Demonic Pride at Work in Our Culture
Fr. Dwight Campbell
09/07/2025
Homily 23rd Sunday Yr C: Demonic Pride at Work in Our Culture
Fr. Dwight Campbell, STD, JD
“Who can know God’s counsel – or, who can conceive what God intends?”
These are the opening lines from today’s first reading, from the Old T Book of Wisdom.
These are rhetorical questions, meaning that the answer should be obvious to us, that no one can know God’s thoughts, or what He intends to do. These things are beyond our comprehension is mere finite mortal beings.
Only a proud, arrogant person would think or imagine that he can know what God thinks, what He wills, and the reasons for what He does.
To accept everything that happens – understanding that God permits things to happen that are beyond our understanding (as part of His Divine Providence)- requires humility.
Our first reading from the Book of Wisdom goes on to ask: “What is within our grasp we find with difficulty; but things that are in heaven, who can search them out?”
These words of wisdom from the Book of Wisdom reflect a humble mindset; a humble and obedient attitude towards God, who sees everything and wills everything – like accepting our daily crosses that God wills for us (Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel).
What is humility? It can be defined as:
an honest acknowledgment of who God is – our Creator and Redeemer, who loves us and knows what is best for us;
and who we are – His lowly creatures who owe God obedience, i.e., to humbly submit our wills to God’s will.
Great Saints have called humility the mother of all virtues, because it counters the greatest of all sins – pride, which is really the root of all sin.
Pride is an unreasonable exaltation of self over God, and over others.
Just think about it: Whenever we sin we are really telling God, “I’m doing things my way, not your way, God. I know better than you.”
Last week, we read these words from another Old T. wisdom writing, the Book of Sirach: “My child, conduct your affairs with humility. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are.”
In other words, the greater a person is, the more humble he or she must be.
Why? Because by reason of our fallen human nature – those endowed with great intelligence, or extremely good looks, great natural abilities,
OR those who have great wealth, or great power and authority – tend to think of themselves as better than others, and exalt themselves over others.
Such people tend to think that they are self-sufficient, and have no need of God; or even to think that they are like God – gods unto themselves.
We can look to Satan as an example here:
He was the most beautiful and intelligent of all the angels God created, a seraphic angel – the highest among the choirs of angels. And it was pride that caused him to fall from God’s grace.
In the Church’s Tradition, the words the Prophet Jeremiah used to describe the attitude of the people of Israel toward God, “Non serviam” (Jer 2:20) – “I will not serve” (or “I will not obey”) – are attributed to Satan.
The Prophet Isaiah describes how the pride of Satan led to his fall from God’s grace:
“How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer! Thou hast said, ‘I will search into heaven and exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High [God]’” (Is 14:12-14).
But as Isaiah goes on to say, “[O Lucifer], thou shall be brought down to hell, into the depth of the pit [of hell]” (Is 14:15).
This prideful attitude of Satan is seen in the first temptation he offered to the human race: “Eat this fruit, and you will be like gods” (Gen 3:5).
It was pride that moved our first parents, Adam and Eve, to give into the temptation to become something they were not – like God, gods unto themselves.
The proud person refuses to submit his will to anyone else; he exalts his own will above all others – even over God; and, like Lucifer, he tries to be something he is not – like the Most High God; nay, even above God.
In fact, the core of Satanism is found in the famous line of the Satanist Aleister Crowley, summarizing the Satanic Bible: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”
In other words, you are free to do whatever you want, to follow your own desires and instincts – no matter how disordered or base they may be; free to make up your own commandments to live by, create your own moral code; or, to be something that you are not.
This is a perverted, false, Satanic view of “freedom.”
But from the beginning of the human race the devil has been proposing this lie to us, this diabolical way of thinking; and in our present culture he has persuaded countless millions of people to embrace this false notion of “freedom.”
That the devil is real, and that he has been very successful in persuading people to accept this lie of being able to do whatever you want to do, to be whatever you want to be, was made evident recently with the shootings during Mass for Annunciation Catholic School children in Minneapolis, where two children were killed and 18 others were injured by a 23-year-old man, whose real name is Robert Westman, but who preferred to be called “Robin,” because he identified himself as a female – that is, he claimed to be a “transgender person,” to use modern jargon.
The demonic underpinnings of this horrific assault on innocent human life was not reported by the popular news media. Why not? Because the news media supports the LBGTQ agenda, and promotes the transgender ideology.
For example, on Aug. 27, the day after the shootings, the Kenosha News (our local paper, sec. 3, p. 1) ran a story by the Associated Press in which it said that “authorities identified the shooter as Robin Westman” and that “the shooter was in their early 20’s.” Instead of using the correct pronoun for a singular subject (the shooter) – which should have been “he,” they used a plural pronoun, thereby concealing the truth that the shooter, Westman, was a male who insists he is a female – and thereby confusing the reader.
Local governments are promoting this same agenda – concealing the true sex of people (pretending we can eliminate the reality of humans being male or female by the use – or misuse – of language): Now many counties use birth certificates that say “parent” rather than “father” and “mother.”
This reveals the diabolical nature of the LGBTQ agenda; especially of “transgenderism” (that’s what the “T” stands for in LGBTQ).
There is no such thing as a “transgender” person. Both the Bible and human nature, as well as authentic science, reveal that the human person is either male or female. As the book of Genesis says, “Let us make man in our image. Male and female He created them” (Gen 1:27).
Why did God create them male and female? The very next line in Genesis tells us why: “God blessed them saying, ‘Be fertile and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it’” (Gen 1:28).
The complementarity of the sexes allows for the primary purpose of the gift of human sexuality expressed in the marital act: to generate new human life.
Those who are confused about their sexual identity suffer from what is called “gender dysphoria” – a clinical condition recognized by psychiatrists and psychologists – at least the good ones who are honest and not on the LGBTQ bandwagon.
We must have pity for these individuals who are confused about their gender/sexuality, and show compassion toward them for what they suffer, for the heavy cross they bear; and we must be kind to them and love them as human beings made in God’s image and likeness.
But we must never affirm them in their confusion regarding their sexuality; rather, we must always speak the truth to them. Authentic charity always gives witness to the truth, however challenging or uncomfortable it may be.
I firmly believe that the transgender movement, if one can call it that, is at its root demonically inspired. Why? Because a person tries, through his or her own will, to be what he or she is not: the opposite gender – or even something in between (if you read their literature, which allows for “fluidity” in one’s gender).
In essence, a person says to God, “I refuse to be what you created me to be; I will to be something other than the gender with which I was conceived and born!”
These individuals become locked in their own distorted, subjective perception of themselves, AND they insist/demand that everyone else agree with them.
There are many people who have undergone operations which have mutilated their bodies in attempts to change themselves from one sex to another. Even parents have allowed this to be done to their little children!
This is demonic because it imitates what Lucifer himself did, and which caused his own downfall: to be something he was not – like God, or a god unto himself.
I think an indication of the demonic nature of transgenderism is shown by the statistics: the skyrocketing rise in gender dysphoria among children and young people has accompanied the rise in the use of the Internet and social media.
I have attended conferences in which medical doctors who deal with gender dysphoria among children and young people attest to the harmful nature of the Internet and especially of social media.
Now, to the demonic influence over Robert Westman.
He posted videos on the Internet, parts of which I have seen. In one video he puts the face of Jesus Christ over a target on the wall for target practice, and you hear him laugh demonically.
Later in the video he whispers, in pleading, pathetic tone of voice, “I don’t want to be here”; and then in a dark, authoritative tone says: “Well, you’re here!” – like two personalities speaking: a clear sign of demonic possession.
Then, he whispers “I hate you,” and says “I’m sorry,” after which he starts singing, “tomorrow, tomorrow . . . I love you . . . I hate you,” and then begins to cry. After this he sings, “It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel really good.”
In a video he posted, Westman filmed a number of weapons, including a black shotgun on which he had drawn in white an inverted/upside down cross – a Satanic symbol; also written in white on the shotgun: “no remorse,” along with a drawing of a pentagram – another Satanic symbol. He also posted a video with parts of his diary, which had satanic images.
Did you know that some public schools in various states allow satanic groups to meet, and that courts have ruled they have a right to do so? But they can’t pray in school! And that some town councils invoke Satan at their meetings?
Part of Robert Westman’s video reveals that he was crying out for help: He filmed a page near the end of his diary with a drawing he had made. It shows the backside of himself with a rifle over his shoulder looking into a mirror at a demon who is looking back at him.
Written on the same page is: “Who am I? When will this end? Help me. I don’t want it.”
In another video he whispers, “There are bugs in my skin,” and says, “I can’t deal with this anymore.”
Equally diabolical was the response by some who posted comments on social media about Westman’s murderous acts, who apparently sympathize with the shooter because he identified himself as a female.
Here are two comments from the Reddit social media platform:
One is: “Take this fight to their kids so they can feel what it’s like to be attacked for your identity.” Another: “Am I supposed to feel bad that rich Christian kids are gone? Good riddance!”
As for the people who wrote these comments, what are they really saying? That “you better agree with us, because if you don’t, we will kill you!”
I believe this was precisely the thinking of Robert Westman, and explains his evil actions. The diabolical nature of his actions was also revealed by the fact that Westman clearly intended to kill innocent children who were worshipping God at a Catholic school Mass; and Westman himself was a Catholic.
My dear friends, we are living in a culture in which many people have, in their pride and arrogance, turned their backs on God; or, I think, have never truly known Him.
Let us counter this demonic pride which grips our culture with Christ-like humility. “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart,” says Our Lord.
The meek and humble person draws people to Christ, helps the sinner repent, and opens the door for the blind to see.
Let us turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary as well. As the saints tell us, it was her deep humility that attracted the Son God to take flesh in her immaculate womb.
Mary, pray for us, pray for our country, pray for our children and young people; and pray especially for all those who, like Robert Westman, have fallen into the grip of the devil.