I gaped, unbelieving, as the images burned through the screen. Alien flags tore into a solemn ideal in a sacred place. All understanding vaporized before the unforgivable desecration of the nation I sometimes took for granted. If there is a devil, he was front and center.

I raged.

The world crumbled.

And now we are here.

The figurehead rots before our collective eyes while the coven cackles and builds the pyre higher and hotter. Fueled with hate, lies, and ruined lives.

The train of transgressions is long, the sins endless, turning the words of Jesus into a sweatshirt slogan, a bloodied shroud perfumed with snatches of flags of Our Fathers.

I knew you, my friend, my colleague, my neighbor. Why do you choose that side of the moral divide? How can you disdain decency, celebrate insults and threats, and cheer violence?  Are you damaged in ways I don’t see?

Is that really you?