaughter, as have apparently a couple dozen others who have done time and been released for various arson and bombing charges. None of these have renounced their deeds; yet they have refrained, apparently. Curt, I am convinced, has no intention of performing the destruction of an abortuary. But he could make no promises to his jailers or his parolers. To do so would be a denial of the truth, a statement of denial of the humanity of the unborn. To promise never to defend the innocents would be a heinous and unconscionable pledge. Curt is rumored to have refused the opportunity for earlier release by a few years by declining to promise not to perform similar deeds again.
Consider a man, so meticulous in keeping his word that he complied, upon release, with the requirement that he not communicate (have Christian fellowship) with me during the six months he was out on parole.
Although we had communicated over the years a few times each week by mail or phone for twelve years, Curt obeyed this obscene and inhumane command to cut off communication; he complied according to his word.
Consider a man, locked behind steel and barbed wire, practically deprived of the means to be involved in the plight of the innocent, who sacrifices his own health by prayer and fasting to accomplish the very goal of rescuing the innocent by the spiritual means available to him.
Curt's family has told me that I would not recognize him -- he is so thin. Mike and Bonnie Undseth, longtime friends from Curt's home town, have visited him regularly since his reinternment. They say: "He looks like a concentration camp victim." Curt's body is sorely depleted; he is malnourished. He is half starved.
Did he foolishly choose to identify with the innocent children by denying himself in this way? Was this solidarity folly?
Curt has let up on his fasting, gained his health back, and prepared his body to go back to work. We are glad. Someone else can take up Curt's former services. He is doing much better and gaining a little weight.
But we are pro-choice in such matters. Christians may choose whatever they want to do as long as the choice is Lawful. It is not unLawful to fast and pray. It is simply uncommon to sacrifice one's own life by such service.
Curt has been surrounded by bad company for years. Were there demons there? He has not been corrupted, however. And he has no mental problems. In order for him to function like one of us regulars (for whatever that is worth), he just needs some good food and the freedom to have Christian fellowship with his friends.
Sadly, the U.S. Parole Commission will not allow Curt to attend the banquet which will honor him. But Don Spitz will be there in D.C. And Willie Brown will be on the other coast. Two former hippies now as far apart as East is from West; as Christ is from antichrist.

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