How do you tell the Devil is evil when he doesn’t look evil?
R.J. Rushdoony wrote this essay back in 1986, but it has a very long shelf life.
https://chalcedon.edu/resources/articles/the-smiling-face-of-evil
Bad enough that Satan deceives us; but how many are there who want to be deceived? As Rushdoony put it, “people earn hell.” They work for it, sacrifice for it, they’re always reaching for it. They think it’ll be a God-free zone where they can do anything they want and it’ll all turn out just fine.
I think of the grins on the faces of certain politicians… and then I think I understand precisely what Rushdoony meant.