To this point in my life, I have had the pleasure of visiting three foreign countries.

The memories of each hold a special place in my heart, punctuated by stunning views, friendships (and delicious meals shared) with some of the strongest and kindest people I’ve ever met, and a life-changing realization of the depth of God’s love for the world.

In the span of just over two years, I have seen two of these nations – Afghanistan and Israel – brought to their knees by radical Islamic ideology.

Even worse, these developments were made possible in large part by the disastrous policies of our current White House.

The anger and pain I feel over this is something I can barely find the words to express.

In early August of 2021, I watched in horror as Afghans mobbed the Hamid Karzai airport and clung to the outside of U.S. military planes, so desperate that risking their lives to escape the Taliban was preferable to staying where they were.

What has happened to beautiful Afghanistan over the last two years is something I will never get over. It feels like a wound that will never heal, and I know that if I feel that way, the pain of those who live under the oppressive, deadly Taliban regime is simply unimaginable.

Then last weekend, I wept again over videos and images of evil incarnate: a massacre, a genocide, a pogrom in Israel.

Hamas’ utter disregard for the lives of innocent civilians manifested in rape, murder, kidnapping, and the desecration of bodies, from innocent babies to the elderly (horrifyingly, including some who survived the Holocaust).

This has only been made more devastating by the response of many here in the U.S. who at the very least refuse to condemn the attacks, and in many cases blatantly applaud them, revealing a virulent antisemitism that is alive and well in our nation.

John Stonestreet of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview says,

“Ideas have consequences. Bad ideas have victims.”

Today, this truth is on full display on the geopolitical stage and, sadly, in our own communities. In Afghanistan, a rushed and ill-advised troop withdrawal resulted in the deaths of thousands (including 13 American servicemembers), the erasure of women, and a loss of hope for most in the nation.

In Israel, Hamas attacks likely backed by Iran (newly flush with $6 billion in unfrozen funds) left over 1,000 (including at least 27 Americans) dead, hundreds taken hostage, and thousands injured. This administration’s bad ideas had and have victims.

Of course, ideas are rooted in worldview.

I believe what led to these two stunning debacles is, at root, a fatal misunderstanding of human nature and the existence of evil. There remains a stubborn belief among most Americans (many Christians included) that man is inherently good, and if he isn’t, he is perfectible.

Evil may exist, but it is “out there” somewhere, not inside of us (except in the case of horrible, Bible-believing Christians who “judge” other people and their self-expression).

But Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who spent years in a Soviet gulag for speaking against communism, spoke the truth when he said,

“… the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.”

Even he, the victim of an evil regime, acknowledged we are all capable of inflicting horrors upon one another. That’s why the gospel is such good news (and so insulting to those who believe they are already good)!

Afghanistan and Israel are dramatic examples, but this truth is born out just as much at the local level.

For example, in Illinois, bad ideas have victims:

• In our schools, where prioritizing unions means students fall behind while they serve as a means to an end.

• In our communities, where placing explicit material in the kids’ section of the public library confuses and hypersexualizes children, setting them up for promiscuity and making them vulnerable to abuse.

• In our cities, where offering sanctuary to immigrants who enter the country illegally is overwhelming resources and making the people who live and work there less safe.

• In our state, where targeting pro-life pregnancy resource centers endangers the lives of vulnerable women (not to mention their babies) by silencing the truth about abortion.

• And on and on…

Yes, our policymakers are human and therefore, flawed. We know they will not always make the right choices, which is why our Founders structured the United States government the way they did!

Of course, they also said the success of our republic depended upon the virtue of the people (and, I think we can infer, of the leaders themselves). Proverbs 11:14 says,

“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in abundance of counselors there is safety.”

Sadly when an entire administration is built to advance not the interests of the nation but rather an ideology, those counselors serve only to grease the slope toward disaster.

And as recent events demonstrate, disaster knows no borders.